WARTIME GUIDES

We have just returned from Poland where as a family we went to see where our father,Signalman John Fenwick had been a prisoner of war for 5 years. He spent half of his time at Stalag XXA and then he was sent to Stalag XXB. Dad did not talk very much about his time in Poland so we had very little information. We found some photos and a few cards,letters etc in a file after our father died. My sister and I both felt we would like to go and see where dad had been. We did not know where to start but luckily for us we found Pawel and Hania's web site and so we contacted them to see if they could help us with our journey of remembrance. Pawel took us to visit the forts,memorials and war cemeteries.. He took us to the museum where we met Peter who showed us his collection of  WWll memorabilia,and then to  see Thomas and his collection of bunkers,gun emplacements etc. These people are so dedicated to the preservation of the history of WWll and Polish history in the past,...

We would like to inform about that Hanias' Master Thesis dedicated to Stalag XXA was awarded in city council competiton. Subject of MA was : The formation of national identity in times of danger on the example of British prisoners of war held In Stalag XX A, 1939-1945.  With President of town

Any escape from the camp was forbidden under the threat of death. Yet, there were some people who tried to achieve that, by either flleing from main camps, which was extremaly difficult. Anyone who would approach the fence could have been killed without any warning. Some tried to escape from working camps. This way was easier, because there were fewer guards but often they had no knowledge over the lands they stay on. with no food, preparations an escape was doomed to failure.  However, there were 2 major routes which prisoners of war used to escape. Some used the route via Gdansk (Danzig) to Sweden. There was even a special organization from Bydgoszcz (Bromberg) which helped to run away f or money (ap. 2000 - 4000 Reich marks). Others like Mr Foster (his story is described further in this blog) used a way via Posen to Germany.  There was also a possibility to run away via Russia. But, the general reception of fugitives by the Russians was negative and many ...

the battle of Dunkirk At the beginning of May 1940 Hitler decided to attack the Low Countries. The Low Countries is a historical name for Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg.   The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), French and Belgium troops had been situated on the French and Belgium border with Germany since September 1939, awaiting the inevitable German attack. Germans under the commander General Gerd von Rundstedt made a decision to attack the channel ports before the Allied troops could evacuate. Using the “blitzkrieg” method of attack (rapid advances by armoured columns supported by overwhelming air superiority) British, French and Belgian armies were rapidly overcome.   General Lord Gort who was in charge of the British Expeditionary Force, foresaw that the German attack would rapidly overrun the British forces and would arrive at the channel ports before the BEF could be evacuated to England. Therefore, he conducted a series of fighting retreats to the po...

Those prisoners of war who committed a crime were sent to a hard labour camp to Graudenz (ap.100km north from Thorn). Here is the list of those who were sent there on 19.06.1943 no name Date of birth occupation 1 4752 Victor Websell 9.12.17 shoemaker 2 5175 Harris Newman 7.11.12 conductor 3 5737 Frank Chaney 9.08.16 ? 4 5862 John Wright 14.08.14 worker 5 5891 Eric Mayne 2.01.14 police officer 6 6184 Alfred Hill 21.07.19 ? 7 7507 Robert Smith 24.05.08 ? 8 8662 Thomas Coles 7.10.11 ? 9 9368 William Lancaster 23.04.18 painter 10 9699 ...