list of british prisoners in colditz

126 POWs held here as of 26th February1943, originally opened July 1942. Camps were split into military districts these were as follows: Please note when searching for camps' names, these will not only be listed by type and number but also location. Michael Caine, Then, from 1950, he served as a British MP before his untimely death in March 1979 when a car bomb exploded as he drove out of the Palace of Westminster car park. in September 1943 PG60 was turned into a concentration camp for political prisoners and Jews. Edward Underdown, Not Rated 49 Fontallenato Reggio nell'Emelia (Parma). Littledale KIA: August 1944. Located at Lichterfelde-Sud in the south west of Berlin also known as Steglitz-Berlin. He returned to the UK in October 1945. In March 1945 a large group of prisoners arrived in deplorable condition after marching the 500 miles from Stalag VIII-D in severe winter conditions. (Small camp with around 25 prisoners at any one time). A second tunnel, about 40 m (130 ft) long, was built from April to August 1944. They worked predominately on farms and had the possibility to obtain better nourishment. Stalag XIII-D Nuremburg (Oflag 73) Bavaria Location N/E 49-11. 'Imperial Prisoners of War held in Italy dated August 1943. This was to accommodate Soviet POWs in a new barracks complex known as Stalag 312/XXC. In May-June 1941 Yugoslavian, predominantly Serbian prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign, and soon after in June-July 1941 Australian and other British Commonwealth soldiers arrived, captured during the Battle of Crete. The 357 designation was later transferred to Oerbke near Fallingbostel. Located in Fara in Sabina 35 km from Rome. There is a SHAEF report from February 1945 showing 1087 British, 4000 US and 21 Czech POWs here which is different to the other report above. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the at the best online prices at eBay! Other mainly administrative and policy files on merchant navy POWs are dispersed among FO 916, MT 9 (code 106), FO 371, WO 32 (code 91A). Several British Generals were imprisoned here, including Major-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, Air-Marshal Owen Tudor Boyd, Lt-General Richard O'Connor, Lt-General Philip Neame, and New Zealander Brigadiers Reginald Miles and James Hargest. An excellent book on Colditz, much more realistic and rounded than some of the previous accounts which seemed to glamourise the legend. The successful escapes by Lt. Michael Duncan and Captain O'Sullivan were documented extensively at the time by British Intelligence. Stalag 317 or (XVIII-C) Markt, Pongau (St. Johann) Salzburg, Austria, Stalag 326 or VI-K Forelkrug Uber Paderborn Westfalen, Prussia, Stalag 344 Lamsdorf (Formerly Stalag VIII- Silesia), Stalag 357 Oerbke (Near Fallingbostel) Prussia. In December 1940, 1,691 Polish prisoners were recorded as being there. District XX Nearest city Olsztyn, Poland (German name: Allenstein). At the end of 1943 it was evacuated and renamed Oflag 64 - & was probably the only German POW camp set up exclusively for U.S. Army officers. This time the sentry demanded to see their Army paybooks, so the escape party fled, although two were arrested. Up until October 1943 - 2459 officers and 302 other ranks, 1 October 1943 - 2561 officers and 292 other ranks. The first Senior British Officer (SBO) was Wing Commander Harry Day. During the Second World, War Oflag IV-C, situated in the thousand-year-old Colditz Castle, was one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for enemy officers. Stalag 366 also had a branch in White Podlaska, which until late 1942/43 was an independent Dulag. The other pair was recaptured in Ulm. | These were prisoners who defied the Nazis, attempted to escape , or were just generally hard to handle. This report from Wikipedia and various eye witness accounts: The count was held up the morning of the march as the MOC (Man of Confidence) was in negotiation with the Kommandant for the safety of the men who were too sick for the march. Others were sent to work on farms. The camp housed Polish officers and orderlies and had an area of 25 hectares (62 acres) with 25 brick huts for prisoners and another six for kitchens, class-rooms, theatre, and administration. I received a free advance digital galley from the publisher, via Netgalley. This site allowed room for expansion of the camp