Eventually, all cans were delivered opened and as the contents would not keep the prisoners indulged in a food “bash” to make use of what could be salvaged. I am very fit and well and have nothing wrong with myself at all. “The British had occupied Luneburg,” “The Russians were assaulting Berlin.” Allied air activity was seen striking ground targets with no opposition from the Luftwaffe. Of more than 5,000 Allied merchant seamen captured by the Germans during the war, most were held at Marlag-Milag. How is David, I am longing to see him, give him a good hiding for me. The crossing of the mile wide river to Blankenese was made the following day in two ferry boats, the Mozart and the Frank Schubert. It was ideal for our purposes. So commenced Wally’s fourth evacuation in the face of an invading army. Most of them were barracks, while the others contained kitchens, dining rooms, washrooms, guard barracks, storehouses, a post office and other administrative buildings. The Germans agreed. The previous occupants had been Merchant Navy seamen who on being evacuated… [4], In September 1943, 630 merchant seamen from India, China, Burma and Aden were moved out of the Milag into a new camp, Milag (Inder) (known as the Inderlager or "Indian Camp") west of Westertimke. Marlag is an acronym for Marinelager (naval prisoner of war camp), Milag is short for Marine-Internierten-Lager (naval internment camp), and Nord is German for ‘north’. POWs were allowed to send two letters and four postcards each month. My father was at Marlag & Milag Nord camp from 1939 to 1945 and I have recently obtained a postcard / photo he sent to my cousin in 1943. "[2] The Germans, however, always treated Merchant Navy seamen as POWs (as did the British from 1942). He found it in the small estate at Trenthorst which belonged to the brother of the famous German, General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim. Monty is showing the way to go home now isn’t he. The previous occupants had been Merchant Navy seamen who on being evacuated assumed that the camp was to be used to house German troops. Sports equipment and textbooks were obtained from the Red Cross and YMCA. [8] They finally left the site in 1993, since when it has been redeveloped as a business park. Five men escaped, but again were soon recaptured. The Senior British Officer informed the Kommandant that he would be held responsible for their safety and departed to make arrangements. The camp guards fled Marlag & Milag Nord on 9 April 1945 and were replaced by elderly civilian guards — probably Volkssturm, a group of untrained and poorly-armed civilians thrown together by the Nazis in the last hour as a desperate attempt to defend the homeland. Wally was assigned to Block 22 “Room 3. After a 5-hour march, Trenthorst was reached and the prisoners 120-mile journey was at an end. We cheered like mad and swamped the car trying to shake the hands of the men in it or to get their autograph, but the demonstration was more one of exuberance than relief. The Milag Nord Camp was about 300 metres northeast of Marlag and had 36 buildings. Marlag und Milag Nord was a Second World War German prisoner-of-war camp complex for men of the British and Canadian Merchant Navy and Royal Navy. Prams, bicycles, wheelbarrows, and hand carts, were obtained either by theft or barter. The prisoner’s morale was given a huge boost when on Saturday, March 24 the camp’s Adjutant Squadron Leader Jennens announced that the highly unpopular, Senior British Officer (SBO) Group Captain D.E.L. [4], Just outside the gates of Milag was the Kommandantur ("Headquarters") and accommodation for the guards. Initially, prisoners from the Merchant and Royal Navy were confined in several camps in Northern Germany. In 1943 the Germans suggested an exchange of equal numbers of Merchant Navy prisoners, but this offer was refused by the First Lord of the Admiralty A. V. Alexander on the grounds it would be more to Germany's benefit, as it would provide them with a large number of men suitable to be used as U-boat crews, of which they were desperately short.[3]. Channel Islanders George Ferbrache and Ernest Le Prevost arrived in Milag from Fort d’Hauteville Prison in Dijon, France in late August 1944. Milag und Marlag Nord consisted of 7 lagers [camps] as follows: Lager I, Dulag which was used as an interrogation and transit compound. Marlag-Milag had previously been declared as unfit and unsanitary by representatives of the Red Cross. Hello dearest was relieved today at I o’clock, was fishing in a lake with a bent pin at the time. Trenthorst was between 2 main highways and as the day progressed we could follow the sounds of the battle on both sides until we were certain they had passed us by. There was a camp theatre in Marlag and the POWs performed concerts and plays. A rainy February drags on with the occasional issue of Red Cross rations. Only a few buildings are left standing of the original Milag camp and trees now cover most of the original site. During the nights of May 1st and 2nd, we listened to a terrific barrage of guns and bombs and knew the British army was crossing the Elbe, the last real barrier between us. German soldiers began filtering through our camp in small groups and we eyed them warily. men for a considerable time and had treated them well. The army caught up with us about ten miles SW of Lubeck and since then we have been travelling thro’ Germany by lorry, we hope to get a plane sometime this week and fly over, I reckon we shall be together before another seven days are over. The British Red Cross Society (publisher): The Prisoner of War, published from May 1942 until July 1945. We were relieved by the British Army yesterday, and hope to be sent home in two or three days time. TNA FO 950/1773 (Ferbrache) Contact us with information about your family member so we can add more to their page on the website.
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