British POW Experiences In Italian and German Camps

P.o.w.

Kyt,
after Tobruk had fallen on the 21st June it took just a week before Mersa Matruh went the same way. The cage at Matruh was as stated rather small but well constructed. The same conditions at Tobruk where the cage was on the Bardia Road just past the N.A.A.F.I. The Germans initially held control at Mersa Matruh but as agreed handed over to the Italians.
Officers were usually flown to Italy as soon as practical,but some O.Rs were in "transit" for almost 6 months. Many makeshift holding camps were constructed in anywhere convenient;Wadis, Graveyards and Dockside warehouses which were the main source of incarceration at Benghazi until early June. Wire was strung around the Oasis at Koefia and up to 8,000 P.O.W. were held there until transport was available to take them to Italy. Our Anzac Comrades still refer to this camp as "The Palms".
About three weeks later a further larger camp had been constructed to the South of Benghazi at Sidi Husein. This was constantly enlarged,and at one time held 24,000 men. Conditions were insanitary and many suffered from Dysentery. August there was an outbreak of Diptheria. It was considered by a South African M.O. that over 60 Prisoners died through lack of medication.
Although huge dumps of food and Medical supplies had been captured the prisoners saw very little of it. Many were like Cpl Bill Mackie of K.O.R.R. and lost up to 30% of their body weight whilst prisoner. There were cases of prisoners being chained to the wire in crucifix fashion, others were chained left hand to right leg and right hand to left leg. The only shelter at these camps was made by buttoning two Italian Groundsheets together to make a two man tent.
Later with the Royal Navy successes most re-supply was made through Tripoli,so most of the prisoners were eventually transported by Lorry and trailer to camps in the Tripoli area. Souani ben Adem,Tarhuna,Trig Tarhuna,Campo Benito and Nahum. Conditions in these camps were little different,the prisoners were still existing with poor sanitation and shelter and on starvation diets.
The Members of the Indian Forces were made to work on the Docks unloading Ammunition and othe War Materials. This was doubly dangerous at night as attacks were made on the Docks by the R.A.F.

Transportation to Italy was also perilous with 7 ships carrying prisoners to Italy were torpedoed by R.N. Submarines. Five were sunk,one was beached off Greece and the other towed to Navarino.

Then there were the Italian Camps!!

 

My Dad was in this camp for a year around 1943/44, he doesnt have much to say good about it the Italians were not too good to the prisoners after capitulation my Dad was re-captured and sent to Stalag 8b German Polish border, I was treated far better by the Germans.

Not sure if you still need to know anything but if you do get back and maybe I can help Dad is still alive and will be 90 years old this year but still has all his faculties.

 

POW Camp PG 73 in Carpi

[my late father was a POW in pg 73 carpi.
his name was Pte. louis reginald watson (reg) of the cheshire regiment,no. 4122505, he was captured in 1942 at tobruk and shipped to italy.
escaped while on an outside working party, remained free up to the italian capitulation.
i know its a long shot , but is he mentioned in your grandfathers diary.
regards
geoff watson

 

Hi my Dad was in the same camp, he is still alive but I'm afraid he doesnt remember names very well as he will be 90 next week.. I will write back if he remembers your Dad.
Regards Angela.

 

My father was also at PG73 in 1942. I am trying to find out where in Germany he would have been sent to after the Germans moved in. Any advice is appreciated. David

 

Hi,
if you give a name and perhaps his unit I could possibly help.

 

Yes. Emailing me a copy of what you wrote would be appreciated. Thank you. David

 

Lance Corporal Colin Mitchell with the Royal Engineers.
Apparently he ended up at StalagXIB in Fallingbostel but I am still investigating and need to get a copy of his service record and Red Cross Record to be sure of the facts. Thanks for your interest in my case. David

 

David,
the best source of information regarding a POWs incarceration is not with the Red X as they only have minor details. With the best will in the world they couldn't keep up with POW Movements.Especially in early 1945 during the Winter marches Westwards.
A Report made on Liberation is the first place to look while waiting for a Service Record .These are written by the man himself. The File would be WO 344/221 and is at KEW.
Most, but unfortunately not all Ex POW made a Report on Liberation, but it is worth checking as they give Name Rank No. Unit D.O.B. Date of Enlistment.Home Address, Civilian Occupation, Date and place of Capture. Lists of Camps where he was held and dates he was in the Camps.

Regards
Brian

 

Thanks for your advice. I can't actually go to Kew (as I live in Japan) so I was hoping the office there accepted written correspondence or even better - email. Do you know how and who to contact there? David

 

Hello David,
it would be a bit of a hike for you.
What I have done is to add the File to my notes, and hopefully there will be time to take a look. Should be in London on 2nd April. Just one point; did he have any other Christian Names.

Regards
Brian

 

PG 73 was opened on 21st July 1942.

Red Cross Visits:- Sept 1942 - Dec 1942 - Mar 1943 and Jun 1943.
Description August 1943; N. of Modena. Camp area 120,000 sq mtrs in two sections on Plain. New Bungalows in Fosseli Valley. Identical Camp adjacent. Also Hospital. 44:47N - 10:56E

 

That would be fantastic if you had the time to look for him. He only had the first name of Colin and the family name of Mitchell. Rank was Lance Corporal. I believe his army number was 2007895 and POW number from the last camp (Stalag XIB Fallingbostel) was 140515. I can't be sure os these numbers but hopefully they are correct.
Thank you. David

 

Not a problem David.
Should be time as I will be at KEW Tuesday - Saturday.

Brian

 

Hello again. I was wondering how you got on at KEW. David

 

Hi David,
sorry for the delayed reply.
We were out of the Country for the week following the visit to KEW.
Unfortunately there was no report in the File. I checked through a large part in case it had been misfiled. My wife checked it after I did just to be doubly shore.

Unfortunately this was one of three reports I looked for. Only one was found.
Nothing too unusual about this I am afraid when looking for Liberation reports made by former Military POW. Those for the Air Force seems to be 100%.


Brian

 

Thank you for your efforts Brian. My next attempt will be through the British Army and the Red Cross. I have an application form for doing a search and will try that approach next. If and when I get any positive results I will post them here. David