Post by jrwentz on Jan 28, 2015 22:11:37 GMT -5
EDIT: I originally posted this message early in 2015 at a time when Dad was interested in finding photos of the bombed out RR bridge he had crossed to return to American control in 1945. At the time Dad was thinking he crossed the Mulde River. Dad passed away in April of 2019 and I am still organizing the military information he left for us. In 1988 he had filled out a two page form for the VA concerning his time as a POW. He described his release on this form, but he indicated the bridge he crossed was over the Elbe River. So the video does not show the actual bridge he crossed. Wurzen is about 20 miles west of the Elbe River at Muhlberg. If I find additional information I will post it here.
www.criticalpast.com/video/65675073955_Allied-prisoners_World-War-II_partially-wrecked-bridge_ex-prisoners
My father, Wm. J. Wentz - 423 - Co M, crossed this bridge on April 25, 1945 to reach the American line. We have been searching for a photo for several years and I found this footage for him to view. Several days prior to crossing my Dad was working the brown coal fields at the Bad Liebenwerda camp. Russians were getting close so the German Guards marched them Stalag IV-B at Muhlberg. IV-B was overcrowded and they were turned away. So two German guards walked them to the Mulde River at Wurzen, where a bombed out RR bridge crossed the river. The guards told them to cross and they would see an American tank with a US flag on the other side. At that point, on the 25th, there were not many other people around.
The crossing was difficult. In the footage you will see many boards laid down so people could walk across the places were ties were missing. On the 25, they straddled a rail and shimmied across those parts of the bridge. This footage was filmed on April 30, and by then many released allied POWs were crossing.
After reaching the other side, the tank crew gave them what few scraps of food they had. Dad did not know what would come next, so he wrote down my mother's address and asked them to send word to my mother that he was back to the American line.
This clip runs a little over three minutes. There are many more clips available that may interest veterans and their families. You can use the search feature to find them. You can also view selected stills from the videos. There are 207 stills from the linked clip. This site is set up to sell footage for documentaries, etc.
www.criticalpast.com/video/65675073955_Allied-prisoners_World-War-II_partially-wrecked-bridge_ex-prisoners
My father, Wm. J. Wentz - 423 - Co M, crossed this bridge on April 25, 1945 to reach the American line. We have been searching for a photo for several years and I found this footage for him to view. Several days prior to crossing my Dad was working the brown coal fields at the Bad Liebenwerda camp. Russians were getting close so the German Guards marched them Stalag IV-B at Muhlberg. IV-B was overcrowded and they were turned away. So two German guards walked them to the Mulde River at Wurzen, where a bombed out RR bridge crossed the river. The guards told them to cross and they would see an American tank with a US flag on the other side. At that point, on the 25th, there were not many other people around.
The crossing was difficult. In the footage you will see many boards laid down so people could walk across the places were ties were missing. On the 25, they straddled a rail and shimmied across those parts of the bridge. This footage was filmed on April 30, and by then many released allied POWs were crossing.
After reaching the other side, the tank crew gave them what few scraps of food they had. Dad did not know what would come next, so he wrote down my mother's address and asked them to send word to my mother that he was back to the American line.
This clip runs a little over three minutes. There are many more clips available that may interest veterans and their families. You can use the search feature to find them. You can also view selected stills from the videos. There are 207 stills from the linked clip. This site is set up to sell footage for documentaries, etc.