Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 6, 2020 13:57:46 GMT 12
ARDUOUS MARCH
PRISONERS OF NAZIS
NEW ZEALANDERS' STORY
LONDON, April 11.
Still feeling the effects of their long march from Lamsdorf, near the Polish border, to Zeigenhain in Germany, a distance of 491 miles which they covered in 44 days, and of lack of food, 12 New Zealand airmen are at present in London.
Apart from one or two with traces of beriberi, they are fairly fit, tired but in good heart and yet a little dazed at their freedom.
They are moving on today to Brighton where they will stay at hotels before going on leave. A number of men of the N.Z.E.F. who made the march have also arrived in England and are now at a repatriation centre in Kent.
This is the story told by the airmen of their march when cold, hungry, weary, and sometimes beaten up by their guards, they trekked across Germany from the path of the advancing Russians eventually to be liberated by the Americans.
STORY OF SUFFERING.
The story is one of misery and suffering, but stout-heartedness. Generally speaking, it applies to all who took part in that trek, including the men of the N.Z.E.F., as well as airmen.
We knew pretty well the trend of the war since there were several wireless sets in our camp [Stalag 344] and the boys used to listen in to the B.B.C. and circulate news," they said. "It was, of course, against the rules to have sets, but they were secured from Germans who had been bribed with chocolate, soap, and cigarettes.
"It was certainly not the best of camps. There were 9000 men, all n.c.o.s and rankers in one-tenth of a square mile, including 87 men of the R.N.Z.A.F. and many of the N.Z.E.F. The sleeping quarters were cramped, and the sanitary conditions so bad that in summer you could smell the camp at least a mile away. There were rats, fleas, bedbugs, and an inadequate water supply so that we had only one hot shower a fortnight.
BITTERLY COLD.
"We lived in barracks with concrete floors and it was bitterly cold in winter. The Germans could not supply us with blankets and we slept on straw palliasses.
"But we were lucky. We got food parcels most of the time, both New Zealand and Red Cross and also from the Argentine. They arrived regularly until last September when the German transport system began to break down,
"We were not overbadly off. We had our camp concerts and sports and we had the wireless.
"There were rumours for at least six months that we would have to move when the Russians advanced. Then one day we got an 8-day stand by. Finally, on January 22, we were instructed that we would have to move off in two hours. "We were lined up by compounds, I each man carrying as much as he could manage conveniently. We were also issued with one Red Cross food parcel and with German rations for two days — half a loaf of bread and a quarter of a pound of margarine for each man.
ON SLIPPERY ROADS.
"It was bitterly cold. There was snow coating the ground and the road was slippery with ice. As a result several men fell, some hurting themselves badly.
"Most of the chaps had good clothing, boots, and shoes, but these, of course, soon wore out.
"Our first march was to Gorlitz, a distance of 376 kilometres, which we reached on February 3. The second leg was from Gorlitz to Zeigenhain, a distance of 411 kilometres, and we were on the road from February 10 to March 12, covering, in all, 787 kilometres or 491 miles.
"We had our stalag guards with us on the first lap to Gorlitz and they were not too bad since they knew us and realised they could continue bartering bits of food for cigarettes and things from our parcels. But that first day was bad. We covered 20 kilometres in a blizzard and men began to fall out with foot trouble and sickness.
BOOTS FREEZE ON FEET
"Sometimes they were collected in horse carts and brought along or just left behind. That night we were herded into a barn like sheep for the night. It was so cold that our boots froze on us.
"The cold was the worst of those few days for we had our Red Cross parcels and they kept us going. But the cold was bitter and the German guards did not improve things by keeping us hanging about for two hours at a time calling the roll.
"Later, as we got nearer Gorlitz, a thaw began and things were a bit better, but by then food was getting very short and some days no German rations were issued at all. In some places we saw Russian slave labourers many of them just skin and bone, and we swapped a few things like odd clothing with them for the little bread they could give us.
WEEK IN GORLITZ.
