Borough Vet Kept Diary in WWII POW Camp

PREFACE

This book represents the happenings, incidents, sayings and results of my life as a prisoner of war. It is designed to depict this kind of life, in order that anyone may understand its hardships, heartaches, joys and hopes of all the men unfortunate enough to be involved.

My personal experience parallels many others, but many were much less fortunate than those of us who survived. To those men who died in the active service of our country we offer a prayer and a promise. A prayer for their souls and a promise that our country shall remain forever free. As prisoners we feel that we are able to judge the value of freedom.

It is a prime factor to keep all information in this book of such a nature, so that it shall be of no value to the enemy should it be confiscated by them.

Lastly, we are forever indebted to the American Red Cross. It came to most of us at a time when our spirits and morale were lowest. It appeared as a shining star in our darkest hour. It shall forever remain in our hearts and minds for giving its help when we needed it most. Let no man condemn its workings in our presence.

Barry C. Grubb

Tech. Sergeant

U.S. Army Air Corps

...

Watch Ye and Pray

Lord hear our fervent prayer

For those who fly by air

Thy help afford;

Guide thou their distant flight

Keep them by day and night,

Uphold them by thy might,

Spare them, O Lord!

...

SYNOPSIS

The picture opposite represents the route by which most of us arrived in Germany as a P.O.W. However, the choice was not our own.

We all feel fortunate at being able to escape with our lives, but on traveling through this country we all soon learned we still had to "sweat it out" more. (Air raids, enraged civilians, etc.)

Upon capture, all prisoners are taken to an Air Force interrogation center at a town called Oberuse. There, after several days on a "special diet," and confinement, we are shipped on to a transient camp where the Red Cross first came to most of us. Up to this time it was very doubtful as to the future. After being outfitted with a limited supply of clothing, and trading flying boots for G.I. shoes, eating the first decent meal in days (although still meager), taking a shower and shaving, we decided we could take all the "squareheads" could dish out.

After remaining at this camp, which was located near a small town called "Wetzlar," we were then moved to a permanent camp.

This permanent camp is the subject around which this book revolves. It is at this camp were we found new friends, worked, f----- off, and told our stories to one another and dreamed of the good life we were forced to leave behind. These things we shared together and it was these things that made our friendships more binding. Our dreams, to a man, are that we may soon return to our homes and lives that were cut off so abruptly.

Our prayer is for a safe return, and a full and happy life.

...

This Page is Dedicated to the American Red Cross

To the American Red Cross we can never express our full gratitude for what it has done for us as prisoners of war.

It gave us food, clothing, and above all, a feeling that those at home had not let us down.

Our praise for it shall be endless, as long as we live, and we shall devote much to its workings. May God allow it to continue its good work throughout the world.

Barry C. Grubb, T/Sgt.

U.S.A.A.F.

...

The Story of Stalag Luft #1

Life in this camp as a P.O.W. is far from desirable, yet not unbearable. We feel we are very fortunate in many respects.

I, myself arrived in this camp Dec. 29, 1944, a bitter cold day, around noon. The rest of the day was spent in getting deloused, showers, clothing and bedding. The bedding consisted of 2 German blankets, a burlap mattress filled with wood shavings or shredded paper. The pillow was of the same material. Outfitted thusly, we were placed 24 men to a room approximately 18' x 24'. In these rooms we had to cook, eat, sleep and live.

With a bit of American ingenuity and help from older P.O.W.'s we learned quickly that it was possible to live in such a manner with a certain degree of success. However, it was not without many disadvantages.

Naturally, we resorted to the democratic way of life of majority rule with an agreement to abide by all decisions reached by individual vote.

Our single concern after becoming settled in this camp was maintaining life as best we knew how in order to return home in the best health possible. Since this was our single aim, food and its preparation was our main interest. All other things we did or worked for were merely to increase our individual or collective comfort and existence.

We naturally had many troubles, which mainly arose from the question of food, and the close association of 24 men in a small room. Frayed nerves, uneasy minds, etc., was the cause for much bickering and argument. "Kriege Fever" was our name for it. However, we existed fairly well with the combination of "Jerry" rations and Red Cross parcels. Our days were pretty much routine with nothing to do but "sweat out" chow time 3 times a day.

