The Kriegies of Oflag 64
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The Kriegies of Oflag 64
September 17, 2006
Go!
How the first group of Americans got there: The Tunisia
campaign
Oflag 64 was initially populated mainly by American Army
officers captured in Tunisia in February 1943. We want to talk
about this. It will help you understand the incredible journey
these captured officers were on during the full course of their
service in this war.
We need to remind you of the historical military setting.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction to Oflag 64 in
Sczubin, Poland.
How the first group of
Americans got there: The
Tunisia campaign
The Soviets attack, the
POWs are moved
The POWs are liberated, but
it "weren't" easy
Some of the men of Oflag
64 whom you have not yet
seen
Group Photos - New!
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OFLAG 64, A P.O.W.
Odyssey. The Third Reich
utilized a Polish school in
Sczubin, Poland, as the only
camp for American
ground-force officers.Learn
the unique barbed wire
experience of these officers,
including General Patton's
son-in-law, John K. Waters.
(Includes a controversial
liberation attempt by
Patton.)
Adolf Hitler in Paris, June 23, 1940. Presented by the US National Archives.
We honor service and
sacrifice. Please click the
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help keep this station alive.
Thanks.
By May 1940, Germany occupied most of western Europe. In
April 1940 the Germans invaded Norway and Denmark,
arguably opening a second front in Scandinavia, some call a
northern front. Norway surrendered in June 1940. By year's
end, the Germans were attacking Britain daily by air and had
taken most of eastern Europe, though the British had repelled
the German Luftwaffe (air force) during the year in the Battle
of Britain. By April 1941, the Germans had taken Greece and
Yugoslavia.
It is worth a reminder that the Americans did not enter WWII
until December 1941. Germany had overrun and occupied
almost all Europe by this time, thge Italians and Germans
opened a third front in North Africa, and the Germans opened
a fourth front by invading the Soviet Union.
North Africa is our focus at present, so let's pause and step
back to June 1940.
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Italian Army early 1940s. Presented by feldgrau.com
In June 1940 Italy, a German ally, part of what came to be
known as the "Axis," declared war against the British and
French.
Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler. Official photo credit: Istituto Luce.
Presented by wikipedia.org
The Italians then occupied British Somaliland in August. The
Italians had about 500,000 troops in its Libyan colony in
North Africa. They invaded Egypt in September 1940. The
British and Commonwealth forces in Egypt suffered multiple
defeats, but regrouped, reinforced and went after the Italians
with abandon. The Italians folded like a tent in a rout.
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German Field Marshal Rommel in Africa in the summer 1941. Presented by
wikipedia.com.
In January 1941, Germany sent one of its best generals,
General Erwin Rommel, to take charge of a German
expeditionary force in North Africa, in part to bail out the
Italians, but also to make sure the British could not secure a
foothold from which they could attack into Italy and approach
Germany's underbelly. From a strategic point of view, the
Germans now had opened a third front in what came to be
known as the North African Campaign. The Germans would
then open a fourth front by invading the Soviet Union on June
22, 1941.
We'll underscore here that the Germans had suddenly put a lot
on their plate. What began as a simple blitzkrieg of most of
western and parts of eastern Europe, was now an expansive
endeavor on four fronts. Not only that. On December 8, 1941,
a day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Germany
declared war against the US. All together, these were fatal
German errors.
With war now underway
between the US and Germany, on
January 8, 1942, US Army
Forces in the British Isles
(USAFBI) was established in
London, Major General James E.
Cheney in command. The first
contingent (4,058) of US ground
forces arrived in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, on January 26,
1942, Major General Russell P.
Hartle, 34th Infantry Division, in
command. This was known as
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the MAGNET Force, later part of US Army Northern Ireland
Force, subordinate to USAFBI. The 34th was the first
American ground combat division to enter WWII in Europe.
Pvt. Milburn H. Henke of Hutchinson, Minnsesota, shown
here, Company B, 133rd Infantry, was credited as being the
first American soldier to step off the boat in support of the war
effort. The 34th was an Army National Guard Division,
mostly from Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota.
Major General Dwight D.
Eisenhower arrived in London on
June 24, 1942, designated
Commanding General European
Theater of Operations
(ETOUSA).