"We had a week in Gorlitz, 400 men to a billet built for 120. There were no Red Cross parcels, only poor German rations and slush everywhere. It was a case of hanging around and waiting.
"When we left Gorlitz on March 10 we found that our guards had been changed and that our Stalag men had been replaced by civilians, who were just terrible. They thought nothing of bashing the boys with rifle butts for trivial offences like trying to get a drink of water and they behaved abominably.
"Part of the trouble, of course, was that they were as hungry as we were, and they did not like it when they found that Polish, Russian, Czech, French, and other slave labourers were prepared to help us, and that even some German civilians were glad to get what little soap or cigarettes we had. Fortunately the weather was dry and not too cold, otherwise things would have been very different.
LONG MARCH MADE.
"The roads were also good, but it was no fun marching for four days on two packets of biscuits. One day we marched 32 kilos. We were told that at the end of the day we would reach a stalag at Eisenberg, but there was no stalag there and we had to continue for another seven kilos to a community farm. It was a sickening day.
"Sometimes we were given rest days —two altogether—but we would rather have been marching because we were not allowed out of our barns, there was no water for washing, and we got little real rest, feeling even more tired next day
"We all had matted beards now and were grimed with dirt and looked a motley gang plodding on mile after mile. Our daily ration was a little bread and 10 men were sharing a 2lb tin of meat.
ZEIGENHAIN REACHED.
"At long last we reached Zeigenhain. There we were put in marquees, 300 men in each sleeping shoulder to shoulder, feet to feet. We were able to shave and clean up, but we had no soap except a little German stuff which was terrible. And we had our wireless set going again and could follow the news once more.
"We arrived at Zeigenhain on March 12, and soon began to hear guns firing and a great deal of aerial activity daily and nightly. But we seldom saw any German aircraft.
"Food was our worst problem. In the morning we had a cup of coffee or mint tea. At midday there was a bowl of soup—about half a litre. In the afternoon there was a piece of bread and more coffee.
"The result was that after the trying conditions of the trek which made us weak we were unable to pick up any strength on this so-called diet. We became so listless that it was as much as we could do to get up from our beds and go and have a wash.
PARADES STILL HELD.
"The Germans still held parades, however, but out of 300 men in our marquee as many as 140 could not turn out. And those who did were tormented by a sergeant and corporal who kept them hanging about for an hour to an hour and a half while they checked and rechecked their names.
"Soon many chaps began to get dysentery and suffer from malnutrition. Funerals were held daily,
"On March 28 we were told we would have to evacuate as the Americans were advancing, and those who were still fit— about 200 out of about 900 [nearly 3000 had left Lamsdorf, but some were diverted en route —would have to go. The rest of us who were sick remained in camp. Next we learned that most of the Germans had left the camp. We were told to keep out of sight in case we still might be taken off. About midday on the 30th white flags began to be put out in the local village
"THE BOYS WENT MAD."
"We heard gun fire down the road and the Germans began to stream past in a disorderly rabble, on bikes, in carts—anything. And then we saw tanks. One of our camp staff went out with a white flag and stopped some of them and they came into our camp. The boys went mad. Although they were sick, the emotional excitement bucked them up and they carried the first American in shoulder high. The Americans began to shower us with cigarettes and food, and were marvellous to us. From then on things gradually got better. Next day we had two lots of soup, and everybody soon perked up. We stayed at the camp until April 9, and then, at 6 a.m., we were driven in trucks to an airfield and flown to England in two and a half hours.
"It was wonderful. We arrived at an airfield where we were given a marvellous reception, and then moved to a camp near London. We are all looking forward to getting our back mail and a spot of leave, but at present we would like a good rest for a few days. The strangest feeling of all is actually being free again, it is hard to realise, and every now and again when we begin to wander about we suddenly check ourselves to make sure we are not being watched, and then suddenly we realise it is all right and that we are free."
