that Lanc III shot down

7 claims by S/E fighters of JG 300.
29 Claims by LW twin-engine units

note my thread in Books/Publications concerning Dr. Boitens release of his 2 volumes on the Nachtjagd.

E

Skipper,

Uncle called...feeling better today

I got names.....

First off it was a Czech. Airman with the RAF last name Techko. (When he is tired hard to understand him.)

You found Greenwood..! Cool!

Britton was with the British Army believed he was captured in the Middle East, North Africa, from the Fall of Toobrook (ms?).

Met British Army "Sugar" Townley in 4B. Acted in the Drama Society of 4B

Met Ted Turner British Army Glider pilot, captured in Italy, in 4B, came from Blackpool, England. In barracks with my Uncle. Had a bad hand from a grenade.

Also in Barracks: American in RCAF Barnes from Columbus, Ohio.

Also in Barracks: American in RCAF Earl Warren from Ogden Utah.

Met in Straff Barracks (he explained that this was the barracks that you went to when you had to go to the clink and the clink was full.) RAF Neal McVicker, from these barracks is where he saw Britton incident.

Man of Confidence was "Snowshoe" Myers for 4B (his section).

Now I know what I will be doing this evening.....

Information on "Sugar" Townley:

RAF Bomber Command
RCAF R. G. Townley (Garfield "Sugar" Townley)
POW #222791

Lost Bombers
Squadron 158
Halifax HR739
Lost August 30/31 1943
Limburg, Belgium (21 km North of Hasselt)

In the Winter 2005 Newsletter for The National Ex-Prisoner of War Association mentions him for the Drama Society and calls him "Sugar" because he played the female parts.

My Uncle said that he was a small guy, funny and was in the plays at Stalag 4B.

Erich,

$125.00 US

Christmas is coming!

Jo Ann

Jo Ann it will be worth it

I think I found Neal McVickers:

RCAF N. McVicar POW #263494
Service# R/190185
Camp 4B
Raf Bomber Command

Halifax
LW328
Squadron 419
November 19, 1943

Airborne 1655 18Nov43 from Middleton St.George. Homebound, abandoned after all engines failed simultaneously due to Flak damaged fuel tanks. F/S Sedgewick remained in his cockpit to keep the bomber stable for his crew to abandon safely. Unable to leave the aircraft himself he was killed in the ensuing crash and is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery. F/S A.L.Sedgewick RCAF KIA Sgt E.K.Canny PoW F/O E.R.Hoe RCAF PoW Sgt J.Pappas RCAF PoW Sgt K.W.Dingley PoW Sgt N.McVicar RCAF PoW Sgt D.M.Johnston RCAF PoW Sgt E.K.Canny was interned in Camp 4B. PoW No.263461 with Sgt D.M.Johnston, PoW No.263484, Sgt N.McVicar, PoW No.263494, Sgt J.Pappas. PoW No.263502 and Sgt K.W.Dingley who, after interrogation in Dulag Luft was interned in Camp 4B, PoW No.263469. F/O E.R.Hoe in Camp L1, PoW No.1549.
Lost Bombers

Found a website that has pictures (of Neil McVicar and crash site) Story of what happened. It's in German.
www.alterkeiler.de/horschbach_geschichte.htm

Good job! This is great work. Regarding Techko and Greenwood I will see if I have more. I think Techko was a fighter pilot. If that is the case there were many Czech airmen in the French Airforce during the Battle of France, so I can both check for the 1939/40 period as well as the 1940/1944 period in the Raf. Will check the fighter losses from 1943 too.

__________________

Thanks Skipper...

Any idea where I would find British Army info on POW's I am determined to find the story on BRITTON.

Found Snowshoe Meyers:

Whitley Z6794 Information
Type Whitley

Serial Number Z6794
Squadron10
X1D ZA?

