Ken Scott - Heroes of Lamsdorf: Lest We Forget

In May 1945 a group of recently liberated British former prisoners of war were lodging with British troops in Lbeck whilst awaiting repatriation. One evening they decided to watch an Entertainments National Service Association show being held in this former German Army camp. A sergeant at the door refused them entry, as the show was, only for fighting men.

In their few days there, the men had become dispirited by being on the receiving end of this sort of ignorant attitude from other soldiers, including remarks about white feathers and the colour yellow, which they hadnt expected at all. Luckily for them the incident was witnessed by an ATS (Womens Army) sergeant, who angrily told the man on the door that, unlike these former POWs, he had never heard a shot fired in anger, particularly as he was only a signaller, well behind the lines. She propelled them into the show and explained to an officer what had happened. He immediately cleared space in the front row for them and treated them with great respect.

These were fighting men indeed, having been captured in combat on land, sea or in the air and they had seen many of their comrades fall in action. Having become prisoners of war, they then had to spend the next few years in another fight, one for survival.

But what was it actually like to be a prisoner of war? Something that I have discovered in more than twenty years of researching and recording the history of prisoners of war, is that it is impossible to generalise at all about what life was like at Stalag VIII-B/344 Lamsdorf and its working parties, or indeed about any POW experience anywhere. Some years ago I was able to talk to a few of the former POWs who were still alive. I have read many books written by ex-inmates of Lamsdorf and other camps, many other books on the same subject and very many personal accounts sent to me by former POWs or by their relatives. All this comprise a vast amount of information and opinion, and this has convinced me that is very difficult to sum up the POW experience briefly and to remain fair and accurate, simply because the experience was so complex, involving many differing experiences, reactions, and impressions from different people. For anyone to say that this camp was like this or the working parties were like that or the guards behaved in such-and-such a way cannot convey the whole truth because there were so many widely-varying experiences and recollections.

Stalag VIII-B/344 was a vast camp. Its size varied through the years, but at its peak in 1943 it contained just over 31000 men, not including the thousands who were in hundreds of working parties scattered over a large area. Just like any town, different parts of this huge camp had their own characteristics. All branches of the armed forces were represented and there were men of many nationalities, often in separate compounds. The perceptions and experiences of one man in one hut, perhaps with people he didnt get on with very well, perhaps bored, miserable, lonely, apathetic, or depressed, might have been hugely different to another man in another compound or even in the next hut, who was among good friends, who was involved in sporting or cultural activities and whose morale was generally higher.

Multiply this by the tens of thousands of men there and you can see how accounts of what life was like as a prisoner of war can differ considerably.

It is also true that the camp changed very much in the course of time. One POW arriving at Lamsdorf in 1940 described it as a depressing place with lads ambling about like lost souls with nothing to do all day. He subsequently spent eighteen months away on a working party, and when he returned he found that, Lamsdorf had changed beyond belief. It was like a small town, with institutions, a sick bay for minor ailments and an efficient organised, equipped, and staffed hospital. There was also a school, and orchestra, various bands, concert parties, drama groups and sports of all descriptions. There was now no excuse to amble about like zombies.