Stalag Luft/Stalag Luft I - preparing for prisoners.

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by aussie_59, Jul 25, 2017.

  1. aussie_59

    aussie_59 Senior Member

    Hello all! Any help, ideas, thoughts appreciated.

    I've recently come across a photo that I believe to have been taken at Stalag Luft but outside of the camp, near to a watch tower (on the Barth side corner) of North 3 Compound.

    The photo was taken between July 1940 and February 1941, when only 60 British officers and an undefined number of NCO's were interned at the camp. This date range is ascertained by letters sent home, from noted camps by one of the airmen in the photo, F/O R.H. Jacoby (fourth from left), a 40 Sqdn Blenheim crew pilot shot down in May 1940.

    Does anyone have any thoughts on the photo and what's happening?

    The NCO officer, second from the left (possibly Luftwaffe - appears to be wearing NCO issued Fliegerbluse uniform), looks far too scruffy in appearance to be genuine. No insignia on jacket, no belt etc. A very casual appearance for an NCO, to be carrying out duties, especially with a more senior officer present.

    Next to him is a man in a black boiler suit (third from left), with a black woven hat on (beanie), smoking a pipe and holding a pair of pliers in one hand and what appears to be a paddle, in the other. PoW who tried to escape?

    The two allied airmen in uniform are holding objects but I can't quite make them out. F/O Jacoby (fourth from left), is possibly holding a pair of thick rubber gloves, whilst smoking a pipe and the other airmen, perhaps a photographic device of some description?

    The man in the centre at the back, appears to be wearing a German uniform (no cap), as does the man next to him (third from the right), wearing a German schiffmutze (boat cap). Of course we then have the senior German officer and the two armed gaurds.

    The river was behind the person taking the photo and there were buildings or at least a jetty there. Anyone know what they were used for? Supply drops by boat perhaps? Storage, water pumps?

    It's certainly an odd photo. Taken outside the camp. PoW's smoking pipes with big smiles. Possibly PoW's dressed as escapees, one in a black boiler suit and another as a German officer. Two armed gaurds but within close proximity to prisoners and just in general, a very relaxed atmosphere. P.R maybe orveven running through escape scenarios in preparation for the camp going fully operational? Was that a done thing to prepare gaurds, use PoW's to detect possible flaws in security?
     

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  2. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    Just a thought but early in the war, POWs were allowed to go on "parole walks" outside the wire.

    I've seen a photo of Colonel Albert Clark, USAAF and three Commonwealth POWs sitting in a rowboat circa 1942.

    Regards,

    Dave
     
  3. aussie_59

    aussie_59 Senior Member

    Thanks Dave! That could definitely be the case here. Photo possibly taken mid to late 1940, maybe the first wave of PoW's coming through from the Battle of France.

    Was that photo of Colonel Albert Clarke and others in the row boat, taken while at Stalag Luft 1?
     

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