saint venant 1940-------farm boulet

[dcdl12976]

"The letter was dated 28th November 1941" John surely the only way a POW could be returning to Britain in 1941 is if he was in dire straights health wise or am i missing something here. My feeling is that the information came from the RSM when he was released, do we know when that was. There is one other possibility though, that is that a POW had contact with the Red Cross and they passed the info on to the authorities in 1941.

[Baconwallah]

A sizeable number of PoWs were repatriated for health reasons in 1941, several DLI among them. There is a list and Jim has it, I think. So far, a dead end.

The RSM was released post-war. He has stated twice (first in reply to a Red Cross request during the war, then again post-war in a letter to the family) that he last saw Anthony on the 27th. He had asked around among his fellow PoWs but never discovered what had happened to Anthony.

The Red Cross has no record of any correspondence re Anthony except the RSM's reply mentioned above. Had there been any, they would have passed the information to the family, not to the authorities.

John

[dcdl12976]

Thanks John, so by this it would seem Anthony was still alive 4 days after the RSM observed him on the canal bank this would seem to preclude the executions around that date and would suggest he was eithrer taken to hospital as suggested or maybe even hidden by the French for those days

[ivor43]

Hi again.
With regard to the possibility that he was in the Aid Post from 27th.
The Aid Posts are by their nature mobile units which follow the front line. If an AP had a number of wounded PoW's and it was required to move on, what happened to said PoW's, i doubt that they would have been taken with them. Similar doubts about them being left at local Hospitals as that would have involved leaving men to guard them.So what would have happened to them.
Where would the German wounded be treated, did they have a ''Base Hospital'' type of unit which could have had a secure area for the PoW's, if so where?.

ivor

[dcdl12976]

Ivor, following up after the assault troops would have been Fedgendarmerie units (Field Police, very much the same as our Military Police only with a lot more power and a lot nastier ie they shot rather than arrested including there own men if they showed any inclination not to fight) to secure the area and maintain a presence untill the garrison units arrived a few days later, there may even have been some units of German civilian Police brought in (many Police units were formed during the war for just this reason) including ones working for the Gestapo in Russia.

I dont think the field Aid posts would as you say be able to cope with wounded being moved with them, they would be off loaded somewhere though where is debatable.

Cheers

Dave

[ivor43]

John.
in that other thread re PoW'S it was known that the RSM was in Stalag XX1b which was officers. If Anthony got to that area he would probably have been in XXa. So there probably would not have been any knowledge of Anthony.

ivor.

[Baconwallah]

I have corrected the date in my post #622: the RSM last saw Anthony on the 27th, not the 25th. After the war he wrote, "During the time I was a PoW I made many inquiries from men of the Battalion but I am sorry to say that I was unable to procure any further information regarding him."

The VDK (the German War Graves Commission) told me they have no records of medical units in the 1940 campaign.

John

[ivor43]

Hi Guys.
Just found this
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/...iederung-R.htm

looks interesting.


ivor

[Baconwallah]

None in France, Ivor, unlsees you count the reoccupied Alsace.

These were/are large and highly specialised hospitals, nowhere near two days from the front.

Try Feldlazarett.

John

[ivor43]

Hi.
Just looking over the list there is one interesting point that answers one of my earlier queries, a number of the Hospitals are shown as PoW hospitals. However there is hospital at Verdun. would this be within a couple of days travel from the front ? also it is fairly close to the German border.

ivor