Garandomatic Posted March 5, 2015 Share #1 Posted March 5, 2015 I am reading Stalag III to go along with a recent uniform I picked up, as well as two local men that my dad knew well. In it, the German prison system is discussed, and it is stated that the Germans separated Allied POWs by branch of service, and I was already aware of the fact that the Luftwaffe acted as the hosts for the Allied Airmen that were captured. It got me thinking, however, that if the Wehrmacht took care of the Army and Luftwaffe the Air Forces, were there any US Navy personnel that were guests of the Kriegsmarine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2015 Share #2 Posted March 6, 2015 Yes, several naval officers were held. Here's a good article about them. It focuses mostly on merchant marine POWs, but it has information on the US Navy and Marine Corps POWs: http://www.usmm.org/milag.html Incidentally, I have a group to a US Navy Sailor who was taken as a POW on a u-boat following the sinking of his ship. However, when the u-boat crew discovered it couldn't hold all of the POWs, he was released after about 12 hours. I don't know if that would entitle him to the POW medal or not...I should look into it. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted March 6, 2015 Share #3 Posted March 6, 2015 Sailor who was taken as a POW on a u-boat following the sinking of his ship. However, when the u-boat crew discovered it couldn't hold all of the POWs, he was released after about 12 hours. Dave Dave- Released from a U-Boat??? Where did he go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2015 Share #4 Posted March 6, 2015 Dave- Released from a U-Boat??? Where did he go? The u-boat had remained surfaced with the ship's lifeboats nearby. No one who wrote any of the after action reports knew why the u-boat remained there so long, but in the end, they only took the ship's master as a prisoner, and returned the remaining prisoners to the lifeboats, giving them cigarettes, food, and brandy to sustain them until they were found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted March 6, 2015 Share #5 Posted March 6, 2015 The u-boat had remained surfaced with the ship's lifeboats nearby. No one who wrote any of the after action reports knew why the u-boat remained there so long, but in the end, they only took the ship's master as a prisoner, and returned the remaining prisoners to the lifeboats, giving them cigarettes, food, and brandy to sustain them until they were found. That was also a standard practice of U-Boats during the Great War Search for MOH recipient Edouard Izac, USNA 1915 - First Lieutenant of the USS LINCOLN taken aboard the U-90 At the time of his death in 1990, he was the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Great War If ever a Hollywood movie needed to be made, it would be "Prisoner of the U-90" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandomatic Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted March 6, 2015 I sure hoped people here had some VERY unknown information about a fairly obscure topic, and you guys haven't disappointed. So was there a Kriegsmarine camp, then, for the few Navy/Merchant Marine guys captured? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2015 Share #7 Posted March 6, 2015 I sure hoped people here had some VERY unknown information about a fairly obscure topic, and you guys haven't disappointed. So was there a Kriegsmarine camp, then, for the few Navy/Merchant Marine guys captured? About halfway down the page on the link I posted, it talks about the camps, specifically - American Prisoners of War Camps in Germany: Marlag and Milag Nord Prepared By Military Intelligence Service War Department, 1 November 1945 [Excerpts] Location The camp was situated at Westertimke, 30 miles southwest of Hamburg and 10 miles north of Bremen. It was well placed on sandy ground planted with pine trees. Strength Created for the confinement of Navy and Merchant Marine personnel only, the installation under normal conditions had a capacity of 5,300 and in emergencies of 6,900. According to official figures of the Protecting Power [switzerland], the strength in April 1944 was 4,268 with 41 nations and races represented. At no time were there more than 71 Americans from the Navy and Merchant Marine in this camp, and on 2 April 1945 two American Air Corps officers were imprisoned there, the first non-naval American personnel to arrive. A month before liberation, the camp held 35 American Merchant seamen and 9 regular service personnel including: Maj. Peter Ortiz and Lt. Walter W. Taylor of the Marine Corps and Lt. (jg) Richard N. Harris, USNR. Description The entire camp, which was constructed in the autumn of 1942 and subsequently added to, consisted of 7 lagers as follows: Lager I, Dulag, which was used as an interrogation and transit compound; Lager II, Marlag, housing personnel of the Royal Navy; Lager III, Milag, for the confinement of Merchant Marine personnel of the various nationalities; Lager IV, Milag (Inder), accommodating Indian seamen of the Merchant Navy; Lager V, Wache, for the camp guard; Lager VI, Kommandatur, the administrative officer for entire establishment; Lager VII, Stabslager, living quarters for the administrative personnel of the entire establishment. The Marlag Lager for the Navy POW and the Milag Lager for Merchant Marine POW each had 2 compounds designated as "O" and "M" for officers and enlisted men respectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2015 Share #8 Posted March 6, 2015 Here's another good website: http://www.scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk/amarlag.