EVENING POST, 13 APRIL 1945
EVENING POST, 13 APRIL 1945
PRISONERS OF NAZIS
NEW ZEALANDERS' STORY
LONDON, April 11.
Still feeling the effects of their long march from Lamsdorf, near the Polish border, to Zeigenhain in Germany, a distance of 491 miles which they covered in 44 days, and of lack of food, 12 New Zealand airmen are at present in London.
Apart from one or two with traces of beriberi, they are fairly fit, tired but in good heart and yet a little dazed at their freedom.
They are moving on today to Brighton where they will stay at hotels before going on leave. A number of men of the N.Z.E.F. who made the march have also arrived in England and are now at a repatriation centre in Kent.
This is the story told by the airmen of their march when cold, hungry, weary, and sometimes beaten up by their guards, they trekked across Germany from the path of the advancing Russians eventually to be liberated by the Americans.
STORY OF SUFFERING.
The story is one of misery and suffering, but stout-heartedness. Generally speaking, it applies to all who took part in that trek, including the men of the N.Z.E.F., as well as airmen.
We knew pretty well the trend of the war since there were several wireless sets in our camp [Stalag 344] and the boys used to listen in to the B.B.C. and circulate news," they said. "It was, of course, against the rules to have sets, but they were secured from Germans who had been bribed with chocolate, soap, and cigarettes.
"It was certainly not the best of camps. There were 9000 men, all n.c.o.s and rankers in one-tenth of a square mile, including 87 men of the R.N.Z.A.F. and many of the N.Z.E.F. The sleeping quarters were cramped, and the sanitary conditions so bad that in summer you could smell the camp at least a mile away. There were rats, fleas, bedbugs, and an inadequate water supply so that we had only one hot shower a fortnight.
BITTERLY COLD.
"We lived in barracks with concrete floors and it was bitterly cold in winter. The Germans could not supply us with blankets and we slept on straw palliasses.
"But we were lucky. We got food parcels most of the time, both New Zealand and Red Cross and also from the Argentine. They arrived regularly until last September when the German transport system began to break down,
"We were not overbadly off. We had our camp concerts and sports and we had the wireless.
"There were rumours for at least six months that we would have to move when the Russians advanced. Then one day we got an 8-day stand by. Finally, on January 22, we were instructed that we would have to move off in two hours. "We were lined up by compounds, I each man carrying as much as he could manage conveniently. We were also issued with one Red Cross food parcel and with German rations for two days — half a loaf of bread and a quarter of a pound of margarine for each man.
ON SLIPPERY ROADS.
"It was bitterly cold. There was snow coating the ground and the road was slippery with ice. As a result several men fell, some hurting themselves badly.
"Most of the chaps had good clothing, boots, and shoes, but these, of course, soon wore out.
"Our first march was to Gorlitz, a distance of 376 kilometres, which we reached on February 3. The second leg was from Gorlitz to Zeigenhain, a distance of 411 kilometres, and we were on the road from February 10 to March 12, covering, in all, 787 kilometres or 491 miles.
"We had our stalag guards with us on the first lap to Gorlitz and they were not too bad since they knew us and realised they could continue bartering bits of food for cigarettes and things from our parcels. But that first day was bad. We covered 20 kilometres in a blizzard and men began to fall out with foot trouble and sickness.
BOOTS FREEZE ON FEET
"Sometimes they were collected in horse carts and brought along or just left behind. That night we were herded into a barn like sheep for the night. It was so cold that our boots froze on us.
"The cold was the worst of those few days for we had our Red Cross parcels and they kept us going. But the cold was bitter and the German guards did not improve things by keeping us hanging about for two hours at a time calling the roll.
"Later, as we got nearer Gorlitz, a thaw began and things were a bit better, but by then food was getting very short and some days no German rations were issued at all. In some places we saw Russian slave labourers many of them just skin and bone, and we swapped a few things like odd clothing with them for the little bread they could give us.
WEEK IN GORLITZ.
