Once a summer camp, Stalag IX-B near Bad Orb in Germany, had been a prisoner of war camp since 1939. Perched on a hill known as Wegscheideküppel, and home to up to 25000 prisoners, it now received a new inmate, Edward Timothy.
Edwards arrival or condition are not officially recorded. His date of arrival is presumed based on records of the march reaching the camp from Poland. As noted previously, Edward, like many of his generation was seldom keen to speak of his experiences. But the scars of the march were not just mental. Some of Edwards war stories were physical and hard to hide from those close.
His family, in providing contributions to this project have recounted their memories and in doing so, given further detail of this stage of his war.
Some of these contributions are statements provided and others paraphrased from conversations I have conducted. Given the information examined in the last blog they require very little explanation and provide a chilling insight into Edwards experiences during the march.
"He (Edward) mentioned the great march of POWs. He told me he was so cold he would sleep standing or leaning against a tree or building frightened that if he lay down he may never get up"
(Richard Timothy - Edwards Son)
"I remember Dad saying he would beg for water as they passed through villages by holding his cup out to the local people who replied by spitting into it"
(Ted Timothy - Edwards Son)
"During the march he said they passed through a town or village. He held a tin cup to an old lady asking for water, she took the cup, spat in it and threw it back at him"
(Richard Timothy - Edwards Son)
"Granddad had been marched a long way to a POW camp and had really badly injured his feet to the extent that he was in a really bad way. I think a German doctor saved his life".
(Nick Timothy - Edwards Grandson recounts stories passed to him from his Dad, Albert Timothy, Edwards Son)
"Dad had a number of toes missing. I understand these were all lost to frost bite related to a march from his prisoner of war camp".
(Ted Timothy - Edwards Son)
"He had lost most of his toes to frost bite caused during this time (the march). He said the Germans allowed Red Cross people to help them occasionally during the march. He recalls his feet being checked for frostbite and painted up to the knees with what he said was Iodine(?). He couldn't feel anything up to just below the knees where it burnt like hell. Not sure what it was but he was certain it saved his feet".
(Richard Timothy - Edwards Son)
These stories are consistent with the well documented weather conditions of the period with temperatures reaching minus 25 in parts of central Europe. Whether his toes were lost during the march, amputated on arrival at the new camp or following the war is unknown at this time. What is clear is Edward suffered a great deal during this period and it affected him for the rest of his life:
"I think frost bite and emphysema were what he was recorded as suffering with"
(Richard Timothy - Edwards Son)
It is likely his kit, most notably his boots, were not up to the task of the march and the conditions it was conducted in. War diaries suggest in some cases these were issued as you left the camp and may not have been yours or even fit correctly. There are many accounts noting the daily dilemma faced by the prisoners in relation to their boots. Take them off their swollen feet and risk not being able to get them back on, frost bite, the boots themselves freezing or even having them stolen by others in need of better footwear. Leave them on and risk trench foot.
Accounts also note that the coats issued to the prisoners were often sourced from past or even dead prisoners. This meant many British troops were issued with the coats of Americans or even Russians. It is this that many explain possibly resulted in their poor reception as they passed through local towns and villages. Whether this was the case for Edward we may never know.
News of the march was reaching British shores and the families of the prisoners. As a precursor to this stage of the story I noted an exert from "The Prisoner of War Magazine" (Blog Post 19 - 13/03/21) in which details are first released on its back page.
(Source - March 1945 Edition of The Prisoner of War Magazine)
It notes Edward was likley moving through Saxony immediately east of Stalag VIIIc. Further stories followed this as more information was received from the Red Cross and liberating forces.
(Source - April 1945 Edition of The Prisoner of War Magazine)
By April 1945 it appears the Red Cross were beginning to get an understanding of the marches and their routes from specific camps and provided their details to their readers. It presents not just route details but an important insight into the scale of this operation across central Europe.
The Timothy family will have noted Stalag VIIIC is recorded as having a Northern and Southern march. The Southern group are the most likely to be that which contained Edward heading towards Cassel. This is closer in direction to their destination than Hannover but whats concerning is that this has their route plotted much further north than I had previously presumed. Their route therefore may well have been even longer than suggested.
(Source - April 1945 Edition of The Prisoner of War Magazine)
April's edition begins to shed light on the increasing concern for those prisoners forced to march by the British intelligence. Edward now in a camp of the East may well have suffered further following the march due to overcrowding in his new camp as implied above.
Of further interest is an article related to Stalag Luft III in Sagan (The adjoining camp to Stalag VIIIC). This further details the plight of Edward and his comrades at this time.
(Source - April 1945 Edition of The Prisoner of War Magazine)
The final reference in the collection is a more pleasing article exclaiming the marches were now over in a very thin final June edition. This again provides further detail, though not specific to Edwards own story.
From the 16th March 1945, Edward found himself injured, in pain, and in a likely overcrowded camp. Fortunately this was not to be for too much longer relatively speaking; for on the 2nd April 1945, an American task force drove 37 miles north through Bad Orb and liberated Edwards camp.
"The camp was liberated by a task force comprising the 2nd Battalion, 114th Regiment, U.S. 44th Infantry Division, reinforced with Stuart tanks and armored cars from the 106th Cavalry Group and M-10 tank destroyers of 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion".
(Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_IX-B)
But what now for Edward. The collection pleasingly provides some guidance which will be explored in my next post.
(Source - http://www.indianamilitary.org/ - Ariel Photo post liberation)
(Source - http://www.indianamilitary.org/)
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