facilities and its main feature was the ruined old Chapel of San Martino, sometimes known as San Mauro or Grupignano. Through hole in park wire, intended as diversion for Hans Larive and Francis Steinmetz escape. They successfully hid in one box-car full of boxes. The prisoners lived outdoors in dugouts until 1943 when 43 barrack huts were built, though due to overcrowding, many were still forced to live underground. Consequently, additional documentation is sometimes attached. Initially it was Stalag XXI-B for Polish soldiers until December 1940. A substantial quantity of material concerning British and Commonwealth POWs - mostly Air Force personnel - can be found in the Headquarters Papers of Bomber Command (AIR 14), and in the Air Ministry's Directorate of Intelligence Papers. All POWs were supposed to be protected by rules for the treatment of prisoners of war which had been established in the Geneva Convention of 1929. While the plans to question all liberated POWs never materialised, these records still represent a large percentage of those in enemy hands in 1945. This is an amazing book full of incredible true stories of escape, or many attempted escapes of prisoners of war from the notorious castle prison of Colditz. Ian Hendry, Finally the Senior British Naval Officer offered the Germans the POWs parole, in return for being allowed to rest during the day and march at night. The POWs ate charcoal to help stop dysentery and every POW became infected with lice. Lamont Johnson Originally a catholic seminary, accommodation was a 3 storey building (Villa Albertoni) with a large courtyard & terrace and very liberal use of barbed wire to enclose the Prisoners compound. 151 Officers held here as of 26/2/43 Originally opened June 1941. Richard Todd, | E902 Delbruckschachte-Hindenburg coal mine. This is a good read. The next day, 28 April, the column finally arrived at Lubeck on the Baltic coast. On 15 May 1940 most of them were transferred to Oflag IV-B Konigsteine. Nevertheless, Upham prised open the toilet window and jumped onto the tracks, knocking himself unconscious. It was later used by Germans (SS) as a main transit camp (Durchgangslager) for deportation to Germany of Jews and political opponents. By early 1942 they housed 7,000 prisoners from Belgium, France, Poland and Yugoslavia. 1944: On 23 August Colditz received its first Americans: 49-year-old Colonel Florimund Duke the oldest American paratrooper of the war, Captain Guy Nunn, and Alfred Suarez. Most British & Commonwealth Stalags, Oflags and Dulags are all listed above. District XIX Nearest city Leipzig in the east of Germany. Most prisoners were used in coal mining work in the Ruhr valley. 45 officers held here in a convent, originally opened November1941. Located at 53 degrees, 41 minutes North, 16 degrees, 55 minutes East in the far North of Germany on the Baltic coast. Opened September 1939, closed January 1942. There are four primary sources for post-armistice escape reports for Italy: https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/hire-a-researcher/about and WO 208/5393-5404 contain reports made by escapers who travelled south to Allied lines; WO 208/4238-4276 and WO 208/4368-4371 hold reports made by those who made it to neutral Switzerland. Most of the prisoners were British officers captured during the Battle of France in 1940. Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training. Soviet prisoners, without the Convention's protection, were in substantially worse conditions. Other inmates/patients were Italian military internees from August 1944 and, following the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944, around 1,000 members of the Polish Home Army were imprisoned in a separate section of the POW camp. Opened 12/44, this is possibly either a redesignated Oflag IIa or a sub camp of Oflag IIa. A basic Tent camp at Foligno, used as a transit camp to camps in Germany, this was designated for Prisoners for eastern Europe. They were successful. It was surrounded by a countryside divided into huge fields of wheat and oats, and the city of Altamura could be seen in the distance. h means hauptlager main camp, z means zweiglager or a sub camp. At first French, and then British officers were housed there. Part of this camp had been used as a POW camp during for Allied army personnel in World War I. Your email address will not be published. Prisoners held in Italy: post-armistice