"We had a week in Gorlitz, 400 men to a billet built for 120. There were no Red Cross parcels, only poor German rations and slush everywhere. It was a case of hanging around and waiting.
"When we left Gorlitz on March 10 we found that our guards had been changed and that our Stalag men had been replaced by civilians, who were just terrible. They thought nothing of bashing the boys with rifle butts for trivial offences like trying to get a drink of water and they behaved abominably.
"Part of the trouble, of course, was that they were as hungry as we were, and they did not like it when they found that Polish, Russian, Czech, French, and other slave labourers were prepared to help us, and that even some German civilians were glad to get what little soap or cigarettes we had. Fortunately the weather was dry and not too cold, otherwise things would have been very different.
LONG MARCH MADE.
"The roads were also good, but it was no fun marching for four days on two packets of biscuits. One day we marched 32 kilos. We were told that at the end of the day we would reach a stalag at Eisenberg, but there was no stalag there and we had to continue for another seven kilos to a community farm. It was a sickening day.
"Sometimes we were given rest days —two altogether—but we would rather have been marching because we were not allowed out of our barns, there was no water for washing, and we got little real rest, feeling even more tired next day
"We all had matted beards now and were grimed with dirt and looked a motley gang plodding on mile after mile. Our daily ration was a little bread and 10 men were sharing a 2lb tin of meat.
ZEIGENHAIN REACHED.
"At long last we reached Zeigenhain. There we were put in marquees, 300 men in each sleeping shoulder to shoulder, feet to feet. We were able to shave and clean up, but we had no soap except a little German stuff which was terrible. And we had our wireless set going again and could follow the news once more.
"We arrived at Zeigenhain on March 12, and soon began to hear guns firing and a great deal of aerial activity daily and nightly. But we seldom saw any German aircraft.
"Food was our worst problem. In the morning we had a cup of coffee or mint tea. At midday there was a bowl of soup—about half a litre. In the afternoon there was a piece of bread and more coffee.
"The result was that after the trying conditions of the trek which made us weak we were unable to pick up any strength on this so-called diet. We became so listless that it was as much as we could do to get up from our beds and go and have a wash.
PARADES STILL HELD.
"The Germans still held parades, however, but out of 300 men in our marquee as many as 140 could not turn out. And those who did were tormented by a sergeant and corporal who kept them hanging about for an hour to an hour and a half while they checked and rechecked their names.
"Soon many chaps began to get dysentery and suffer from malnutrition. Funerals were held daily,
"On March 28 we were told we would have to evacuate as the Americans were advancing, and those who were still fit— about 200 out of about 900 [nearly 3000 had left Lamsdorf, but some were diverted en route —would have to go. The rest of us who were sick remained in camp. Next we learned that most of the Germans had left the camp. We were told to keep out of sight in case we still might be taken off. About midday on the 30th white flags began to be put out in the local village
"THE BOYS WENT MAD."
"We heard gun fire down the road and the Germans began to stream past in a disorderly rabble, on bikes, in carts—anything. And then we saw tanks. One of our camp staff went out with a white flag and stopped some of them and they came into our camp. The boys went mad. Although they were sick, the emotional excitement bucked them up and they carried the first American in shoulder high. The Americans began to shower us with cigarettes and food, and were marvellous to us. From then on things gradually got better. Next day we had two lots of soup, and everybody soon perked up. We stayed at the camp until April 9, and then, at 6 a.m., we were driven in trucks to an airfield and flown to England in two and a half hours.
"It was wonderful. We arrived at an airfield where we were given a marvellous reception, and then moved to a camp near London. We are all looking forward to getting our back mail and a spot of leave, but at present we would like a good rest for a few days. The strangest feeling of all is actually being free again, it is hard to realise, and every now and again when we begin to wander about we suddenly check ourselves to make sure we are not being watched, and then suddenly we realise it is all right and that we are free."
EVENING POST, 13 APRIL 1945
EVENING POST, 13 APRIL 1945
