POW in Stalag XXB - advice please

[cpercival]

My father was at Thorn from 1.4.44 until 11.8.44 at which time it was designated Stalag 357.  He was then moved to Fallingbostel (Oerbke) which was also designated Stalag 357.  Was the numbering changed at some point?

Clive P

[amberden]

My father was also a prisoner at Stalag XXB (POW No 527) and he was sent to one of the numerous work camps.

I believe the work camp number was 299 but have no idea of its location.

I have attached a photo of the group he was with ( I think on the farm ) and if anyone recognises any of them please contact me. I will willingly email a copy to you.

The only two men I know are my dad G Bates middle row last on the right and R H Mackay rear row last on the right

I have also attached the reverse of another photo sent to my dad which leads me to believe the work camp was No 299

[Regorian]

Wehrkreis XX (Military District 20) with HQ at Danzig. It was carved out of occupied Poland and had not existed pre-war.

As of 10August1944 Camps were Stammlager XX A (Thorn-South), with OffzLager XX A, Stalag XX B (Marienburg, with 2 camps Oliva and Bischofsburg) and 357 Thorn-South.

Camp guards were provided by Landesshuetzen Btl 397 (Graudenz), 610 (Marienwerder), 714 (Thorn), 717 (Danzig) and1012 (Thorn-South).

Oflag = officers camp, Stalag = other ranks camp. 

[Greg Anthony]

Hi,

My grandfather (William Anthony) was held in Stalag XXB for most of the war. I'd love to see if anyone has any photos or documents showing or mentioning him in it. I recently have found a photo of him in the Stalag. Hopefully someone else can see themselves, their father, grandfather etc in this.

Also, the photo shows 'G.B. 583" - would this be a work party number, or does anyone know what this would be related to?

Thanks
Regards
Greg

(I cant do PM's with my account, but would love to see what else Greenrig has in terms of photos etc)

[amberden]

As you will see from my previous post I am far from being an expert on this.  I don't think the GB number has any relationship to the work camp the prisoners were allocated to. As previously mentioned my dad was at work camp 299 an outpost of the main Stalag XXb at Marienburg(now Malbork) but his photo has a GB 328 number. If anyone has found a way of tracing these numbers to a location I would love to know.
I have recently discovered a reference to work camp 299 of Stalag XXb as being at Forsthaus Wesseln and some kind of reference to an entry in the records at NA for March 1943.
There are only two Wesseln's that I can find, one is in Germany at the base of the Danish peninsular and the other is close to Hannover. Both of these are more than 200km frm Marienburg so I think it may be another of those places that have undergone a name change. I have a photo of the the farm house that was the base of 299 but absolutely no clue as to the location. If anyone can shed any light on this I would be extremely grateful

[Alex lewis]

My grandfather was Robert Alfred Wilson (snowy) known in the pow camp. His pow no was 7524 and army no 4078433 and he was in the 1st searchlight battery R.a. I have his army records and Red Cross records and I know he was captured in Calais on the 22nd of May 1940. He was sent to stalag XXA where he was there for a year and a half and then transferred to XXB. He was on the long march starting January 45 and liberated in April. I would appreciate if anyone would have info on my grandfather and specifically on how to obtain or see if he had a liberation report/questionair. Many thanks .

[Carol mussell]

I have found some old family postcards that my Great Uncle Les 'Micky' Britton sent to his mother from Stalag XXB. His no was 9933 I think.
The picture on the front is of him as the lead singer/entertainer of a music/dance act.
There is another with a troop of soldiers and the number 68243.
If this means anything to anyone else please let me know.

He was born in 1920

Thanks
Mike

[amberden]

Carol

Look closely at the number you quopte is 68243 but given that it is usually just a number
overprinted photographically on the photo could it be GB243. I say this as most of the photos
 I have seen of this type have a GB at the start of the number.

[chamo]

My grandfather, Llewelyn Charles Vaughan Edmunds was at Stalag XXB from 1940 until 1945.

His service number was 2733571, and PoW no was 7217.

He would never speak about his experiences during the war.

If anyone has any information, it would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks.