Post by connie on Sept 30, 2021 11:07:57 GMT -5
OVERVIEW OF CAMPS THAT HELD MEMBERS OF THE 106th: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/752/thread
MAP of GERMAN POW CAMPS: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4961/thread
FINDING a POW's WORK CAMP: jrwentz attached two helpful posts near the bottom of the following thread: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4942/thread
Stalag XVII A Kaisersteinbruch, Austria
This camp is found in their main list of POW camps. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_POW_camps#List_of_Camps_by_Military_District
one sketch found with photos of this camp in the booklet Kregie Memories. (See Indiana Military Site notes below)
Wikipedia Notes: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_XVIII-A
Stalag XVIII-A was a World War II German Army (Wehrmacht) prisoner-of-war camp located to the south of the town of Wolfsberg, in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia, then a part of Nazi Germany. A sub-camp Stalag XVIII-A/Z was later opened in Spittal an der Drau about 100 km (62 mi) to the west.
The camp, first designated Oflag XVIII-B, was opened at the site of a former parade ground on 19 October 1939, after the German invasion of Poland. The first inmates were Polish officers, from Spring 1940 also Belgian and French officers captured in the Battle of France.[1] Wolfsberg remained a sub-camp of Stalag XVII-A Kaisersteinbruch, until in March 1941 the officers were transferred to other camps and the camp was redesignated a Stalag of the military district XVIII, with French and Belgian prisoners being transferred in from Stalag XVII-A. The first British and Commonwealth prisoners arrived in July 1941 from a transit camp in Thessaloniki, Greece, having been captured during the battles of Greece and Crete. The first Soviet prisoners arrived in October 1941, and were housed in a separate enclosure.
In December a typhus epidemic broke out, and the entire camp was quarantined until March 1942. Many prisoners died, mainly Russians, as their living conditions and rations were substantially inferior to the other prisoners.[2] In June 1942, to ease overcrowding, three new barracks were built, and 400 British NCOs were transferred to Stalag XVIII-B at Spittal. In January 1943 the camp at Spittal became a Zweiglager (sub-camp) of Wolfsberg, and was redesignated as Stalag XVIII-A/Z. In March 1943 a Lazarett ("Camp Hospital") was built there.[2]
In November 1943, after the Italian armistice, Italian and Commonwealth prisoners arrived from Italy. Two hundred NCOs were transferred to Stalag XVIII-C at Markt-Pongau in June 1944. That month there were a total of 38,831 prisoners registered at the camp. Of these 10,667 were British and Commonwealth troops, of which only 825 were in the main camp, while the rest were attached to various Arbeitskommandos ("Labour Units").[2] In August 1944, according to a Red Cross report, there were 313 Arbeitskommandos attached to Stalag XVIII-A, which were split fairly equally between Landwirtschaft (agriculture or forestry) and Gewerbliche Wirtschaft (trade and industry).[3] There were several attempts to escape, primarily from the Arbeitskommandos.
On 18 December 1944 the camp was bombed by U.S. aircraft. Forty-six prisoners and several guards were killed. Both the British and French camp hospitals were hit, with the British hut being almost completely destroyed.[2] On the approach of Allied forces in April 1945 all fit prisoners from the camps and neighbouring labour units were marched east to Stalag XVIII-C.[2]
Officially, the camp was liberated by elements of the British 8th Army on 11 May 1945. In fact the prisoners had been in control of the camp since the 8th, the day of the German surrender. That day the Kommandant, Hauptmann Steiner, had handed over control of the camp to the Senior British Medical Officer and the "Men of Confidence". French and British prisoners disarmed their guards and took control of the camp armoury, and the local Post Office, Railway Station and Police Station. Over the next few weeks the prisoners were transported via Klagenfurt to transit camps in Bari and Naples, from where they were eventually repatriated. By the middle of June only Russian prisoners remained, these were eventually exchanged for British and American PoWs in Russian hands, near Graz. The camp then served as a British detention centre for ex-Nazis, before finally closing in mid-1947.[2]
Indiana Military Site Notes:
This man does not appear to have been a member of the 106th Infantry Division, but Jim West's Indiana Military Site includes one photo journal about XVIIA compiled by Ben Phelper as a gift for fellow inmates.
Click 17-A on the sidebar at: www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/SoThinkMenu/GermanPW-START.htm
Then click on the name: Ben H. Phelper
Also see this booklet entitled Kregie Memories: www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/26122430-kriegie-memories
This link to the booklet gives a bit of Phelper's history:
Ben Phelper was born in 1916, worked as an illustrator for Walt Disney and learned to fly before the WWII. He joined the Army Air Corp as a lieutenant and was shot down on April 17, 1943 aboard a B-17 Fly Fortress. He was sent to Stalag 17B near Vienna, Austria where he was POW for the next 2 years until freed at the end of the war. While in Stalag 17B he was able to bribe guards to obtain a camera and film. The book is full of amazing photos he took, and along with the hand written text, a vivid potrayal of life in a German POW camp is presented.
106th Connections ?
List of 423 Infantry Regiment POW's: www.indianamilitary.org/106ID/Rosters/REFERENCES/64%20-%20423rd%20roster/64.htm
Sidebar List of POW Camps & some names of POW's there www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/SoThinkMenu/GermanPW-START.htm
Sidebar List of Diaries, Obits, & Articles, etc. alphabetically on the Indiana Military Site: www.indianamilitary.org/106ID/SoThinkMenu/106thSTART.htm
none currently on the radar screen... If you know someone from the 106th who was here (or have other information to add, please hit the reply button below and post.
