Looking at Private Burtons release certificate it has him NW Europe til 28/8/44 then POW from 29/8/44, normally entries like this tie in with date of capture (either 28th or 29th), but the entry on the casualty returns has him missing 12/6/44 (with follow ups confirming POW and amending rank), a big discrepancy in dates - any thoughts on what is correct? does anyone have the war diaries for either dates to see if they help? his POW questionnaire is now on my to get list, fingers crossed it survives
UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 Name: J Burton Rank: Private Army Number: 6020338 Regiment: Devonshire Regiment POW Number: 82011 Camp Type: Stalag Camp Number: VIII-A Camp Location: Görlitz, Saxony Record Office: Infantry Record Office, Exeter Record Office Number: 22 Hmm looks like a head scratcher - cant tell much from his POW either TD
That seems to be the date the 2nd Devons went into their sealed camp - not sure if they might even have gone on board ship - it is an interesting entry
BBC - WW2 People's War - My Experiences in the War from D-Day: 2nd Devons this gent says 7 days before D-Day they went to the docks and boarded
On D-Day the 2nd Devons landed immediately behind the 1st Hampshires and 1st Dorsets and then passed through to capture Ryes and an enemy coastal battery at Longues. In the Normandy campaign they fought at La Belle Epine(near Trungy), at Hottot, at Le Lion Vert and at Les Forges on the road to Conde sur Noireau. After the rapid advance across the Seine and through Belgium, they played a part in Operation Market Graden, fighting to consolidate the Eindhoven corridor through which XXX Corps would pass on their way to the bridges at Nijmegen and Arnhem. October and November 1944 were spent defending the island – the low-lying polderland between Arnhem and Nijmegen – against a German thrust south. IF he went missing on 12th June, that's only 6 days after landing, has someone misread an "8" (for August) as a "6"? I'm sure there were incidents when men were cut off from their comrades and may have been sheltered by the French Resistance, but to be out of touch for 2 months without being able to rejoin his unit when most of France was free of Germans and then be captured seems less likely than being directly captured on 28 August. However, the 2nd Bn didn't suffer any casualties from 25 August to 30 August, whereas they did sustain casualties on 12 June, so the possibility of being captured is more likely then, than in August, but the problem is how did he get reported as Missing on 12 June (presumably near Bayeux) yet not be captured until late August, when the front line was almost in Belgium?
There are 2 in the Nottingham Journal 12/7/44 (page 4) - Nottingham man missing. More news from far east POW Pte Joseph Burton, Devonshire Regiment whose mother resides at 34 Sneinlor?? (text scrambled) Road, is reported missing since 12 Jun. 14/7/44 (page 3) is believed to be POW, wife lives at 7 Shaftesbury St, Liverpool And there's also a Pte Joseph Burton mentioned in the Derbyshire Times & Chesterfield Herald 27/10/44. Wounded Italy (age 24) son of Mr & Mrs J. Burton, 7 St. Johns Mount, Newbold Moor, Chesterfield.
There are 2 in the Nottingham Journal 12/7/44 (page 4) - Nottingham man missing. More news from far east POW Pte Joseph Burton, Devonshire Regiment whose mother resides at 34 Sneinlor?? (text scrambled) Road, is reported missing since 12 Jun. 14/7/44 (page 3) is believed to be POW, wife lives at 7 Shaftesbury St, Liverpool And there's also a Pte Joseph Burton mentioned in the Derbyshire Times & Chesterfield Herald 27/10/44. Wounded Italy (age 24) son of Mr & Mrs J. Burton, 7 St. Johns Mount, Newbold Moor, Chesterfield.
There's an earlier thread on here which might explain the difference in dates....? Devonshire Regiment It's possible he was wounded and captured on 12 June along with them men named in Post #2 of that thread, taken deeper into France for treatment as the Allies approached and only pronounced fit enough in August to be treated as a Prisoner of War in a Stalag, rather than as a hospital patient? That could also explain his release being marked as "Unable to meet Army fitness requirements"..... anyone have a better answer?
I'm not sure that thread helps. He doesn't seem to have been wounded as the casualty returns normally say "wounded and POW", the ceasing to fulfil army fitness requirements also comes up in quite a few others even if not wounded, the best part of a year in camps, with limited exercise, more limited food and the hunger march etc isn't really going to have liberated POW's in tip top condition. Liberation questionnaire needed (hopefully he filled one in).