At this point in time, the US and
British were looking at a crosschannel attack into France by
September 1942. But Rommel
was building his forces in North
Africa and threatening the Egypt,
which was still very much under Britain's influence. And, the
Germans had invaded the Soviet Union and the Soviets were
struggling to stay afloat.
As a result, the British, supported by the Soviets, persuaded
the US to use the forces it had already assembled in Britain
plus additional forces from the US to invade North Africa,
codenamed "Torch." In November 1942 , Lt. General
Eisenhower became commander-in-chief Allied Forces in
North Africa. The American invasion of North Africa began
that month.
In a sense, the US took on more than many Americans had
bargained for as well. Initially the idea was to fight in the
western front. Now the US was committing to the North
Africa front, which meant it would eventually commit to an
invasion of Italy, and it still had to invade from Britain into
western Europe, an invasion that would have to wait two more
years, until 1944.
But, the strategy had purpose. First, defeat the Germans in
North Africa and then invade Italy and threaten Germany's
underbelly. Second, give the Germans a run for their money in
North Africa and provide relief for the Soviets. In the mean
time, American and British air power could attack German
positions in western Europe and take the war to Germany
itself.
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German Panzer racing across North African desert. Presented by Flames of
War.
By July 1942 Rommel was in Egypt threatening British
positions at El Alamein, a western gateway to Alexandria and
Egypt. The British 8th Army stopped Rommel's thrust at Cairo
in the first battle of El Alamein. But Rommel stayed in the
area, regrouped, British forces were depleted by transfers to
Asia, and the Germans prepared for their second thrust at
Cairo.
Lt. General Bernard Law Montgomery, Commander, 8th Army during the
second Battle of El Alamein. Presented by Free Republic.
British Lt. General Bernard Montgomery was brought in and
took command of the British 8th Army on August 7, 1942. For
the strategy to work, Montgomery had to deal with Rommel in
Egypt while the US got its forces prepared and deployed to the
region.
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Shortly after taking command of the 8th Army, the New
Zealanders drove back the Italians on the El Alamein line. On
September 2, 1942, Montgomery drove back Rommel in the
Battle of Alam Halfa. As a result, Rommel handed the reins of
command to General Georg Stumme and returned to Germany.
On October 23, the second Battle of El Alamein began,
Stumme died, and Rommel returned. By November 2, 1942,
Montgomery's 8th Army had defeated Rommel but, unlike the
first Battle of El Alamein, the British intended to force
Rommel to retreat westward through Libya and into Tunisia;
that is, toward the Americans.
Map of North Africa, showing the southern approaches of the Allies to
Europe. Presented by US Army.
This map is tough to read but reflects the strategy.
Fundamentally, Tunis (red dot) was the objective, the British
coming from El Alamein (blue dot) and the Americans
coming from their landings in Morocco and Algeria, with the
Italian-German Panzer Army squashed in the middle.
In November 1942 , Lt. General Eisenhower became
commander-in-chief, Allied Forces in North Africa, his first
major combat command, and a politically difficult combined
command. On November 8, 1942, the Americans, commanded
by Eisenhower, in Operation Torch, landed in three locations:
Morocco near Casablanca with 35,000 troops (2nd
Armored Division, 3rd and 9th Infantry Divisions) led
by Major General George S. Patton. Forces shipped
from the US.
Algeria near Oran with 18,500 troops (509th Parachute
Infantry Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, 1st Armored
Division) commanded by Major General Lloyd R.
Fredenhall. Forces transshipped from Britain.
Near Algiers with 20,000 troops, half US (34th Infantry
Division), half British (78th Infantry Division), led by
Lt. General K.A.N. Anderson, Royal Army. Forces
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transshipped from Britain.
Operation Torch landings in North Africa, November 8-12, 1943. Presented
by Rolfs Reisen
Rommel's forces made it to Tripoli, Libya in January 1943 and
entered southern Tunisia in February. Even though Rommel
and his forces had been on the run since El Alamein,
Rommel's force remained strong and reinforced.
The Jefna Region of Tunisia, west of Tunis, gives you an idea of the
mountainous terrain. Photo presented by the US Army.
