Hi all, After being a member here for a number of years I've decided to try and write a book. I've been inspired by researching my great granddad's time as a POW and wanted to have a go at looking at the POW experience from the perspective of the enlisted men and NCOs to offset the huge volume of material that was published by Officers which has skewed public perceptions a bit to say the least. I am aware that I'm not the first one to do this but that hasn't stopped people published a load of books on D-Day, Arnhem, The Battle of Britain etc! I have amassed a considerable library of secondary material which I am currently working my way through armed with sticky notes and a highlighter but what I really want to get my hands on are unpublished accounts from the men themselves. I am looking for diaries written while they were captives or memoirs they might have bashed out a little later after the war. I have trawled a few Facebook groups for POW families and camps and have had some luck but it's a bit hit and miss but it has given me a few leads and some material to work with. I have also been reaching out further afield to Australian and New Zealand Archives as they have some stuff that is available digitally and thus saving me the cost of a flight to the Southern Hemisphere! I'd also be interested in material from Kew - reports on war crimes against prisoners on the march to the camps, in the camps and the marches West at the end of the war. I suspect that Drew5233 might have a stash of Liberation questionnaires that I'd love to get my hands on. While I'm not going to focus a huge amount of space on escaping, escape and evasion reports would be useful too. Basically, I want the Moon on a stick! So I am starting this thread in the hopes of getting the lowdown from the experts. Over to you folks...
Thank you. I made huge strides with research into my great grandad when I started posting here. The WW2 Talk well of knowledge runs extremely deep!
I would contact the Second World War Experience Centre - they have a lot of first hand accounts including diaries, memoirs, etc. www.war-experience.org. There are also accounts in their journal, eg: Journal 40 – POW | SWWEC Journal 08 – Captivity | SWWEC They also have a large number of oral histories, which I have contributed to. Recordings of mine which are in the archive include men who were captured at Cassel (Ox & Bucks and Royal Engineers), Leros, Singapore, Java, Bomber Command, etc. Best of luck!
I fully support you on this project. i am presently working on a similar book. Only, all the officers were strangers to me until 2011. My hometown "hosted" some 1100 officers an their orderlies. from 1940 until 1941. Stefan.
Excellent advice. A couple of people have mentioned the Second World War Experience Centre. Sounds like exactly what I'm after. Thank you!
OFLAG Vb The book is printed in German already. The English version should be ready early 2023. Stefan.
Ah - hence the username. My great grandfather was transferred from Stalag IXC to be an orderly at Warburg until the mass escape got it closed down. They were sent to Szubin - same thing happened, then Stalag Luft III …and we all know how that turned out! Then to a coal mine in Görlitz and finally to Fallingbostel. You’ll have to give me a heads up on when the English translation of you book is coming out.
Will do. I might post the book in WW2 Forum ( books, Films, TV, etc. anyway. ok,I might post the news on WW2 Forum anyway. I lived in Hanover from 1948 until 1972. Fallingbostel is pretty close. Stefan.
