Hi folks can anyone suggest how i can find out the area were my Grandfather was liberated from in Germany. I have red cross records, service records and a prisoner of war questionnaire relating to my Grandfather but none mention the area were he was liberated. I have a rough date of his liberation but no area. He was held at stalag XXA and XXB for most of the war until January 1945 when he is forced marched toward Germany. Any advise is appreciated thanks Alex
Hi Alex, I have the same official records for my late father and none have his location at the time of his liberation. It may have been that there were so many released POW's that it wasn't an issue for the authorities so that particular question wasn't asked. It may remain an unanswered question ... Good Luck Steve Y
Yes i agree sadly i think il never know. My late Nan always said that my grandfather was on the thousand mile march at the end of the war. unsure if it was a thousand miles or hundreds, i was thinking if i had the place of liberation it would help answer that question.
Hi, I think the problem in identifying pyre use locations is that there was more than one column marching westwards. Columns were using different routes and columns originating in a camp were broken up into smaller groups. Steve Y
One source that may help is his service records he is registered as being A POW from the 22/5/40 until 23/04/45. He is then flown home the very next day 24/04/45. My family always said he was in a bad way with dysentry so i think this is why he's been flown home so quick?. so I'm sure he's been libarted by the Yanks or the Brits
Working on the date of 23/04/45 I found that POWs that were liberated from Brunswick, was May 45. Google Maps So there fore those liberated earlier must have been further west so working west to east, I found out that the Yanks took Kassel early April. So now assume that the liberation of pows, for middle to late April must be around Hanover. Not saying CELLE is the place But BBC - WW2 People's War - Dad's Three Months Forced March 1945: A POW in Poland and Germany
Thats very helpful thank you. I have a very good book on the subject of the long march 'the last escape' by John Nichol and Tony Rennnell. Following the routes of the northern march the man that were at stalag XXA and XXB seem to have ended up around the Hanover area.
Have you tried searching the British Newspaper Archive? My great grandfather was a POW captured in 1940, his service records were pretty useless, no liberation questionnaire, no POW record card in National Archives and I've not been able to access his Red Cross records yet (supposed to be released online this year at some point). I did have his scrapbook which gave some dates and camp names which along with the photos in it from which I think I've managed to put together a reasonably accurate chronology of his captivity but I still didn't know where he was when he was liberated until I searched the newspaper archives. His local paper, the Stirling Observer ran a little story on his return which said he'd been freed from a camp near Hannover. Using the dates from the story and the location I think Fallingbostel was the most likely place. Access to the newspaper archives is free in local libraries (in Scotland anyway - can't vouch for rest of UK). If your local paper isn't in the BNA collection then it might have its own archive or there may be copies in your central library or your local council might have them. Worth a look.
Ive looked in local papers for the time my relation was taken prisoner but found nothing. I've never thought to look for the period when he came home. definitely worth a shot. Many thanks
I got lucky on both events. There were a lot of photos of men from his unit and others who were lost post-Dunkirk at St Valery. Lots of the returning POWs seemed to have got the same treatment. There was even some kind of big civic reception for them - no pictures of that one sadly.
Hi Alex I'm a new member and have been really impressed with the help I've had from members. My father wouldn't speak of his experiences but now that I'm semi retired, I have a little more time to research. One of the few things that I have is a transcript of a log he kept of his long march from Stalag XXA at Thorn. My son and I spent some considerable time mapping the route, which wasn't easy as the names of all of the towns and villages en route were changed after the war into Polish. Although the POW's marched in relatively smalll groups, most I believe headed for an area south of Hanover. If you are still interested in tracing your Grandfathers footsteps, let me know and I will attempt to upload the information that I have!!! Kind regards Dave Billington
Hi Dave, yes I'm still very interested in trying to get any information on the northern line of the march. As I've mentioned my Grandfather was in stalag XXB for some time and was marched out in January 45. Reading books and documents it does seem that the POWs from XXA and XXB ended up around the Hanover area. Sadly I don't think I will ever find out the precise area of liberation but any documents on that route would be very much appreciated. Kind regards Alex
Hi Alex Dad recorded where they were picked up by the Americans in April 1945. We've tried to identify the place which you will see on the documents. It certainly seems quite rural! Have you obtained a copy of your Grandfather's Liberation Questionnaire. My father's showed the camps and dates in each. What work he was given may lead to other snips of information too. We have established that the camp was evacuated in smaller groups but with orders to march to the same area. It's possible that routes of the various groups varied especially with the Russian army's rapid advance. I'll dig out the information for you and upload it. Kind regards Dave
I have obtained his questionnaire and it sheds light on were he was, stalag XXA and XXB and the type of work he was doing, road building and estate building ect. He lists that he leaves stalag XXB in January 45 but doesn't add any other camps after this. His service records show he was liberated on the 23rd of April and flown home the very next day (very speedy repatriation). On all accounts he was in a shocking state as so many were. Look forward to see the info cheers al
View attachment 190349 View attachment 190347 Good Morning Alex As promised, I've opened the little box of family treasures! I've uploaded some documents which make interesting reading. Stalag XXA began evacuating on 20th January and continued until the Russians arrived on the 25th....if only they had been left to fend for themselves by the guards, or maybe not, who knows? I think that I've read somewhere that XXB began their evacuation a day or two before Torun. I also know that Dad was at AK 176 as there are a couple of theatre programmes in the box for plays he appeared in there. Dad also spent from October 1944 until 8th January 1945 at XXB but I'm sure that was in preparation for the march. I have to assume he started from Torun rather than AK176 Schusselmuhle. The first document is a map tracing the route they took. It is slightly wrong in that it starts at Gdansk when we thought he may have started from xxb. Then there is a copy of the original and surviving pencil written log. Thereafter, after Dad's death in 1975, Mum rewrote the entire log before it disintegrated completely. There may be of cause a few miss-readings here as there may also be with my attempt to relate the German town names to their Polish equivalents today. I 'm not too hot at uploading stuff so apologies for the maps to start this reply. Also having a proble uploading Mum's work as the documents are too large apparently? Let me have your personal email address and i'll send those to you that way. View attachment 190347
Hi Dave these are absolutely fabulous documents that you and your family must treasure. I think it depends on what book you read in regards to the evacuation of stalag XXB, Ive seen the dates range from the 21st to the 23rd of January. Also I know their were many working camps all over the area of both stalag XXA and XXB that could be some distance away from the main camps, giving this some men could have set off a few days before the main camp depending if they were further east. You and your family have done a good job with writing out from the original log and finding out the modern day Polish towns. I wonder if there was much difference in my Grandfather route? As I've mentioned I've not got any information past the evacuation of stalag XXB.I know my Grandfather was in hospital when he came back home for a while. I've tried to get hold of my grandfathers army medical records from Scotland to see if this would give a snippet of information but unfortunately these cannot be released to me because they are classified. Your documents tells me a story of a fellow POW, most probably going the same direction as my relation on the long march. I would be grateful for any other info you have. My email address is alexwildliferescue@hotmail.co.uk Very kind regards al