Rommel decided to cut through the mountainous area that
separates coastal Tunisia from the desert interior, and get to
and hold Tunis. The battle hardened British were still chasing
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him from the east, but it was the unseasoned, newly arrived
Americans who Rommel would tested. The Americans were
defending the approach Rommel chose to use on his way to
Tunis.
German Mark VI Tiger Tank. Department of Army photo.
General Grant Medium Tank M3 in the Kasserine Pass area, Tunisia.
Department of Army photo.
On February 14, 1943, Rommel commenced his powerful
attack and the Tunisian Campaign began. The Americans took
a beating. The two photos above help explain why. As usual,
the Americans were not prepared for WWII, neither in terms
of manpower of equipment. The entire Allied plan in North
Africa was now threatened. The Americans had no choice but
to stand, defend and fight in the mountainous areas south of
Tunis with what they had.
It was during this period in February that the Germans enjoyed
great successes in Tunisia, and were able to take a substantial
number of American prisoners, mostly ground forces. On
February 15, 1943 alone, the Germans captured 1,600
Americans. By February 20, the Americans listed 2,546 as
missing.
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We will stop the history of the Tunisia campaign here, because
it stopped for so many Americans taken prisoner. It most
certainly stopped for the initial American cadre to go to the
POW camp, Oflag 64, in Poland.
Naples-Foggia - Invasion of Italy, September 1943 From the Naples-Foggia
Campaign Brochure by Col. Kenneth V. Smith. Presented by the University
of Texas.
We will simply say that the Allies ended up defeating
Rommel. The battered and out-classed Americans held out of
shear valor. The British 8th Army got there and linked up.
Rommel attacked the 8th Army and lost, and he sped off to
Germany. The Allies took Tunis. The vaunted Italian-German
Panzer Army surrendered on May 13, 1943. Rommel left
250,000 of his soldiers as POWs. In September 1943, the
Allies crossed to Sicily and into Italy thereafter. Germany's
underbelly became exposed.
But those February successes gave the Germans some prizes
---- Allied, especially American, POWs. The Germans needed
a place to put them. The Germans had always sought to assure
their captives would not be able to return to fight. But with an
end in sight on the southern front, enduring a most gruesome
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suite of battles on the eastern front, and aware that an invasion
from Britain was inevitable, many in the German high
command saw the captives as potential hostages. As a result,
rather than keeping the American captives in Africa, the
Germans decided to move them to Europe.
Junkers-52 (Ju-52 transport aircraft). Presented by wikipedia.org
Indeed, the Germans felt compelled to get these POWs out of
Tunisia as fast as they could and expended considerable effort
to do so, even during the difficult Tunisia Campaign. The
Germans used small transport aircraft such as the Ju-52 flying
at water-top level over the Mediterranean Sea to an airfield
near Naples, known as Capua. They also used merchant and
passenger ships.
The Germans selected the camp at Sczubin, Poland for the
American Army officers. The Germans cleared out the POWS
from other countries already there and put the American
officers from North Africa in their place.
We'll describe how three men were captured and ended up at
Oflag 64 to give you a flavor for the trip: Lt. Col John K.
Waters and Lt. James F. Bickers, captured in Tunisia, and Lt.
George Sparks, captured in western Europe.
Lt. Bickers has compiled a list of surviving officers housed at
Oflag 64 and provides some brief remarks on how they got
there in an article entitled, "How we got there and what we
did." We commend this overview to you.
Lt. Colonel John K. Waters, a
West Pointer, shown here, was the
executive officer of the 1st
Armored Regiment. As the
fighting in northern Tunisia
intensified, Waters was tasked to
take command of the 2nd
Battalion 168th Infantry Regiment
(less one rifle company) and a
company of medium tanks (15)
from the 1st Armored Division. He was told to get in control
of Lessouda Mountain (marked by the red dot on the map
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below) in Tunisia. Others in the 168th were sent to Ksaira
Mountain east of Lessouda and together they were to defend
the Faid Pass, which provided a direct route through the
mountains to Tunis. The Germans were on their way.
The red dot marks the location of Lessouda Mountain, Tunisia, guarding one
side of the Faid Pass. Presented by Lone Sentry.