Further Information
"Serial Range Z6793 - Z6842. 50 Whitley Mk.V. Delivered by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft between 31May41 and 9Jul41. Contract No.106962/40. Z6794 was one of three No.10 Sqdn Whitleys lost on this operation. See: Z6586; Z6805. Airborne 2209 16Aug41 from Leeming. Cause of loss and crash site not established. From de-briefings, it appears that four of the crew baled out, leaving Sgt Lager in his cockpit to keep the Whitley stable for the evacuation. Unable to vacate his seat he attempted a crash-landing and was killed in the process. Sgt Sewell's parachute failed to deploy and he fell to his death. They are both buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Sgt E.H.Lager KIA Sgt S.S.Shapiro RCAF PoW Sgt J.W.Meyers PoW Sgt V.Y.H.Sewell RCAF KIA Sgt J.E.Fulkerson RCAF PoW Sgt J.E.Fulkerson was interned in Camps 3E/L3/L6/357, PoW No.123 with Sgt S.S.Shapiro, PoW No.103. Sgt J.W.Meyers in Camps 3E/L3/L6/L1/7A/4B, PoW No.122. "
Lost Bombers

Entry in To Hell in a Halifax by Herbert Krentz
http://www.kentpublishing.ca/pows.html
Calls him Snowshoe Meyers!

Name Fred Heathfield
Hometown: Farndon
POW Camp: Stalag IV-B
Name of POW: Fred Heathfield
Postal Street Address: Egerton, Churton Road, Farndon
City, State, Zip: Chester. CH3 6QP U.K
Sent: 11.53 AM - 4/12 2002
I am researching F/Sgt J. W. ["Snowshoes"] Meyers, RCAF no R59567, who was The Man of Confidence in Stalag IV-b at Muhlberg on Elbe. He had previously been in Stalag Luft 3 and Luft 6. After the war he was commissioned as P.O. Jaques W Meyers (J96537)
I have the DHist card for his award of the Member of the Order of the British Empire. (MBE)
In several elections he was elected to M.of C. by all the Allied i.e, British, Commonwealth, and American forces in the camp. The Airmen were in a minority of about 1,000 compared with Army Senior NCOs of about 9,000, but Snowshoes was always re-elected
In January 1946 he was listed as Flight Lieutenant.
I believe he was born in Chicago, but gave his home as Winnipeg when he enlisted in 1940.
Any help or information would be appreciated
Fred Heathfield. 222714 Stalag IV-B. http://www.merkki.com/guestbook2002page2.htm
I emailed Fred Heathfield but the message is from 2002 so we will see. You never know he may of heard of my Uncle!

Seems that "Snowshoe" Meyers was a POW for a long time!

Natioanl Archives my have something about Britton. I know yo uhave tried them, but did you ask about this man? I'm wondering whether Tzecko coud actually be a nickname for the Czech pilot. I can't find anything about him and the nickname would make sense.

__________________

Good News....

The Veteran Interview with my Uncle came today....now I have 8 hours to watch and take notes!

Went back to my box to scan some more items and found my Grandfather's, July 23, 1941 Basic Field Manual, Soldier's Handbook from the War Department.

I will be back.....

Skipper,

I think you are probably right about the nick names. I might have to wait on his reports to find out more about them.

I am also wondering it it was a Czech. name but an American Allied man because of the interview (Bull's Eye). I will be talking more with him on Monday.

Jo Ann

8 hours! Wow that's a treasure! Le tme know when you get the report about Tcecho the pilot. Raf would make sense though. There were several Czech squadrons. These were fine experienced airmen who had mostly fough the Germans while enlisted in the French army in 1940 too.

__________________

I got a few more names of guys he remembers:

RAF “Sandy” Adams rank CPL? He was a Ground Gunner for the British 8th Army Division, wife named Emlay, He came from Crieff, Scotland. Before the war he worked for John Dewers, White horse Whiskey. Captured on June 21, 1942 in Tobruk, North Africa. He was a real good Bridge player and he was a little guy.

