Stalag Luft VI

Stalag Luft VI
	Heydekrug, East Prussia
	Stalag Luft VI
Coordinates	55.356389°N 21.522778°E
Type	Prisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled by	Nazi Germany
Site history
In use	1939–1944

Stalag Luft VI was a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II located near the town of Heydekrug, Memelland (now Šilutė in Lithuania). It was the northernmost POW camp within the confines of the German Reich.[1]

Camp history

The camp was built in 1939 and designated Stalag I-C. At first it held Polish POWs, then from 1940 also French and Belgians, and from 1941 Russians. In June 1943 it was renamed Stalag Luft VI and used to hold British and Canadian Air Force NCOs, and from February 1944, also Americans.[2]

By July 1944 it housed 9,000 Allied airmen.[1] When the Russian front approached, orders were given to move the prisoners to other camps further west. Most of the men were moved by train to Stalag XX-A in West Prussia, but some 900 were taken to the port of Memel, where they were put aboard the merchant ship Insterburg for a 60-hour journey to Swinemünde. After another train journey the men were force marched from Kiefheide, with many men being bayoneted or shot before they reached Stalag Luft IV in Gross Tychow. This march was one of the "Long Marches".[3]

After the camp came under Russian control it was renamed Gulag 3, and used to house German POWs and Lithuanian partisans and dissidents, remaining in use until 1948. Until 1952 it served as a civilian prison, before being demolished. In 1995 a museum was opened on the former camp grounds.[2]

Notable prisoners

Bill Ash (RCAF), MBE, US-born British writer, Marxist, and serial escaper.
Peter Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir (RAF), a Welsh Conservative politician.
James "Dixie" Deans (RAF), sergeant pilot, guided 2,000 Allied POWs across Germany in what was known as the "Long March".
George Grimson (RAF), sergeant, notable for escaping many times and organising escapes.
Ernest Booth, Flight Engineer, AR-R of 460 Squadron, Binbrook, who became a notable rugby player in later life.

gollark: Do the data cards have some sort of... key derivation function... available?

gollark: What do you mean "does not work"?

gollark: I *think* that `local something` should be an upvalue and therefore work in the function.

gollark: Define `local something` outside that thread, do `something = whatever` in the thread, handle `something` outside that bit.

gollark: Yep, `filesystem` and `io` both can be used to do that.

References

Cotton, Basil (2011). "POW Life". WW2 People's War. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
"Stalag Luft 6 Heydekrug". gps-practice-and-fun.com. 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
Nichol, John; Rennell, Tony (September 2003). The Last Escape : The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Germany 1944-1945. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-100388-7. Archived from the original on 2014-02-20.

External links

Report on American prisoners of war in Germany : Stalag Luft 6 by Military Intelligence Service, 15 July 1944
Stalag Luft 6 from the IBCC Digital Archive at the University of Lincoln.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[bcotton-1] Cotton, Basil (2011). "POW Life". WW2 People's War. Retrieved 26 November 2011.

[gps-2] "Stalag Luft 6 Heydekrug". gps-practice-and-fun.com. 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2011.

[3] Nichol, John; Rennell, Tony (September 2003). The Last Escape : The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Germany 1944-1945. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-100388-7. Archived from the original on 2014-02-20.