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Faid Pass troops disposition: red line reflects the disposition of the 168th
Infantry. Dotted green lines the positions of the Germans. Solid green lines
the route of German attacks. Grey line main roads. Extracted from a graduate
school paper by Karal Lynn Garcia, May 2004, entitled, "World War II in
Microcosm: one soldier's experience."
Waters and other American forces were attacked by two
German Panzer divisions on February 14, 1943. The 168th
was surrounded and cut off from Allied forces. Waters was
captured, we believe on the 14th. Waters would ultimately be
liberated and rise to the rank of four star general, his last job
serving as Commander, US Army Pacific. An interview with
General Waters to recount his experiences from the time he
was told to mount a defense of the Lessouda Mountain
through his capture and time at Oflag 64 is available on the
internet, courtesy of the Marshall Foundation. We commend it
to you; it is fascinating.
Colonel Thomas Drake, commander, 168th Infantry Regiment,
surrendered his forces on February 17. Close to 1,500 men
were captured with him.
Waters was first taken to a holding area near the battlefield,
where he met three German colonels enjoying the fruits of
victory. Waters commented:
"They treated me as an officer. The treatment by the
fighting soldier that captures an individual in war on
each side is much better. It gets worse as you go to the
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rear. That's normal, I mean, soldier versus soldier, when
they capture one another they both have the same
mission to fight the battle, and as a result, they respect
each other. So there was no mistreatment at this stage of
the game. They put me on a motorcycle; I was in a
sidecar; one man driving the cycle and one sitting there
next to me. They took me to a holding camp on the
other side of Faid Pass. They put me in a pup tent for
the night, and had a couple sentries walking guard. The
next day, with more prisoners they had captured, I was
placed in a truck and taken back to Mateur and then to
Tunis."
This photo shows US Rangers marching over the rough terrain in Tunisia. It
gives you a sense for what a forced march for POWs escorted by the
Germans must have been like, especially since the Germans were in a hurry.
Photo credit: US Army Signals Corps. Presented by National Geographic,
November 1944 edition.
We have read several accounts of other POWs captured in
Tunisia. Most of them were forced to walk through the deserts
and mountain passes to Tunis in grueling forced marches with
very little water and food. At this juncture, Waters was lucky.
For example, British Lance
Corporal Jonathan Wilkinson,
shown here before capture, was
taken in the Battle of Sidi Nsir,
sent behind German lines, left
out overnight on a pile of rocks
in the pouring rain, and given no
food. He was handed over to the
Italians, then thrown into the
cargo hold of a ship to set sail on
a four day voyage to Naples with no food, drink, or toilet.
Arriving in Naples, he and his colleagues were treated harshly
by the Germans and spat on by the Italians.
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In any event, after reaching Tunis, Waters was put in a school
house holding area, and then flown out with other American
prisoners to Naples, to an airfield at Capua, Italy.
Colonel Drake also showed up at Naples, along with Lt.
Colonel James D. Alger, who commanded one of the tank
battalions in the same fight. These three were put on a
passenger train and sent to Eichstadt, Bavaria, a camp for
British and Commonwealth POWs, known as Oflag 7B.
Slowly the camp grew to have 45-50 American officers. They
stayed there for about three to four months.
Waters has said the Germans made a big mistake holding them
with the Brits. The Brits had been there for a couple years and
taught the Americans everything they needed to know about
organizing a POW camp, escape and other clandestine things
they could do while incarcerated. Lieutenant J.E.R. Wood,
Canadian Army, captured at Dieppe, said the same. He has
commented that when the British POWs arrived at Eichstadt:
"They had the Germans taped. That is, what you could
get away with and what you could not. They had
everything organized: theaters, sports, cooking, study
groups. Officers turned themselves into B.A.'s,
Chartered Accountants, Engineers, Lawyers, Linguists,
Agricultural Students, etc. ... We learned about the
Geneva Convention and Red Cross parcels. Ridiculous
as it sounds, none of us had ever read the Geneva
Convention, and few, if any, of us knew the score on
parcels."