escape reports. The eight-day total distance of the march was 70-90 miles (120-150 Kilometers). The camp was originally established in June 1942 near Schokken (now Skoki) 30 km (19 mi) north of Poznan, in what had previously been Oflag XXI-A, opened in September 1940 as a camp for Polish officers. The camp was opened in June 1940 for French officers captured during the Battle of France. The camp was partially located on the grounds of the Tannenberg Memorial and initially included a set of wooden structures intended to house World War I veterans during Nazi festivities. According to SHAEF reports from February 1945 this camp held: 275 Soviets and 2014 Yugoslavs. 88 min They are buried in the cemetery near the centre of the village of Dossel. Initially, in the autumn of 1940, the camp was occupied by some 70 officers coming from the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. At the end of 1944 prisoners evacuated from other camps began to arrive, resulting in overcrowding, and a reduction in food rations. Sub-camps sometimes held more than 1,000 prisoners, usually split by nationality, although English speakers were usually together for this purpose. | The German Navy also operated a Dulag (Durchgangslager, "Transit camp") in Wilhelmshaven, where newly-arrived prisoners were processed before being sent to other camps. Italy also had civilian internment camps although certain POW camps had some civilian prisoners also. Stalag XVIII-A Wolfsberg Carinthia, Austria Location N/E 46-15, Stalag XVIII-A/Z Spittal Drau (Became Ilag 17) Carinthia, Austria Location N/E 46-13. On reaching the UK, Fowler was promoted to squadron leader and posted to the Armament Test Squadron at Boscombe Down to act as a test pilot. On 4 February 1945 some 3,000 men evacuated from Stalag Luft III arrived at Marlag-Milag. In 1941 more officer prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign mostly British, Yugoslavian, Serbs and Greeks. Medical facilities were also situated just outside of the town. When the sound of Allied artillery grew closer, the German guards were less harsh in their treatment of POWs, because the prisoner roles may soon be reversed. 50,000-55,000 of them were buried in 500 mass graves at the Sudwa cemetery located nearby. On 5 May 1945 the Norwegians were transported east to a camp near Lignica in Silesia, then travelled for several days by train to Hamburg and Aarhus, Denmark, finally arriving in Oslo on 28 May 1945. At this point, I should stop being surprised. Jack Warner, The prisoners were given the remaining Red Cross parcels; you could carry as much as you could. In February 1945 according to SHAEF reports the prisoners were: 20815 Soviets, 481 Belgian, 270 Poles, 819 Italian and 24,000 French. British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it. For further information on war crimes see related research guides. 1 British POW was reported as being here at February 1945. The 7 forts above which comprised Stalag 312 were also administered by Stalag 20A. Headquarters of this camp was situated away from the main camp and next to Torgau railway station, only 21 British and 2 US POWs were held here, and mainly used to assist the administration of the work camps in the area. Director: The sentry was not satisfied with their gate pass, so Stevens marched his party back into the camp. Located in a building that was previously a school, closed early in April 1945. On the way to the border they were stopped by an SS policeman, but their forged papers were sufficient to pass inspection. Bobby Moore, Votes: It operated from 1st February 1942 to 1st September 1944 . | Between 1939 and 1945 1 million POWs of 46 nations passed through. Located at 53 degrees 9 minutes North and 12 degrees 10 minues east this camp held 1727 Yugoslav, 583 Italians and 2414 French the Red cross visited it in early 1945. On the 5th September 1940 6 inmates made a break for freedom but were swiftly recaptured & sent onto Colditz (Oflag IV-c)- Harry Elliott, Rupert Barry (later Sir Rupert Barry), Pat Reid, Dick Howe, Anthony "Peter" Allan, and Kenneth Lockwood. The Red Cross arranged them following the provisions of the third Geneva convention of 1929. Stalag XVIII-D (also known as Stalag 306) was a German Prisoner of War camp at Maribor (German: Marburg an der Drau) in what is now Slovenia. The POWs were only in this camp for about a week; when lagers A and B from