3960565 G Isaac, POW 1944, Which bn?

[LarsA]

Hi,
I wonder if anyone has information on 3960565 G Isaac, listed as a POW in germany (captured 1944/1945). His home adress is listed as 19 Park Street, Brynamman, South Wales. From the number I gather his first service was with the Welch Regiment.

He was held in Stalag 8C, Sagan, POW number 92931.

Any help gratefully received.

/Lars

[ap1]

I've not seen any reference before to RWF guys captured at that stage of the war, interesting.

[LarsA]

Thanks, on reading a few of the older posts on the forum I realize Pte Isaac could have been in any of the batallions serving in Northwest Europe after the landings. Am I correct in saying this would be 4th, 6th or 7th?

/Lars

[ap1]

Thats correct Lars. I have the list of those men of the 6th Battalion, down to Lcpl level, but excluding Fusiliers, who landed in June 44. Although it will be some time before I can check it.

[LarsA]

Hi, some new info on Isaac.

From his POW release questionnaire I have found out that his full name was Fusilier Gwilym Isaac, captured in Holland 25.8.1944. His home address is listed as 20 Egypt Street, 31 Treford Street, Pontypridd, South Wales. He states that he was wounded when captured.

Held at Linburg, Gorlitz and Sagan. He also notes that the only ill treatment of prisoners he recorded was on the long march from Sagan to Hannover.

Unfortunately, no clue as to which battalion, so any guess in that respect with regard to date captured is gratefully received.

Kind regards,
Lars

[ap1]

Ok, What we need now Lars is for one of our forum members to check a copy of Red Dragon, and see what was happening on that day.. My guess is he is from the 7th Bn....but we shall see. Any takers please:spinny:

[LarsA]

Just bumping this up in case anyone has an update on which batallion fusilier Gwilym Isaac was wih when he was captured in Holland, late august 1944.

All the best,
Lars

[ap1]

Its a strange date Lars. By the 25th August, the Germans were well into retreat and indeed the 53rd Division were not in Holland:

"By the 23rd August the advance towards Belguim was well under way, led by the 7th, 11th and Guards Armoured Divisions. The 3 Royal Welch Battalions of the 53rd Division advanced behind them, being occasionally called forward to upon to mop up isolated strong-points by-passed by the armour"

I'm stumped!!:eek:

[LarsA]

The dates comes from his questionnaire, possibly it would be easier to remember the location rather than the exact date. I'll try to upload the questionnaire aswell,

Thanks for looking!
/Lars

[ap1]

Cheers Lars, looking at the original form, he was actually captured on the 25th Sept 1944....I will have another look :smile:

[ap1]

The closest reference I can find is the 7th Bn. Shortly after first light on 22nd Sept 1944 the Bn had secured the Dutch village of Donk. They then received orders to capture the nearby village of Westel Biers. D Company set off across the marshy ground from Donk at about 11am that morning commanded by Major Tomlinson.

"At 2pm the the leading section crossed a wooden farm bridge in Westal Biers in face of enemy fire, but the enemy, using flamethrowers, burnt down several houses near the bridge and compelled the rest of the platoon to withdraw to the scrub, south of the village. Three of the leading section were killed and two taken prisoner."

This of course guesswork, and looking at the circumstances, where effectively men were left behind, its a fair bet that the guys captured were also wounded.

[LarsA]

Cheers mate,
I really appreciate the effort. I'll try to check if the International Red Cross might have some additional info to verify the circumstances of his capture,

/Lars