Indeed by the time these 45-50 American officers arrived from
Tunisia, the Commonwealth POWs were sufficiently
entrenched, perhaps even somewhat in control, at Eichstadt
that they were putting on first-class theater at the camp with
lavish sets. This was thanks in part to Michael Goodliffe, a
British actor who was commissioned into the Royal
Warwickshire Regiment, Royal Army, as a second lieutenant,
and wounded and captured at Dunkirk.
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Presentation at Oflag 7B of "The Case of the Frightened Lady," by Edgar
Wallace, produced by POW Wallace Finlayson. Presented by Michael
Goodliffe: Wartime Shakespearean Actor and Producer.
Colonel Alger, whom we mentioned earlier, had a part in the
play even though he was only at the camp a short time. We
believe one of the actors on the stage in the above photo is
Col. Alger. Goodliffe would go on to appear in a number of
war films after liberation. It turns out theater productions at
many of the POW camps was a big deal for the prisoners. That
was surely true at Oflag 64.
Waters said as the American POW population grew at
Eichstadt, the Germans felt compelled to move them out. The
British POWs had a lower ranking German "stooge" in the
camp commander's office and learned the Germans intended to
move British and Canadian POWs out of a camp in Poland
and replace them with these Americans. That turned out to be
true.
POWs arriving in July 1944 at Barth train station, preparing for march to
Stalag Luft I. Presented by Stalag Luft I.
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Arrival of new POWs to Stalag Luft I, July 1944. Presented by Stalag Luft I.
So Waters and about 100 others were shipped by train to
Sczubin, arriving there on or about June 4, 1943, among the
very first American POWs to arrive there. More would come
from Tunisia over the next days. Other American POWs held
elsewhere were also moved to Sczubin, raising the initial
cadre there to about 400.
Colonel Drake (shown here
thanks to former Oflag POW
Bob Thompson) was the senior
ranking officer, a WWI vet as a
first sergeant, and a recipient of
the Distinguished Service Cross
in WWI. Waters described him
as "a tough hombre" and
commented that the German
camp commander was afraid of
him. Waters served as his
executive officer in the camp.
Major Raphael L. Uffner, USA (Ret.), has written his
"Recollections of WWII with the 1st Infantry Division." He
traces his experiences with Drake from the time he was a
major with the 26th Infantry through to when he was colonel
commanding the 168th Infantry in Tunisia. He tells several
stories about Drake that will bring a smile to your face. Uffner,
a lieutenant, had a run in with Drake but it was settled. Drake
later became his battalion commander, but never showed him
any malice. Uffner would comment:
"I could live with a man like that."
Uffner also reported that when Colonel Drake surrendered, he
was "badly wounded." He, Matty Smith, George Juskalian,
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and Capt. Bradley and other captured 1st Division officers
were sent with Drake to Oflag 64. Uffner than says:
"Drake, as senior officer in the camp, was so mean to
his captors that the speedily repatriated him."
Herman Littman has said:
"(Drake) was a real martinet. He made us exercise every
day. He got that camp commandant scared of him."
We have seen a report that Colonel Drake was released from
Oflag 64 for "stomach ulcers" on July 27, 1944. In short, he
drove the Germans crazy.
He was succeeded by Col. George V.
Millett. Millett (shown here), a West
Point grad, who commanded the 507th
Parachute Infantry on D-Day and
parachuted with his troops into France.
Three days later he was captured and sent
to Oflag 64. He spent seven months there
before escaping, making his way to
Odessa and eventually home.
Interestingly, the woman who would become his wife, Lt.
Sally Blaine, an Army nurse, was captured by the Japanese in
the Philippines and was sent to the Santo Tomas Internment
Camp in Manila. She served there from September 8, 1942
until liberation in February 1945.
Col. Millett was the senior
officer at Oflag 64 for only a few
months, succeeded by Col. Paul
R. "Pop" Goode (shown here)
when he arrived on October 16,
1944. Goode was captured in the
Normandy Invasion, after
landing at Omaha Beach. Goode
had commanded the 175th
Infantry. Millett then became the
executive officer. Waters moved
to be the welfare officer.
As events happened, Col. Goode would lead the Oflag 64 men
through until liberation. He would also be the senior ranking
American officer to command more than 110,000 prisoners at
a camp from which they were liberated, and would be a
central figure in negotiations for that liberation. We had a devil
of a time getting this photo of him; our thanks to Bob
Thompson, a former Oflag 64 prisoner, who had a photo and
sent it to us.