There were a few Warrens and Barnes but with the help from the book he was able to figure out which ones:

RCAF Sgt. JLN “Earl” Warren (from Ogden, Utah)Squadron 434
Halifax EB254
Shot down – Nov. 19, 1943
Target – Leverkusen
Camp – 4B (At the camp with him)
POW# 263635
Escaped May 1st, 1944 to Holland, and Liberated on April 16, 1945

From Footprints on the Sands of Time: Oliver Clutton-Brock

RCAF A.C. Barnes (From Columbus, Ohio. He was trying to learn how to play the trumpet in Camp)
Squadron 427

Halifax LK627

Shot down – Dec. 20, 1943

Target Frankfurt

Camp – 4B (At the camp with him)

POW# 269743


From Footprints on the Sands of Time: Oliver Clutton-Brock


When I was young and my Uncle would come to visit he told us stories about the war. When I had to go to bed, I didn’t want to and I crept out into the hallway and listened to my Uncle talk with my mother. There were only 3 things that I could remember hearing about; one was the flushing of papers, two my Uncle being in a cage and three my Uncle eating a dog. Those things stuck in my head but I could not remember anything except those things. We cleared up the flushing of the papers that occurred when he got to Fresnes Prison. Yesterday I asked him about the other two.

My Uncle said that when he got to Fresnes Prison, after the initial interrogation he was put inside a small cage like thing. He said that it was small to the point that he could not sit down and that there was razor wire above him so that he could not fully stand up. Above the wire were pipes that had holes in them and would push out steam onto him. He said it was very hot. He said that he stayed in there for 2 days.

At Stalag 4B, my Uncle said that the Vatican sent seeds to prisoners for planting and growing food. My Uncle had a plot of ground outside his barracks by a window. He said that a Camp Guard who they all called “Cowboy Charlie,” because he was really bow-legged, had a German Sheppard. He said that one day while he was working in the garden, the dog was loose and came running up to him, barking and started digging up his plants. My Uncle had a short trowel/shovel type (he said it was the old type) and he hit the dog in the neck. He said the dog dropped. He tossed the dog through the window of the barracks. In a little bit, “Cowboy Charlie” came around the corner calling his dog. “Cowboy Charlie” asked “puppy, puppy?” My Uncle said no. “Cowboy Charlie” moved on looking. My Uncle stayed in the garden. After some time one of the men in the barracks leaned out the window and said “Chows on.” My Uncle said that the guys had a pot cooked. The head, tail, entrails and other stuff was put in the latrine. He said that it was a very stringy meat and that was one of only two times that he had meat while a prisoner. He said that “Cowboy Charlie” never knew what happened to his dog.

When my Uncle first got to 4B Muhlberg he said that there was a building that had a camera in it and they took x-rays of the lungs of prisoners. He said that sometime in 1944, he remembers it being cold, someone set the building on fire at night.

He said the Salt mine that he worked in was a Lager, it was a town called Tucenthall (this is how he pronounced it). When they left the salt mine at night they went to the Lager. He said that it was a block of cells in the town. He remembers an American in the British Army that was from Samoa. I found a town called Teutschenthal with a salt mine. I will see if this is related to the Stalag 6B information. He said when he escaped from here is when he picked up some bad water and got dysentery. He said he had it for 3 months. He went to “Bitterfield hospital” (he pronounced it that way) for 2 days.

I will be busy for a bit. I need to finish up scanning and send the box back to my mom. She is going to put together a neat album for him. Plus the Veteran's Project is waiting on the stuff from me.

Skipper,
I checked again on the Czech. Airman and he said he was definately with the RAF but he was thinking that probably the name was a nick name. Will be hard to find him.

Still waiting on records from London...any day now they will let me know if they have them.

I had found a web site that listed my Uncle as being at Stalag Luft 4 and he was never there. Only Stalag 4B and 6B. (Trying to figure out if 6B is the Salt mine or one he went to when he had dysentary, right after escaping from the salt mine.) RAF Command site lists him as being at Luft 3 and he was never there either. These guys moved around a lot especially in 1944 and 1945. I bet someone knew him and mentioned him that ended up at these other camps.

Hi ?

Here some information on Halifax HR-739 , the crash site is Hechtel-Eksel in the north of the province of Limburg some 20 km south of the Dutch border.