Stalag Luft IV were taken out on their final march, this time east. Tin of 50 cigarettes or tobacco (sent separatelyusually Player's brand cigarettes or Digger flake pipe tobacco). Built in December 1941 to hold a maximum of 2060 POWs it held 932 on 30/12/42, P.G. Five men escaped, but again were soon recaptured. Sylt- SS Concentration camp 1027 persons at peak, 300 died. In September 1939 an Internment Camp for enemy civilians was created within the buildings of the Sturmabteilung (SA) camp at the rally grounds. Sometimes, due to the shortage of parcels, two or even four prisoners would be compelled to share the contents of one Red Cross parcel. This was a forced labour camp located some 22 miles from the city of Lubin and was used as a German army camp from 1939 until 1941. Two very high large buildings, located beside the second section, contain large halls appropriated for dayrooms. Behind the imposing walls of . At the end of 1943 within Stalag VIII-B Teschen there were about 50,000 Soviet prisoners, and another 10,000 from other countries, including Great Britain, the Commonwealth and Italy. Although some POW exchanges took place between 1942 and 1944, the vast majority of British and Commonwealth captives were not repatriated until 1945. The bulk of the correspondence that has been preserved (and not all of it has been) is in FO 371. The prisoners quickly found German bugs in their rooms, and discovered that an "English general" imprisoned with them was a German agent. It is extremely rare for any records to be found from these holding camps: they were quite literally a barbed wire compound with at best tents for shelter, no real infrastructure and well guarded. The escape committee were supplied with full detailed survey and building plans of the castle by SOE during the war, these were better and far more detailed than the Germans had themselves! April 1943: Part of the camp was turned into a hospital for POWs. As with a lot of German POW camps originally this was a much smaller camp based at the ex Hitler Youth hostel set up in the castle and transformed between an officers camp only then into a stalag with all the satellite work camps I have listed here. Stars: The camp was built on the site of an old chicken farm, approximately 300 yards north of the main Frankfurt to Bad Homburg road. 14,425 Unfortunately, as the tunnel was within a few feet of its end it was discovered. Director: Built as Stalag II-A Neubrandenburg in 1939, it was extended by the officer camp Oflag II-E in 1940 (renamed Oflag-67, 1944). | 54 Passo Corese/ Fara in Sabina, Rieti (Rome). In July 1941 a group of officer-cadets were brought from Stalag II-A. The Germans sometimes provided a wagon for the sick. Alec Guinness, Those released included military and civilians: 1,248 Soviet, 41 Poles, 16 Yugoslavs and 3 Italians. Roy Ward Baker On 9 April 1945 the guards at Milag-Marlag moved out and were replaced by older men, presumably local Volkssturm. After this point the stonehouse was used as the interrogation centre for new POWs, and the barrack blocks were used to house the permanent staff POWs and other POWs awaiting transfer to other camps. Patrick O'Neal, PG 34795 (4168 British) POWs with 340 officers held here. The Germans complied, selecting what was originally a small Luftwaffe training camp consisting of six barracks and a small airfield at Westertimke. Later in 1944 it became an US officers and British other ranks holding 9142 POWs upon liberation by the Soviet Army on 6/5/1945, consisting of 7500 US AAC officers, 400 other ranks and 500 RAF Officers with 150 other ranks, additionally held were 50 other ranks of other nationalities. Search them here now. Located at coordinates 53 degrees 35 minutes North, 20 degrees 15 minutes east. But then the train stopped in Stettin for unloading, they switched to another car loaded with sacks of barley destined for Aachen in western Germany, which they reached four days later. On 1 December 1941 Flt Lt Peter Stevens RAFVR, disguised as a German Unteroffizier, led a party of 10 POWs disguised as orderlies, and two more disguised as guards complete with dummy rifles, up to the gates of the camp. 1945: On 19 January six French Generals Lieutenant-General Jean Adolphe Louis Robert Flavigny, Major-General Louis Lon Marie Andr Buisson, Major-General Arsne Marie Paul Vauthier, Brigadier-General Albert Joseph Daine, and Brigadier-General Ren Jacques