11 Prisoners
Most of this chapter comes from primary sources. Hirst’s account of his captivity was published in 1998, while Enser, Garrett; Orme, Warsop, and Hirst’s original typescript are in the Nottinghamshire Archive, as is the POW diary of Cyril Pearson (DD/SF 3/23. There are other personal accounts in On Active Service and More Sherwood Foresters Memories. Tapes used from the IWM sound archive include Booker (#15591), Cowen (#19628), Edwards (#16087), Higton (#18618), Offiler (#16352), Orme, (#21600) and O'Sullivan (#20789). Secondary sources include Rolf (1988), Foot and Langley (2002), Longdon (2005) Richards (2019) and Fry (2020), while Nichol and Rennell (2002) describes the ‘death march’.
Notes
pp. 212-14 Enser, Nottinghamshire Archive DD/SF/3/6, ‘Story of Maurice Enser', pp. 11-21. The story of the RAF pilot is on p. 21, quoting Geoff Taylor, Return Ticket (1972). Enser had been moved to Stalag IV-H at Zeithain, though British accounts all refer to it simply as Jacobstahl. He relates having dental treatment here from a Russian female dentist, and IV-H housed not only a large Russian hospital but many female prisoners. It was also the site of many thousands of Russian deaths from starvation or disease. Other accounts used in this section are Orme, ‘Experiences of War’, p. 24; Warsop, ‘In God’s Pocket’, p. 176; O’Sullivan, IWM tape #20789, Reel 17; Higton papers, Journal entries December 1943–January 1943, Higton, IWM tape #18618, Reel 11.
p. 215 Storey, in More Sherwood Forester Memories, pp. 13–14, Offiler, IWM tape #16352, Reel 7.
pp. 215-16 William Edwards, IWM Tape #16087, Reels 1, 3–4. Prisoners collapsing from exhaustion evidenced by WO 224/15 Stalag IV-F, IRCC Report # 739, 18–21 March 1945, p. 3 - this was after British POWs had been removed from underground work! An IRCC inspection on 21 February 1944 held in WO 224/15 reported relatively good conditions at the camp and said that underground shifts only lasted 8–1/4 hours, although the March 1945 report says there were 10–hour surface shifts. It is unlikely the IRCC inspectors ventured underground.
pp. 216-18 Warsop, ‘In God’s Pocket’, pp. 166–87. WO 224/14A, Stalag IV-D IRCC report from a visit on 23 May 1944 confirms there was a work party located at Weise and Monke but there is no mention of disputed war work. William Fawcett served in the Green Howards and is recorded by the CWGC as being killed on 9 December 1944.
pp. 219-21 Maurice Needham’s story is in MSFM, p. 73-74. For conditions at Lamsdorf (originally Stalag VIII-B, later renamed Stalag 344) see WO 224/27, particularly IRCC reports dated 7–8 October 1943 and 22 January 1945. None of the men of the 2/5th captured at Dunkirk seem to have been killed at the time of the ‘death march’. There are some deaths recorded in the CWGC database for men of the 1/5th and 8th Battalions buried in Germany.
pp. 221-23 Orme, ‘Experiences of War’, pp. 25–33. Orme gives Reynolds’ first name as Bill, but his army and POW records identify him as Frederick (WO 416/304/256). The story of Fallingbostel is covered in John Nichol and Tony Rennell, The Last Escape: the untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Germany 1944–45 (London: Viking, 2002), pp. 259–296, but mostly from the view of RAF personnel. The IRCC inspection is recorded in WO 224/54, Stalag 357 IRCC Report 11 February 1945. The quote is from Harry Higton, held in the same camp.
pp. 223-24 Enser, ‘Story’, p. 25-33, The identification of the Russian unit is again from Geoff Taylor, Return Ticket.
pp. 224-25 Warsop’s story is a summary of ‘In God’s Pocket’, pp. 189–256. The air raid is described in pp. 201–10 and also covered in Rolf, Prisoners of the Reich, p. 204 and p. 266.
p. 226 Les Hughes, ‘The Special Allied Airborne Reconnaissance Force (SAARF)’ (1993), <http://www.insigne.org/SAARF-I.htm> [accessed 3/4/2023]; Nichol and Rennell, The Last Escape, pp. 179– 80. 219–220. WO 392/11 has been used to identify 5th SF prisoners held in Stalag XI-A, and WO 417 for dates of release of prisoners.
p. 226-27 Post-liberation experiences from Hirst ‘A Forester’s Story’, pp. 98–101; Enser, ‘Story’ pp. 29–32; Garrett, ‘What Did You Do in the War Grandad’, pp. 57–58; Warsop, ‘In God’s Pocket’, pp. 243–47.
p. 227 Deaths in captivity from CWGC database and WO417.
p. 228 Weight loss of PoWs from Cowen, IWM tape #19628, Reel 3; Higton, IWM tape #18618, Reel 11; Needham in MSFM, p. 75; Garrett, ‘What Did You Do Grandad’ p. 57. Double rations described in Orme, ‘Experiences of War’, p. 34.
pp. 228-29 For rehabilitation in the UK, TNA WO 32/11125 'Rehabilitation of returned prisoners', 1944–45 and WO/32/11129, ‘Rehabilitation of British ex-prisoners of war’, 1944. Personal experiences from Offiler, IWM tape #16352, Reel 7; Higton Papers, Journal entries 13 February 1943 and 21 March 1945, Higton IWM tape #18618, Reel 11; Orme, ‘Experiences of War’, p. 34; Hirst, ‘A Forester’s Story’, p. 103–04 and Enser, ‘Story’, p. 1.
p. 229 Paul Guinness, We Pledge Our Lives: A Post-War Manifesto From a War-Time Prison (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1945).