30/08/1943
Hechtel-Eksel ( Belgium )
Halifax II
Oblt Strüning 3./NJG 1 04H25
Ops : Mönchengladbach
HR-739 – 158 Sqn - NP-U
Base :Lissett
Sgt Wildman Ronald.W. RAAF (KIA)
Sgt Gardener C.C. (POW) 1262922 Stalag 4B-222818
Sgt Townley R.G. RCAF (POW) R/125497 Stalag 4B-222791
Sgt Bryden William.E. RAAF (KIA)
Sgt Partington J. (POW) 1576778 Stalag 4B-263413
Sgt Clenton James.S. (KIA)
Sgt Browne William.J. RAAF (KIA)

Greetings
Alain
Belgium

More coming in every day! This thread is getting fascinating.

__________________

This is my first post on this forum and I found this thread while doing some research. It really is fascinating.
I am the author of ‘Airman Missing’, a biography of RAF bomber pilot John Evans, who was shot down over Belgium in May 1944 and spent 114 days on the run.
During his time with the volunteers of the Comet Line, John was in hiding with a number of American and Canadian airmen.
I was wondering if any of you might be able to provide me with further information about these airmen (Some of my research may cross paths with some of the posters here.)
They include men helped by Vincent and Marie-Ghislaine Wuyts-Denis in Beffe, who were listed on a scrap of paper kept by the couple (the list features in the book).
John spent time with Seattle-born Ken Griesel, the 1st pilot on a Liberator, and Alvis D Roberts, his bombardier, from Fort Worth, Texas.
Also, Alan R Willis (New York);
Winans C Shaddix (Alabama);
Hank Glady;
George Vogle ( Pennsylvania);
Theodore Simmons (Ohio);
Harold Ashman (Ohio);
Milo Blakely (San Francisco);
William Elsberry (Camp Blanding);
David Talbot ( Maryland);
Fred Tuttle (Santa Maria, California);
Charles L Weymouth (Abbot, Maine);
Russell Gecks (Freeport, New York);
Kevin J Doyle (Vancouver, Canada);
Dick Kindig (South Bend, Indiana).

Some of the above were also with John in a camp at Porcheresse run by Emile Roiseau, along with:
Dirvin Davis Deihl (of North Dakota);
Glenn Edward Brenneke (from Iowa);
Sam Schleichkorn;
Charles Mitchell;
Gilbert Millar (RCAF, from New York);
and RAF men Reginald Moreton (35 Squadron); Robert Morgan (169 Squadron); Doug Lloyd; George EH Flather (432 Squadron); Reggie A Weedon (467 Squadron).

Thanks
Greg
saoirsepress@gmail.com

Welcome Greg. This is a great first post. if you wish you can go to the new member section too and introduce you there, so other members can meet you too.

__________________

Hi Greg ,

What kind of info are you looking for ?

Alain57
Belgium

Hi Alain

I'm just trying to build up a little picture of these men. When they were shot down, what happened to them while they were evaders, whether they ever flew in combat again - and what happened to them in later years too.

Thanks for the wonderful stuff you've sent me already.


Greg

Hello All,

I haven't been getting any messages that there has been any posts. Our computer was down. Now we have a super, duper fast new one! I will have to check my settings again

I have a lot to post!

Jo Ann

Greg,

I am by no means a computer wiz here but I have been doing a lot of research on men that my Uncle knew in various camps, Fresnes Prison and more. I will email you and send you to some links to find information. If you go back a few pages or so, I listed several. But we can email and I can give you some suggestions. These guys here are awesome and have helped so much. I can't say enough about them!

Jo Ann

Hi Jo Ann, nice to have you back, I was starting getting worried, but it's good to hear you changed your computer.

__________________

It was awful...each page took so long to load and would lock up almost every other page.

On top of it, it was our server!

So it may take me a bit, but I got notes and info galore! Spent a lot of time talking with my Uncle. I am also trying to put everything together for him.


Glad I was missed!

Jo Ann

He wore civilian clothes and wooden soled shoes while working in the salt mine. He was a POW while there and not a political prisoner. He saw political prisoners working at the salt mine wearing stripped uniforms.

He wanted to escape and thought about the work party’s.