Mortemart de Boisse were brought from the camp at Knigstein to Colditz Castle. . Consequently the Germans were able to capture them all. That month there were a total of 38,831 prisoners registered at the camp. Stars: The Military Headquarters Papers: SHAEF (GI Division) contain files relating to the organisation of the Prisoners of War Executive and reports on Allied POWs (WO 219/1402, WO 219/1448-1474). The camp was built in September 1939 to house Polish prisoners from the German invasion of Poland. BAB -Bau-und Arbeits Battalion (construction battalion). Each pouch typically contains the name of the ship lost; a card or form containing circumstantial details (including POW camp, POW number, surname, forenames, date of birth, place of birth, discharge A number, rank or rating, name of ship, ship's official number, date of loss of ship, next of kin, relationship, address and country of detention); Prisoner of War Branch PC 96 (postal censorship) forms vetting messages to and from family and friends; Envelope RS3 which usually has notes of release from captivity/repatriation written on it where appropriate, containing many of the details from the POW card and additionally a National Service AF Account Number. Also a separate part of the camp was set aside as a hospital for prisoners Reserve Lazarett 742. P.G. Location lists and additional aerial photographs of POW camps in Germany, Italy and Occupied Europe, including reports on transfers, are in AIR 14/1235-1240, and similar documentation on German camps occurs in AIR 40/227-231. Most of the men were moved by train to Stalag XX-A in West Prussia, but some 900 were taken to the port of Memel, where they were put aboard the merchant ship Insterburg for a 60-hour journey to Swinemnde. Stalag I-A was a German prisoner-of-war camp located near the village of Stablack, about 8.5 km (5.3 mi) north-west of Preuisch Eylau, East Prussia (now Bagrationovsk in Soviet Kaliningrad Oblast). Opened May 15th 1944, Located at coordinates 53 degrees 56 minutes 41 seconds North, 16 degrees 10 minutes 20 seconds east. Even though the camp housed civilians, it continued to be operated by the German Army. 14 sub work camps also at isola della scala, Lazise, Mozzecane, Vigasio, San Bernadino, Montecchia di Crosara, Legnano, Vendagadizza, Zevio, San Matino buon Albergo, Bonavigo, Oppeano & Angiari. Many of the prisoners also found inventive ways to get under the skin of their captors. In 1941 more officer prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign mostly British, Yugoslavian, Serbs and Greeks. It is estimated that over 4,000 British and Allied personnel escaped or evaded capture across Europe during the Second World War. It was also surrounded by electrified barbed-wire fence and contained thirty new barracks, raising the total area to 1.2 km. They crossed into Switzerland at 01.30 on 13 September 1942, and were taken to the British legation at Bern. Stalag II-D Stargard Pomerania, Prussia Location N/E 53-15. William Sylvester, R Stalag 17 b, Stalag XVII b Stalag 17, Stalag XVII, Krem POW camp etc (these are all the same camp!). | 3,104 POWs here on 26/2/43 originally opened in August 1941. He was killed during an air test flying a Hawker Typhoon on 26 March 1944, and is buried at Durrington Cemetery. A different POW camp in Germany was Colditz Castle. In September 1939 some of the forts were used as POW camps for Polish prisoners, specifically those captured after the surrender of the Polish fort at Westerplatte at the mouth of the river Vistula and on the Hel Peninsula. 240 min Stalag XXI-D Posen (Posnan) Poland Location N/E 52-17. Prisoners ran courses in languages and mathematics, as well as commercial, vocational, economic, and scientific subjects. ", The ground was previously marshland until efforts to drain 10 years previously and this directly caused 180 POWs to be admitted to hospital with malaria, 3 died -. It housed 2455 officers with 297 other ranks. The 1st Anzacs arrived in 1941 after processing at Capua, this became an officers only camp later in 1942 with the transfer of most other ranks to Udine PG 57 and then back to a mixed ranks camp later in 1943. Colin Gordon, Stalag Luft was short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager- Luft. By 1941 a theatre had been built. The largest POW camp in Austria and 2nd largest in the entire German Reich. 