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMCR79 Posted March 6, 2015 Share #9 Posted March 6, 2015 Commander Jack Taylor USNR - OSS was sent to a Concentration Camp - and survived Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted March 6, 2015 Share #10 Posted March 6, 2015 I have a piece of POW mail from a USN Pilot held in Stalag Luft 3. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted March 6, 2015 Share #11 Posted March 6, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2015 Share #12 Posted March 6, 2015 If you do a search in the AAD, you'll find a list of 57 US Navy POWs of Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2015 Share #13 Posted March 6, 2015 A random sample shows quite a few different POW locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted March 6, 2015 Share #14 Posted March 6, 2015 On 14 April 1942 Lt. (j.g.) John E. Dunn, 0-6545, U.S. Navy, was shot down by the Germans and subsequently became the 1st American flyer to be confined in Stalag Luft 3, Guess which one is him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2015 Share #15 Posted March 6, 2015 On 14 April 1942 Lt. (j.g.) John E. Dunn, 0-6545, U.S. Navy, was shot down by the Germans and subsequently became the 1st American flyer to be confined in Stalag Luft 3, Guess which one is him? dunn.JPG Do you find it interesting that he happened to have his service dress blues and visor hat in the plane with him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted March 6, 2015 Share #16 Posted March 6, 2015 Do you find it interesting that he happened to have his service dress blues and visor hat in the plane with him? I did, I bet the Red Cross had something to do with him getting it early in the war. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2015 Share #17 Posted March 6, 2015 Here's Harris' headstone...even lists him as a Prisoner of War... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandomatic Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share #18 Posted March 7, 2015 I did, I bet the Red Cross had something to do with him getting it early in the war. Kurt One thing I read in Stalag III: The Secret Story is that the Red Cross and Allied governments went to some length to equip men with plain, but appropriate uniforms, and something makes me think that everybody got enlisted uniforms. Unfortunately, most of them ran very small. Might explain why guys that had no business wearing a long overcoat (Airmen) are pictured in the camps wearing one. Also read about a guy that wrote to his girlfriend in England and she sent him a complete officer's dress uniform, complete with all insignia. He really didn't want to let himself go in the camp. In, say, 1944, do you guys know what POW uniform supplies like this were like? Seems extremely odd to send our uniforms to the enemy for them to give to our boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted March 7, 2015 Share #19 Posted March 7, 2015 If you do a search in the AAD, you'll find a list of 57 US Navy POWs of Germany. What is the AAD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyCanteen Posted March 7, 2015 Share #20 Posted March 7, 2015 What is the AAD? National Archives and Records Administration, Access to Archival Databases: http://aad.archives.gov/aad/ The online POW records can be found here: http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-description.jsp?s=644&cat=WR26&bc=,sl RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brig Posted March 7, 2015 Share #21 Posted March 7, 2015 Very interesting read, I hadn't thought much about shipboard US Marines being POWs of the Germans. I wonder if the two mentioned above were the only 2, or if there were others. Would love to stumble upon a USMC group to a POW in Germany, very interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMCR79 Posted March 8, 2015 Share #22 Posted March 8, 2015 Commander Jack Taylor USNR - OSS was sent to a Concentration Camp - and survived Bill http://www.whale.to/vaccine/jack_taylor_oss.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLN Posted February 14, 2019 Share #23 Posted February 14, 2019 As Salvage Sailor posted above the story of Naval Officer Edouard Isaacs is truly remarkable.-his autobio is "Prisoner of the U-90" and first editions of this short book are available on-line. A better reading book is "Escape from Villingen" by D. Messimer. Once picked up by the Uboat that sunk his ship, he was treated with all the respect the Germans felt a fellow officer deserved, including keeping his revolver, and eating at the subs officers Mess. Oddly he was put in the pilots POW camp. He was nearly killed from beatings administered after his escape attempts. It should be a movie ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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