He went into the British Army Barracks at Stalag 4B and asked if there was anyone that on this work detail that would switch identities with him. Private James Witterick (from Coventry, England) of the British Army, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry said he would. (Witterick was captured at Casteforte, Italy near Casino.) So Witterick stayed at 4B as my Uncle and my Uncle went to the salt mine as Witterick. My Uncle worked there in the salt mine for a couple of months before his escape attempt from there. When he was captured and brought back to the mine he was placed in a Civilian jail for 4 days. He got sick from the dysentery and had to turn himself in and tell them who he really was. He went to Bitterfield Hospital for 2 days then back to Stalag 4B. He said it took about 3 to 4 months for them to investigate and then sentence him to Buchenwald for punishment. (He was lucky it took that long because of the dysentery.) He said that Private James Witterick got into trouble and had to go to the cooler and my uncle sent to Buchenwald as punishment.

A while back he said that there was a bit of snow on the ground while he was at Buchenwald so I am guessing now that he would have been there in the fall of 1944 because this time period at the salt mine was his 3rd attempt escape. The 2nd was in the time frame of March 1944.

After being in Bitterfield Hospital for 2 days, he was escorted with a guard to 6G then to Stalag 4B. While heading there in the small town of Falkenberg, Germany (How he pronounced it. But it’s very south of Muhlberg and Teutschenthal. I need to ask why there or find out if I got the name wrong.) I believe at a train station a woman walked over and asked the guard if she could speak to my Uncle. The guard allowed her. My Uncle said she was English and very beautiful. She asked my Uncle if knew a Sgt. Barrington and he said yes “Barry.” Nothing more was said between them.

When he made it back to 4B after the Voy (MS?) Lager (He said when you come into a camp your put in a cage off to the side. Then you get your head shaved, body deloused and clothes deloused and shower. The next day he went looking for “Barry.” He found him and joked with him about knowing some good looking woman in Germany. Barry said, “That’s my mom.” My Uncle said that when the war broke out Barry was studying in Heidelberg, Germany for engineering. Barry’s mother went with him. She met a German man that had photography studios all around Germany and married him. Barry returned to England when the war was started and joined the RAF. He said that Barry’s mother was living in Munich, Germany with her husband who was now a German Oberst. My Uncle said that Barry had to actually bomb Munich on a mission knowing that his mother was there.

Later on my Uncle said that the Germans told the POW’s that they could get “Parole” and walk freely around. My Uncle said that they didn’t want it because they wouldn’t freely stay and would try to escape so the POW’s too “Parole” for the Red Cross detail or the Burial detail. My Uncle was on a Red Cross detail, lined up with many men to the train station and saw Barry’s mother again, walking up and down the line of men asking about Barry.

After my Uncle’s final escape and Liberation he was in Leipzig, Germany (see attached) and was given orders to help with the RAF escapees to go to Halla Airdrome (MS?) He said a lot of guys were coming over the Elbe River (MS?). The Russians weren’t holding all and many got away. He was to assist in interrogations about the war crimes. There were card tables set up on the grass and guys were there at the tables. He gave out IS-9 forms for Headquarters Interrogations. As the men would come in he would send them to a German Barracks building. The barracks were full of pillows and blankets. He said that the German must have left in a hurry. Men stayed overnight and filled out the reports. The next day they lined up at the tables go over it then get a ticket to leave. He said US men went to Camp Lucky Strike and the British went to Brussels. My Uncle said that Barry showed up at the table and he said that he had a guy with him. My Uncle looked behind Barry and saw this small guy with cork stuck to his chin. My Uncle said that Barry needed two tickets. My Uncle realized that the small guy was Barry’s mother. My Uncle gave him 2 tickets and Barry left. My Uncle said years later when he was with the US Air Force and stationed in England he saw the London Daily Mirror newspaper sometime between 1969 and 1972. In the “Old Codgers” section someone had place a notice about Barrington and his mother. A few days later a woman from Cornwall answered in the same section of the newspaper. The woman from Cornwall turned out to be related to a woman from a Nursing/Retirement home and had heard stories from her relatives friend there about this whole story. The newspaper followed up on this and there was a POW reunion and Florence “Flo” Barrington (unknown German last name of her second husband) was pictured and he said she looked like she was only 30 years old and he said she had to be in her 80’s by then.