The weather during Dec. and January was cold but our coal supply was fairly sufficient to keep our rooms warm and do our cooking. Feb. and March saw us with less fuel however, and also began the period of starvation rations we received from the Germans when our Red Cross parcels stopped.

This period was known as the "Black Month" and began about the last week in Feb. These were our darkest days and to add to our misery the weather too, was cold and wet.

We were fortunate to get one hot meal a day from the mess hall which invariable was a watery soup, with potatoes, turnips and dehydrated carrots, etc. Once in a while we were fortunate enough to get horse meat in the stew and one meal which I must record here was a thick noodle stew, with millet or ground barley and dehydrated vegetables. This was exceptionally good, but also extremely rare. Our other meals during the day consisted of dry German black bread and erzatz coffee. Only as long as it lasted would we have Jerry Oleo margerine to butter our bread. Many days were spent in bed to keep warm since fuel was extremely scarce also.

These lean days brought out many different characteristics in the men as well as many different reactions, both mentally and physically. Some men who were well built, lost weigh fast. Others showed signs of greed, mental breakdown, constant bickering and worry. It separated the "wheat from the chaff," and often broke up rooms into small groups that nourished similar likes or dislikes. The situation reached a crisis about the middle of March 1945 when a combination of bad weather, meager rations and little news caused our morale to reach its lowest ebb. Many hours were spent by all of us in disillusion and worry during this period. They were indeed our blackest days. It was during this period also, that the Germans notified us that we would not be furnished any electricity at night, therefore we spent many hours in the dark as well as the cold. It can easily be understood that our situation was not improved by this fact. Many of us preferred to spend these cold dark hours in bed, so our sack time averaged about 16 hours a day, and naturally the beds didn't get any softer.

During this time of famine the trend of conversation turned to food, its cost, preparation and taste. Every type of dish or concoction imaginable was talked of and recorded in Kriege books for future use at home. It seemed like a method of self torture, but in spite of that, it helped to pass away many hours.

Rumors during this period were as prevalent as ever about the war, but added to these were rumors of enormous quantities of Red Cross parcels on the way and even on hand in camp. All these proved false until the latter part of March, when the C.O. of our compound announced to everyone at morning roll that 2,000 Red Cross parcels had arrived in camp and a quarter issue would be distributed. Our feelings could not be expressed here and it was a very short time before several more thousand were received. Several days later it was officially announced that 90,000 parcels were on hand and many more on the way. We were then on a full issue of a parcel a man per week. Our morale went to the top and the weather turned better and a general all around improvement in everyone could be seen almost immediately. We got into the swing of eating good food again and settled back to sweat the war again. However, as usual when we began to get a regular issue of Red Cross food, the Germans immediately cut down on their issue of food. This was not unexpected as they had done the same previously. It made it that much harder to get along because it gave us no bulk to supplement our Red Cross diet. Bread was the most regular issue.

Easter Sunday saw everyone preparing for an all out meal, baking cakes, pies, puddings, etc. Everyone had plenty to eat, and a large number overdone it and suffered for it. On top of this an epidemic of intestinal flu went around the following week and caused a lot of cases of vomiting and G.I.'s. This is worth noting at this time because of the seriousness and number of cases that developed. With no medical attention available the best cure was to lay off eating for approx. 36 hours. Many other cures were tried, but with no avail.

Outside of these incidents the first part of April proved to be a great deal improved in our living and morale. The news added much to this up until April 13 when on the morning of this date we heard the rumor that our Commander-in-Chief and president had died. This turned out to be true and was a great shock to everyone. We knew we had lost one of the greatest men of our time and the service men's greatest booster. On Sunday April 15th at 4:00 PM 10,000 men of Stalag Luft I stood at attention for 1 minute and saluted our president. It, to me, was one of the proudest and most stirring moments of my life.

Since the news told us of the great advances of our armies we began to notice changes about us. The airfield close to our camp suddenly burst forth with new activity and the Luftwaffe appeared in the form of numerous JU-88's and some ME-210's. The camp again was without lights in the baracks and on April 17 we were without water. It was rumored that the power was being conserved for the operations of the nearby Jerry airfield.

This brings this story up to the present, and shall be continued as events occur that are important enough to record.

T/Sgt. Barry C. Grubb

U.S.A.A.F.

April 18, 1945