POW TEMPORARY ENCLOSURE DUTY

[roger]

Would like to hear about the 106th Division after VE Day when it was assigned responsibility for several PoW camps in Germany, especially PWTE A-2 at Remagen. My father was a motorpool Sgt. with the 6951 Overhead (Prov) Battalion, Detachment F at PWTE A-2. Thanks....Roger Myers

[connie]

Roger,

Can't help you with the specific group you mention. Those numbers don't even fit into any familiar frame of reference for me. But, I know that there is mention in some of Dad's letters about going to the "cages" to get labor help for the day. I know nothing about whether his BN or their battery or another nearby unit was in charge. But would be interested in comparing notes at some point. (Right now those particular letters are not even indexed.) But, I think first reference to this activity may have appeared in France --- even before VE day. I'm not sure.

Good luck!
Connie

[roger]

Connie -
The particular camp I was referring to was part of a vast network of PoW camps along the Rhine. They handled thousands and thousands of German prisoners. The 6951st was a provisional guard battalion assigned to the 106th at the camp at Remagen. It was located near Sinzig, Koblenz and others. It was opened in April 1945 closed in July 1945.

Roger

[connie]

Roger,

Just curious about how the assignment of a provisional guard batttalion worked... Were they sent to the ETO in April or was this just a change of assignment in an area they already occupied?

I will keep my eye open as I work thru letters & look for anything that might relate to you. The first mention I do see of a PW camp is in a letter of April 11th -- toward the end of my father's time with A battery of the 592nd. The note is from somewhere in France. I have not yet pinned down their location at that time... He mentions waiting for their German PW labor to come in from the "cages" each morning.

Connie

[roger]

Hi Connie

I am not sure how the guard battalions were formed....my guess is that were reassigned. However, I wonder if the term "provisional" means that they were formed quickly and for the specific purpose of handling guard duty at the camps. Perhaps someone could give us some insight into this.

I do recall a story that my father told a family friend about escorting about 40 prisoners from the camp at Remagen to some location in France. It sounded as if they moved on foot and it took about 4 or 5 days.

Roger

[connie]

Roger,

Your memories of what you knew of your dad's experience are valuable. It's good to be able to talk. Obviously, the information below is information that is already familiar to you. But, it may be of interest to others:

For more information on this subject, check out POW Temporary Enclosure Duty on Carl's site:
www.freewebs.com/106thinfantry/powduty1945.htm

Connie

[Carl W.]

Provisonal units were formed because the troops that were otherwise engaged with the tasks such as guarding POW, would be combat infantry soldiers being kept away from the front line. Offcourse as in the late stages of the war, these troops were still in action, other men were needed for this task. As VE-Day came, Infantry troops were also assigned to these occupational tasks and with the 106th Division, the processing of German POW's was an enormous task.

I have heard stories of Belgian war volunteers who, when Belgium was first liberated in 1944, joined up with US Army units, were given a US Army uniform and a German rifle and were formed in seperate battalions or companies, used specifically to guard German POW's. I have a friend who's grandfather was one of them and he still has pictures of his grandpa in US Army uniform. So these things were not that uncommon and therefor in that late stage of the war, specific 'provisional' units would be formed to complete this task and when finished, they would again be reassigned to other units.

Carl

[connie]

Note:
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