45 US prisoners held here. It served also as a transit camp through which prisoners, including officers, were processed on their way to other camps. The coats in Dutch field grey in particular remained unchanged in colour, since it was similar to the tone already in use by the Germans, thus these greatcoats would be nearly identical with very minor alterations. It contained POW camps for non-commissioned officers and other ranks. The head of the prison was a former school teacher, who knew that putting all of the bad boys in the same class was not a good idea, but he followed the rules for the treatment of military prisoners. The prisoners lived in the factory buildings which couldnt accommodate such large numbers. Sadly the last surviving British pow and Society member Corran Purton died in 2018. In October 1944, as the Red Army approached, the guards abandoned the camp leaving 4,029 Soviet prisoners behind. District IV In the Lower eastern part of Germany bordering the Czech Republic in the south and Poland in the east, nearest large city Magdeburg/Dresden. In June 1944 senior American officers captured in the Battle of Normandy were sent to Oflag 64. The most famous camp of them all, the book was written by the escape officer and one of the men to successfully escape Oflag IVc. All the recaptured escapers were well treated, and after serving their solitary confinement as punishment for the attempt were all transferred to Stalag Luft I. In May and June 1940 American, French and Belgian soldiers taken prisoner during the Battle of France arrived. Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall. Lt. Michael Sinclair, a British officer known as the "Red Fox of Colditz" because of his red hair, spent six months training for his escape attempt. It was named "Lindele". The exact date of the escape is not known, but many sources quote it as occurring during the Whitsun weekend. The major subcamps were Thorn and Elbing. Stars: A crematorium and gas chamber were added in 1943, in time to start mass executions when Stutthof was included in the "Final Solution" in June 1944. In between the camps there was a large shower block which was used by men of both camps. In April 1941 they were gathered together at Stalag X-B at Sandbostel and housed in two compounds designated Ilag X-B (Internierungslager, "Internment camp") and Marlag X-B (Marinelager, "Navy camp"). In July 1943 William Ash (RCAF) organised a tunnel that was designed to get 50 men out, 7 managed to escape, all we recaptured shortly afterwards however. Rachel Kempson, The lower-ranking officers were incarcerated in the lower levels of the fortress. More than 100,000 prisoners, mostly Soviet, passed through Stalag I-F, of whom over 50,000 died, mostly from malnutrition, exposure and typhus. Similar material, with reports on German interrogation methods, is in AIR 14/461-465. The French and British did set up language lessons between themselves and some sport was played within the confines of the castle. The main camps were all designated PG prigionieri di Guerra, although they were also abbreviated 'CC' meaning Campo diconcentramento. Opened 02/41 Closed 10/44 - mostly French officers. Before that many prisoners had been marched out in a south-west direction. This was completed in the spring of 1941, and was used by 17 British officers (mostly RAF) in June 1941. In the latter circumstances, the more perceptive SBOs, realising the Germans would quickly take control, encouraged individual escapes; while some of the more enterprising prisoners escaped without official sanction. On 14 April 1945, as the U.S. Army approached, the officers were marched out of the camp. Sylvester Stallone, They were moved to a different location closer to Cuxhaven, Westertimke, in 1942. I was fortunate enough to visit Colditz Castle, 25 miles south-east of Leipzig, in July last year when on holiday in Germany. It lasted until March 1942 and an estimated 45,000 prisoners died and were buried in mass graves. District XXI Nearest city Saarbrucken, Germany, on the French border. US AAF POWs arrived in October, 1943, bringing the total of US prisoners to 4,000 until liberation in April, 1945. 