My Uncle also told me about either late in 1944 or early 1945, (right after the big bombing of Dresden, Germany) he was in Camp 4B and the RAF guys were told to “Saddle up” that they were going to be moved out to Gorlitz, Germany. He didn’t understand why they were to be moved close to where the Russians were. They were told “From a High Command that they were going to be executed.” As they were lined up, gates open and ready to head out the move was cancelled. He found out later that Heinrich Himmler had ordered the execution of all RAF POW’s in retaliation for the bombing of Dresden, Germany and that Herman Guering had stopped it.


I looked up Barrington on Lost Bombers site:

Halifax HX270 Information

Type Halifax
Serial Number HX270
Squadron 35
X1D TL-M
Operation Frankfurt
Date 1 20th December 1943
Date 2 21st December 1943

Further Information
"Serial range HX226 - HX247. 22 Halifax Mk.11. Part of a batch of 150 HP halifax Mk.11/111. HX147-HX191; HX222- HX225 Mk.11. HX226-HX247; HX265-HX296; HX311-HX357 Mk.111. Delivered by Handley Page (Cricklewood & Radlett) between 7Sep43 and 3Nov43. HX270 was one of two No.35 Sqdn Halifaxes lost on this operation. See HX328. These were the first Halifax Mk.111 to be lost by No.35 Sqdn. Airborne 1730 20Dec43 from Graveley. Cause of loss not established. Crashed just to the E of St-Truiden (Limburg), Belgium, where those killed were taken for burial 23Dec43. Their graves are now located in Heverlee War Cemetery. F/S Dingle's DFM was Gazetted 16 Nov43. F/L J.W.Wright DFC RNZAF KIA F/S W.McG.Sinclair PoW F/L S.C.R.Mackie DFC RNZAF KIA P/O H.Matthews DFC PoW F/S W.R.Dingle DFM PoW Sgt W.Barrington PoW P/O T.A.Robson DFC RNZAF KIA Sgt W.Barrington was interned in Camp 4B. PoW No.270008, with F/S W.R.Dingle. Commissioned P/O during captivity. No PoW No. P/O H.Matthews initially evaded until captured at Dinant 10May44. Incarcerated in Namur and St Gilles Prisons before internment in Camp L1, PoW No.4797. F/S W.McG.Sinclair was captured 6Jan44 and interned in Camp 4B, PoW No.269879. "

Then I found this:
"Number 0179RAF
Trying to Trace : Winston BarringtonService/Unit : 35 Squadron RAF WWII Halifax
Rank : Warrant Officer
Year/s Of Service : 1941 to 1946
Location of Service : He and his mother, Flo Barrington, appeared at the Stalag 4B Reunion held in Edinburgh in 1971. The Daily Mirror covered their attendance in the newspaper article of Monday 26 Paril 1971. Winston was 48 at this time and his mother was 73 and resided in Northern England.
Other Information : Winston and his mother were the basis for the novel "Jenny's War" by British journalist, Jack Stoneley. Mrs Barrington's second marriage was to a decorated Luftwaffe Officer. When Winston was shot down on 23 August 1943 on the outskirts of Berlin during a raid on the city. He was eventually sent to Stalag 4B near Muhlberg Northwest of Dresden. As a result of his stepfather's influence he was visited at the POW camp on a regular basis by his mother.

I am interested in getting in contact with Mr Barrington regarding research for a book that I am working on - The Remembrances of the American POW's of Slaughterhouse Five, Dresden. My father was a POW at this work camp popularised by fellow prisoner and future novelist, Kurt Vonnegut. Before being sent to Dresden this group of Americans spent 2 weeks with the British POWs at 4B. One American in particular was taken under the wing of Winston Barrington. In recent months he has had health problems. He lost contact with "Barry" shortly after the end of the war. He would like to get in contact with him. However, Barrington has kept a low profile and in fact very difficult to locate for the 1971 reunion. I have contacted the RAF Personnel Centre in Gloucester. The Strict rules of privacy forbid them from disclosing any information. They did forward a letter of inquiry to his last known address of 1946, but I have yet to receive a reply. It is obvious he has had no contact with the Military since 1945. Perhaps someone from 35 Squadron might have information regarding him. I appreciate any assistance.

Name of Enquirer : Ervin Szpek, JR"
museum@nothefort.force9.co.uk. http://www.fortressweymouth.co.uk/raf.htm