Hitler’s British slaves allied POWs in German industry, 1939 - 1945

290 Pages·2007·4.26 MB·English

by  Longden

SEAN LONGDEN studied East European history at the School of Slavonic and
East European Studies, University of London. After graduation he worked in
photographic archives and press agencies. His first book, To the Victor the
Spoils, will be published this year by Constable and Robinson Ltd. He is married
with two children and lives in Surrey.
Also by Sean Longden
To the Victor the Spoils

Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in hardback in the UK by Arris Books,
an imprint of Arris Publishing Ltd 2005
This paperback edition published in the UK by Constable,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd 2007
Text copyright © Sean Longden 2005
Map by John Taylor
The right of Sean Longden to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise,
be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it
is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-84529-519-6
eISBN 978-1-47210-359-8
Printed and bound in the EU
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Map of wartime Europe showing locations of the main stalags
1 Into the Bag
2 Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here
3 Industry
4 The Land Army
5 A Place Not Called Home
6 Friends, Enemies and Lovers
7 Danger, Disease, Decay and Death
8 The Column of the Damned
9 The End
10 Every Day a Bonus
Notes
Sources
Index
List of illustrations
[1] British Paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division. Courtesy of the author.
[2] British and Commonwealth troops assembled in Cyrencia. Red Cross.
[3] Prisoners washing outdoors at a camp in Germany. Imperial War Museum
HU23387.
[4] The squalid conditions within overcrowded huts that were home to Indian
POWs at a working camp in Germany. National Archive.
[5] Prisoners at a mine in Silesia. Red Cross.
[6] A group of prisoners posing for a photograph at the entrance to a salt mine.
Red Cross.
[7] Prisoners loading wagons with earth. Imperial War Museum HU9210.
[8] Prisoners in front of a vast wall of rock at a German quarry. Red Cross.
[9] A boxing match for prisoners at Stalag XXa at Thorn. Red Cross.
[10] A group of British prisoners of war. Red Cross.
[11] A group of British prisoners on ‘pick and shovel duties’ at a ‘Bau und
Abeitsbataillion’. Red Cross.
[12] Prisoners collecting Red Cross parcels at Stalag XXb in the winter of 1940.
Imperial War Museum HU5710.
[13] Red Cross parcels in storage at a warehouse in Portugal. Imperial War
Museum AP14800B.
[14] Prisoners clearing a 20 foot snowdrift at Krima in March 1944. Imperial
War Museum.
[15] Prisoners working to unload railway wagons in a German goods yard. Red
Cross.
[16] POWs cooking their midday meal at a working party. Red Cross.
[17] Many prisoners were employed to level ground for German building or
transport projects. Red Cross.
[18] Lack of mechanised transport meant prisoners were forced to carry out
many tasks by hand. Red Cross.
[19] POWs learned many new skills whilst employed on farms. Red Cross.
[20] As the years passed, those men employed on farms established close
relationships with local families. Red Cross.
[21] Forestry work was heavy and tiring for the prisoners, but at least they
worked in the fresh air. Red Cross.
[22] Harvest time saw many prisoners working from sunrise to sunset, in all
conditions, to ensure the crops could be gathered. Red Cross.
[23] In spring 1945 prisoners in Stalag Xlb at Fallingbostel were forced to break
up their huts for firewood. Imperial War Museum BU3867.
[24] In the latter stages of the war conditions within the Stalags and work camps
deteriorated as more and more prisoners were crammed ‘behind the wire’.
National Archive.
[25] As prisoners were evacuated westwards many camps became overcrowded,
forcing the men to be housed within hastily erected tents. National Archive.
[26] By the time the camps were liberated many prisoners were suffering from
malnutrition. Imperial War Museum BU3866.
[27] Guardsman Thompson of Palmers Green in North London. Imperial War
Museum BU4086.
[28] Starvation and disease were not the only dangers faced by the prisoners.
Red Cross.
[29] The kitchen in the Stalag hospital where Bryan Willoughby was treated.
National Archive.
[30] Bryan Willoughby in 1940. Courtesy of the author.
[31] Bryan Willoughby in 2004 at Arnhem. Courtesy of the author.
[32] A group photo. Courtesy of the author.
[33] Gordon Barber photographed in 2005. Courtesy of the author.
[34] The house in Wermsdorf in which Sykes, suffering from dysentery and
malnutrition, took shelter after escaping from a POW column in Spring 1945.
Courtesy of the author.
[35] Sykes’ POW ID tag from Stalag XIIA. Courtesy of the author.
[36] Eighteen-year-old Eric ‘Bill’ Sykes. Courtesy of the author.
[37] Sykes in 1994. Courtesy of the author.
[38] Originally captioned ‘A Hero Comes Home to Devon’ the cheery
atmosphere belied the reality of the homecoming for many ex-prisoners.
Imperial War Museum CP12833F.
Acknowledgements
There are many people without whom this book would not have been possible.
My thanks must go firstly to ‘Bill’ Sykes, the D-Day veteran and ex-POW
whose thoughtful communications from his home in California contributed
much to this book. Thanks must also be given to Les Allan, the founder of the
National Ex-POW Association. Les has campaigned long and hard for the
sufferings of European prisoners of war to be fully recognized by the British
government. I only hope this book can help contribute to a wider understanding
of the subject and possibly play some small part in their sufferings being
acknowledged.
Gordon Barber and Ken Willats both provided vital details about life on farms
in East Prussia. Even now, sixty years later, they remain close friends and helped
colour this book with so many vivid tales. Bryan Willoughby kindly shared his
tales of the battles in Arnhem and his subsequent experiences as a prisoner.
Thanks must also go to Sandi Toksvig for inviting me onto her radio show to
discuss my previous book, To the Victor the Spoils. This resulted in Alec
Reynolds contacting me to tell his tales of working in the copper mines of the
Third Reich. Thanks must also go to the wives of the men I interviewed, all of
whom showed such great hospitality.
My thanks go to Maurice Newey, Kenneth Clarke, James Witte and Eric
Laker, all of whom gave me permission to quote from their memoirs held in the
Imperial War Museum. Thanks are also due to Mrs R. Eltringham, A.J.
Richardson and Anne Turner who gave me permission to quote from the
memoirs of their fathers, also now held in the Imperial War Museum.
Thanks must also be given to the board and trustees of the Imperial War
Museum, and to the staff in both the Department of Documents and in the
photographic archive whose assistance was priceless. I must also extend my
gratitude to Helen Pugh and Ipsita Mandal at the Red Cross who helped me
access the albums of photographs taken by the Red Cross at the work camps and
Stalags across occupied Europe. Many of these are included within this book.
Bryan Willoughby, Gordon Barber and Bill Sykes also kindly allowed me to use