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Let's now turn to Lt. James F. Bickers, 17th Field Artillery.
He and his unit landed at Mers El Kebir, Algeria in November
1942 and immediately came under fire from French troops.
His first battle was with the French! They had to fight through
hostile French fire prior to chasing after the Germans, only to
be captured by the Germans in Tunisia on February 14, 1943.
In his notes, Bickers says he and those captured with him were
the first American ground forces to be captured by the
Germans. His battery of howitzers was being moved across
country when they were approached on two sides by German
panzers.
Following capture, he and his
men were marched to Tunis
where they boarded German
Luftwaffe Ju-52 tri-motors,
known as "Iron Annies," and
flown at water-top level, "on the
deck" to Naples, Italy. This
aircraft type kept the German
forces in Northern Africa
supplied throughout the North
Africa Campaign. They must have flown supplies in from
Naples and then turned around with prisoners. These aircraft
were shot down by the Allies by the hundreds. Indeed, Bickers
noted that his flight to Naples was escorted by British fighter
aircraft. Fortunately, the British knew what the cargo was and
did not fire. Once in Naples, Bickers and his colleagues then
traveled by truck and train through Italy into southern
Germany and finally, on June 6, 1943, arrived at Oflag 64, just
a few days after Col. Waters.
We'll note here that none of these trips taken by POWs to get
to their camps was safe, and the accommodations were most
often deplorable, especially on the trains. Private First Class
James Maier, 1st Infantry Division, said the day he left Tunis
the city was bombed. His aircraft landed at Palermo, Sicily,
and it was bombed. The evening he landed in Naples, it was
bombed. Bickers mentioned the British fighter escort. Naples
itself was arguably the most bombed Italian city in WWII. In
1943 alone, the US ran about 180 air raids against the city,
each raid consisting of many, many aircraft. Trucks employed
for POWs were often cattle trucks with straw bedding. The
box car trains might have one can for a latrine, which would
fill up quickly. They were always overcrowded with POWs.
There was little food or water, and when going through the
Alps, troops dressed for desert war were exposed to
bone-shattering cold. Most men were variously sick when they
arrived at their camp.
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Lt. George Sparks, a Texas
A&M grad (shown here as a
cadet, by Palacios Beacon), and
member of the 54th Armored
Infantry, 10th Division, was not
captured in Tunisia. He led a
squad of five during the night of
November 27, 1944 at Bord,
Germany, in the middle of the
Siegfried Line. During a German
attack, two were killed, two were
wounded, the three left alive
were surrounded, and Sparks decided to surrender to get care
for his wounded.
They were moved through German lines to Frankfurt and
stayed at Stalag XII-A at Limburg until late December. This
camp was originally set up to be a processing center for POWs
arriving to the Stalag system. As a result, its facilities were
very poor and the population was always high.
Three German guards standing in front of the main gate, Stalag XII-A.
Presented by Prisoner of War.
Officers were immediately separated from the enlisted men.
Interrogation was a first order of business. Lt. Sparks spent
one week in solitary confinement for interrogation at Dietz in
an old castle. He and others were loaded on a boxcar, they
endured RAF bombing, losing six men, and then arrived at
Oflag 64 at night on December 31. The total time spent getting
to Oflag 64 was 34 days. He would remain for only 21 days.
Compared to the first 34, these were pretty good days. He was
greeted by American inmates, allowed to get a shower, given
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The Kriegies of Oflag 64
file:///Users/edmarek/Documents/Talking%20Proud/HistoryOfl...
Red Cross packages, and had time to write home. He spoke of
the library, a swing band, and the small theater group.
At its peak, there were about 2,000 American POWs at Oflag
64. Chesley Russell, a POW there following his capture during
the Normandy invasion in 1944, said there were "engineers,
doctors, dentists, actors, cobblers, tailors and businessmen" in
the camp.
It's now January 1945. The war would end in five months.
Both the Soviets and the western Allies were putting the
squeeze on the Germans from all directions, on all fronts.
Initially, the Soviet advances impacted the men of Oflag 64 the
most.
Go to: The Soviets attack, the POWs are moved
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