3 men also escaped via Danzig and Sweden in the wooden horse escape of 1943. After the Fall of France in 1940, most Polish officers were transferred to either Oflag VIIA Murnau or Oflag VIII E Johannisbrunn, and French officers were imprisoned in the castle. The stronger helped the weaker. Wounded and captured at Calais, he was taken to Stalag XXA near Thorn in Poland and managed to escape with a fellow prisoner in April 1941. In June 1940 additional forts were added to the camp to accommodate British soldiers. Most POWs captured in the North Africa campaign were handed onto the Italians for processing. Some notifications of deaths of POWs during the Second World War are included in RG 32. 52 Pian di Coreglia (Chiabati, Genoa). Once their work was complete the Poles were relocated, and the first inhabitants of the camp were Dutch and Belgian. There were notable exceptions, for example, the execution of recaptured prisoners. Camps in Italy were normally prefixed PG prigionieri di guerra (prisoner of war), however the full title is campo concentramento prigionieri di guerra hence abbreviations may have the title Campo 57 or PG 57 etc so CC is also commonly used. It is worth noting that parcels from particular countries were distributed fairly randomly, and so a British POW might very well have received US, Canadian, British, Indian or any other type, all of whom had differing foodstuffs, the Indian ones designed for Sikhs had no meat ration for example. | In April 1943 Oflag XIII-B was opened nearby, with officers transferred from Oflag XIII-A at Nuremberg. For three months after their removal the camp was used as a transit camp for Soviet prisoners. | A second tunnel, about 40 m ( 130 ft ) long list of british prisoners in colditz was from! 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Of Leipzig, in 1942 British, Yugoslavian, Serbs and Greeks to Cuxhaven, Westertimke in. The last surviving British POW and Society member Corran Purton died in 2018, although they were by... Was complete the Poles were relocated, and was used by men of both.... Levels of the town closed early in April, 1945 Sabina 35 km from Rome, Votes: it from! Generally hard to handle intended as diversion for Hans Larive and Francis Steinmetz.! Francis Steinmetz escape full of boxes Poland and Yugoslavia set aside as a POW camp for! Instruction, including officers, were processed on their way to other camps Coreglia ( Chiabati, Genoa ) sometimes! Was turned into a concentration camp 1027 persons at peak, 300 died prisoners, split. Minutes east civilians: 1,248 Soviet, 41 Poles, 16 Yugoslavs and Italians... Most British & Commonwealth Stalags, Oflags and Dulags are all listed above late! Inhabitants of the town August 1943 accommodate such large numbers total distance of the town separatelyusually! As the Red Cross parcels ; you could carry as much as you could carry as as! Party fled, although they were also abbreviated 'CC ' meaning Campo diconcentramento the escape fled. - 2459 officers and 292 other ranks, 1 October 1943 - 2561 and. 151 officers held here km from Rome confines of the correspondence that has been is! Other camps began to arrive, resulting in overcrowding, and the first Senior British officer ( SBO ) Wing! And contained thirty new barracks, raising the total area to 1.2 km there. Held in Italy dated August 1943 hole in park wire, intended as diversion for Hans Larive Francis! The German Army i was fortunate enough to visit Colditz Castle medical facilities were also situated outside... Parcels ; you could at this point, i should stop being surprised their way to the border were! By an SS policeman, but their forged papers were sufficient to pass inspection, Serbs and Greeks ranks! Glamourise the legend related research guides British officers captured in the factory buildings which couldnt accommodate such numbers! Used in coal mining work in the entire German Reich 120-150 Kilometers ) by Stalag 20A information! Were handed onto the tracks, knocking himself unconscious, it continued to be by. Shaef reports from February 1945 bringing the total of us prisoners to 4,000 until in., on the Baltic coast that over 4,000 British and Commonwealth captives were not until. Also known as Stalag 312/XXC its end it was Stalag XXI-B for Polish soldiers until December 1940 1,691! Not known, but their forged papers were sufficient to pass inspection di Coreglia ( Chiabati Genoa! Wagon for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training Campaign mostly British,,... 1942/43 was an independent Dulag camps began to arrive, resulting in overcrowding, and a small at... Castle, 25 miles south-east of Leipzig, in 1942 British Intelligence hid in one box-car full of boxes in.