MAP of GERMAN POW CAMPS: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4961/thread
FINDING a POW's WORK CAMP: jrwentz attached two helpful posts near the bottom of the following thread: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4942/thread
Stalag XVII A Kaisersteinbruch, Austria
This camp is found in their main list of POW camps. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_POW_camps#List_of_Camps_by_Military_District
one sketch found with photos of this camp in the booklet Kregie Memories. (See Indiana Military Site notes below)
Wikipedia Notes: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_XVIII-A
Stalag XVIII-A was a World War II German Army (Wehrmacht) prisoner-of-war camp located to the south of the town of Wolfsberg, in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia, then a part of Nazi Germany. A sub-camp Stalag XVIII-A/Z was later opened in Spittal an der Drau about 100 km (62 mi) to the west.
The camp, first designated Oflag XVIII-B, was opened at the site of a former parade ground on 19 October 1939, after the German invasion of Poland. The first inmates were Polish officers, from Spring 1940 also Belgian and French officers captured in the Battle of France.[1] Wolfsberg remained a sub-camp of Stalag XVII-A Kaisersteinbruch, until in March 1941 the officers were transferred to other camps and the camp was redesignated a Stalag of the military district XVIII, with French and Belgian prisoners being transferred in from Stalag XVII-A. The first British and Commonwealth prisoners arrived in July 1941 from a transit camp in Thessaloniki, Greece, having been captured during the battles of Greece and Crete. The first Soviet prisoners arrived in October 1941, and were housed in a separate enclosure.
In December a typhus epidemic broke out, and the entire camp was quarantined until March 1942. Many prisoners died, mainly Russians, as their living conditions and rations were substantially inferior to the other prisoners.[2] In June 1942, to ease overcrowding, three new barracks were built, and 400 British NCOs were transferred to Stalag XVIII-B at Spittal. In January 1943 the camp at Spittal became a Zweiglager (sub-camp) of Wolfsberg, and was redesignated as Stalag XVIII-A/Z. In March 1943 a Lazarett ("Camp Hospital") was built there.[2]
In November 1943, after the Italian armistice, Italian and Commonwealth prisoners arrived from Italy. Two hundred NCOs were transferred to Stalag XVIII-C at Markt-Pongau in June 1944. That month there were a total of 38,831 prisoners registered at the camp. Of these 10,667 were British and Commonwealth troops, of which only 825 were in the main camp, while the rest were attached to various Arbeitskommandos ("Labour Units").[2] In August 1944, according to a Red Cross report, there were 313 Arbeitskommandos attached to Stalag XVIII-A, which were split fairly equally between Landwirtschaft (agriculture or forestry) and Gewerbliche Wirtschaft (trade and industry).[3] There were several attempts to escape, primarily from the Arbeitskommandos.
On 18 December 1944 the camp was bombed by U.S. aircraft. Forty-six prisoners and several guards were killed. Both the British and French camp hospitals were hit, with the British hut being almost completely destroyed.[2] On the approach of Allied forces in April 1945 all fit prisoners from the camps and neighbouring labour units were marched east to Stalag XVIII-C.[2]
Officially, the camp was liberated by elements of the British 8th Army on 11 May 1945. In fact the prisoners had been in control of the camp since the 8th, the day of the German surrender. That day the Kommandant, Hauptmann Steiner, had handed over control of the camp to the Senior British Medical Officer and the "Men of Confidence". French and British prisoners disarmed their guards and took control of the camp armoury, and the local Post Office, Railway Station and Police Station. Over the next few weeks the prisoners were transported via Klagenfurt to transit camps in Bari and Naples, from where they were eventually repatriated. By the middle of June only Russian prisoners remained, these were eventually exchanged for British and American PoWs in Russian hands, near Graz. The camp then served as a British detention centre for ex-Nazis, before finally closing in mid-1947.[2]
Indiana Military Site Notes:
This man does not appear to have been a member of the 106th Infantry Division, but Jim West's Indiana Military Site includes one photo journal about XVIIA compiled by Ben Phelper as a gift for fellow inmates.
Click 17-A on the sidebar at: www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/SoThinkMenu/GermanPW-START.htm
Then click on the name: Ben H. Phelper
Also see this booklet entitled Kregie Memories: www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/26122430-kriegie-memories
This link to the booklet gives a bit of Phelper's history:
Ben Phelper was born in 1916, worked as an illustrator for Walt Disney and learned to fly before the WWII. He joined the Army Air Corp as a lieutenant and was shot down on April 17, 1943 aboard a B-17 Fly Fortress. He was sent to Stalag 17B near Vienna, Austria where he was POW for the next 2 years until freed at the end of the war. While in Stalag 17B he was able to bribe guards to obtain a camera and film. The book is full of amazing photos he took, and along with the hand written text, a vivid potrayal of life in a German POW camp is presented.
106th Connections ?
List of 423 Infantry Regiment POW's: www.indianamilitary.org/106ID/Rosters/REFERENCES/64%20-%20423rd%20roster/64.htm
Sidebar List of POW Camps & some names of POW's there www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/SoThinkMenu/GermanPW-START.htm
Sidebar List of Diaries, Obits, & Articles, etc. alphabetically on the Indiana Military Site: www.indianamilitary.org/106ID/SoThinkMenu/106thSTART.htm
none currently on the radar screen... If you know someone from the 106th who was here (or have other information to add, please hit the reply button below and post.