Prisoners of War in 1944

A look back at various stories related to POWs during the past year ...

Work resumes on 'Harry'

4th January 1944: In Stalag Luft III RAF POWS redouble their efforts to dig a tunnel from which to mount a mass escape

The two foot square tunnel was just big enough for a man lying down to be pulled along on one of the trolleys. At 336 feet long, there was a lot of sand to be excavated and disposed of.

The idea was that the goons would be far less suspicious of any tunnel-making activity in the harsh Polish wintertime, when the ground was frozen. Roger wanted to blitz Harry, and complete it in a couple of months, but with snow on the ground, the problem of sand dispersal was even more difficult. And with the new American compound on the west side, the only real option was to go north.

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Murder in a US POW camp

12th March 1944: Nazi submariners kill a fellow POW who has co-operated with his captors - leading to the last mass execution in the U.S.

Junior members of U-118’s crew arrive 20 June 1943 for physical examination and initial POW processing at Naval Operating Base Norfolk Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.

The investigation in that case indicated that Drechsler had been used as an informant by G-2 or ONI to assist in the interrogation and processing of prisoners at Meade or some other installation in this vicinity. After his usefulness had been exhausted Drechsler was shipped to Papago Park for imprisonment. He was a submarine man, and Papago Park detains numerous Navy prisoners. Drechsler was recognized as a traitor to Germany and was murdered. This result could or should have been foreseen, to put it mildly

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US Medic taken prisoner

30th May 1944: As the US Army advances on Rome, the front lines are blurred, and one man describes the changing fortunes of war

A group of German prisoners line up against a wall before being questioned. The Nazi soldiers were taken with the Allied occupation of the Italian town of Terracina

The first thing I heard was "Hands Ho!" and this freckle-faced kid who looked to be 14 or 15 years old shoved this Burp Gun in my face and demanded "Pistola! Pistola!" I said, "no Pistola! no Pistola!" and then there were a dozen hands all over me. They took everything except some of my medical equipment and my clothes. I always carried two canteens and extra rations, cigarettes, etc. Boy, they really cleaned me out.

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Surviving a Japanese atrocity

2nd July 1944: Beaten, left to drown, then sharks - the nightmare ordeal of the men from SS Jean Nicolet - a US Liberty ship torpedoed in the Indian Ocean

The SS JEAN NICOLET, under the command of Captain David Martin Nilsson of Oakland, California, was bound for Ceylon (Sri Lanka). On board was a complement of 100 men consisting of 41 merchant crew, 28 Naval Armed Guard, and 31 passengers.

And all of a sudden, I heard this hissing. You know, this air hissing. And, God, it dawned on me that they were going to submerge, you know? Which they did. And I started getting to my feet, which my legs were cramped, and I was having a time to, have, get up, and this big wall of water just come and hit me, and just slap me right against the back of the conning tower — or back of the front of the gun. And I kind of got hooked underneath that gun while it was going down, you know, the force of the water and everything. And finally, I kind of rolled to the side or something and got loose of whatever it was.

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Seizing a Prisoner

1st October 1944: A young officer from the 82nd Airborne single-handedly takes out a German position

"Holland – American paratroopers bend low but continue their advance on Arnhem as a bursting German 88 kicks up a section of field.”

I tightened my hold around his neck, dug my tommy gun deeper into his back, and in my broken German asked: “Wieviel Deutsch soldat hier?” (How many German soldiers here?) The response was, “Ich verstehe nicht. ” (I don’t understand.)

I didn’t think my German was that bad, so other more persuasive means had to be used to make him talk. This was not a time for German arrogance. In the heat of battle I was locked in mortal combat and in a struggle for my life. I would just as soon have slit his throat except for the fact that I needed information, and division wanted him for the same purpose. I knocked him to the ground and, lying next to him, began choking him. Then I repeated my question. I got the same response.

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POWs endure hell on the Oryoku Maru

14th December 1944: US prisoners on a Japanese 'Hell Ship' come under attack from planes from the USS Hornet

All day, most of us knew death was very close. One man next to me was praying continuously. During the thick of the bombing, someone started the Lord's Prayer and all joined in. Somehow after that we felt a great deal better.

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They had sent down about four 5-gallon cans which were to be used for feces and urine. During the air raids, we were not allowed to empty them so that they ran over. Feces and urine were everywhere. Most of the men were suffering from dysentery or diarrhea. It goes without saying what an awful mess we were compelled to be in. The Jap guards refused to empty these cans and would not allow us to send a detail to do the job.

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