Bob Hudson Posted April 27, 2007 Share #1 Posted April 27, 2007 These came from the estate of a senior American POW at Stalag Luft III. They were in his YMCA Wartime Log, which is a sort of diary kept by POW's during WWII. I have the more info on the log here (By the way, these are not something I own but are part of a grouping that may come up for sale later this year). These are the original typewritten forms used by the senior POW's to rate and promote fellow POW's. I would guess that the one form, which has blanks to be filled in, may have been used as a guideline and that the actual info on each POW was recorded by hand elsewhere: unless the the senior POW's actually had a clerk-typist in the camp. The actual documents are in very good shape, much better looking than what the photos show. One has to think that darn few of this type of thing survived: it's especially amazing when you consider that this officer left Stalag Luft III by escaping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share #2 Posted April 28, 2007 One purpose of these forms apparently was to evaluate POW's for promotion. Does anyone have any idea how often someione actually got a promotion while a POW? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 28, 2007 Share #3 Posted April 28, 2007 Many POW's received a promotion 1 grade in rank when they were liberated depending on how long they were held. It looks to me that these forms were an attempt to keep the POW's officers " fitness reports" current so that they could be evaluated for promotion once liberated. Believe it or not, in Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines the senior officers actually wrote recommended " Citations " for decorations in 1942 that were forwarded to the AGO for action when the war was over. They were hidden in a coffee can and buried and were found after the war. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted April 29, 2007 Author Share #4 Posted April 29, 2007 Believe it or not, in Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines the senior officers actually wrote recommended " Citations " for decorations in 1942 that were forwarded to the AGO for action when the war was over. They were hidden in a coffee can and buried and were found after the war. Kurt The instructions show above also have ""Recommend decorations and awards for those who deserve them". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now