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History of Stalag XXA in a pocket

Finally  we've  published, together with Historical-War Museum, a leaflet about Stalag XXA . It wouldn't have been done without a help from Local Tourist Organisation in Toruń and Toruń City Council. We hope, you will get a grasp of Stalag XXA history and perhaps motivate you to visit Toruń! Here you can view English / Polish version.

Investigation for lost keys

There are moments when our trips looks like  investigation than normal tourism. A story of Johny Walker is one of the most interesting at this time. He was an Australian POW who was imprisoned in Fort XV. During his stay he was preparing Whisky and apart from that he also made false keys to food storage. Before Australians were moved from Torun he hid keys in a hole near a window in  a Fort.  After 70. years his grandson Peter came to Torun to see where John spent 5 years and also we tried to find  keys. After few hours of walking and searching we found wires which look like the faked keys. But even John isn't sure that the wires were the same like these during WWII. By the way this is another prove for us that a lot of issues aren't closed. Probably parts of faked keys Preparations of whisky in Fort XV

Australian heritage in Torun

       It's very nice when an international cooperation isn't limited only to the internet. On 1.08 (in Poland this is an  anniversary of Warsaw uprising) we opened an exhibiton dedicated to Australian POW. The exhibition visited  President of the town, members of the Historical War Museum (who have given us space for the exhibit) the and local media Thanks to members of the 2/5 Australian General Hospital Association we possessed a lot of worthy things: unique pictures, books, posters, postcards etc. The most important is the flag (Red Ensign) based on the same one which was created in Stalag XX A in Thorn. To see the TV relation from the event click HERE  An Exhibition in Historical War Museum an original flag during sport parade in Fort XV

Two countries closer than usual

If anybody believes that world is small, it is! At the begining was an email for some information about Australians soldiers in Stalag XX A. From word to word our cooperation  with the southern part of the world has given us fruitful results such as sensational materials about a small regiment of Australians in Stalag XXA, Torun. We may also boast that now we are honored members of 2/5 Australian General Hospital association! From our blog we would like to thank for whole help and knowledge to: Ray Butterfield and all memmebers. The badge of 2/5 Australian General Hospital

Sgt Neil McLellan, Stalag XXA- Following in the footsteps of a great man!

After July we are sure that Stalag history is totally undiscovered. Single stories are such exciting that we could make a lot of movies. Below we publish a short story of Sgt Neil McLellan whose traces we had chance to follow.  Looking for founds of  barracks "My Grandfather, Sgt Neil McLellan, 202 Anti-Tank Battery (Isle of Bute), Royal Artillery, 51 st Highland Division was a Prisoner of War for 5 years in Stalag XXA during the Second World War. During this time he became the official camp photographer taking many pictures of events such as Theatre Plays, Boxing, Football and Rugby. He also attended the Funerals of many British POW’s so that the event could be recorded for military records. On leaving the camp to begin the infamous “Death March” he managed to hold on to many of these pictures and later traced some of the Families of the fallen. Like many others he would not talk about it in the years after the war. However in my years at School during the 80’

The last two barracks from Stalag XXB subcamp in Danzig

Lately, we went to Gdańsk (Danzig) for a studytour devoted to Stalag XXB. Mainly to see the last two baracks from Stalag XXB. And we found it! Sadly they are in very bad conditions and probably this year they will be distroyed. Therefore, we attach pictures and movie for you to see.   Above a movie from the area!

Deutsch Eylau subcamp

Not so long ago, we found a trace of prisoners of war in Deutsch Eylau (now Iława,Poland) Stalag XXB.Therefore, we went there to check that information. Happily, thanks to Mr Michał Młotek the author of a blog fabryka-historii.pl we were able to see what is left from the camp. We have found a monument and an unique plan! This summer we will do more research about this and for sure we will add some more information on the blog. a plague on the monument To those brutally murdered during WWII  prisoners of Hitler's working camps in Iława - citizens                                                                 a monument an engine house which was built by prisoners of war main gate a plan of a  camp

Nice memories from March studytour

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, and

We were awarded!

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

Escapes

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 of them w

From where did the prisoners of war appear in Stalag XXA?

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 port of Dun