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German POWs from East front in UK?

Discussion in 'Concentration, Death Camps and Crimes Against Huma' started by André PD, Dec 10, 2017.

  1. André PD

    André PD New Member

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    Hi,

    newbi here. I'm asking this because I recently started a new job and was chatting to a colleague. She mentioned that her grandmother had married a German POW who had been taken on the Eastern Front. This man was taken at a time she is not aware of, but he was definitely being held in Kent near to Canterbury. Obviously this surprised me as I was not aware that any German POW's taken on the Eastern Front ended up in the UK.

    Some googling and reading of articles (mostly wikipedia) have not given me any info on this. I'm not trying to argue with her, I'm just interested in this.

    The family story is that he was taken in the freezing cold, suffering frostbite (and possibly other problems) whilst trying to hide. So I must assume this is after the Battle of Stalingrad. But I could be wrong. She is sure it was the Eastern Front.

    Any info on this? I'm intrigued about the possibility.

    TIA

    André
     
  2. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    Not heard of any transfers to Britain from the Eastern Front, Andre. Many German servicemen who served there were later taken prisoner by the Western Allies, which is where the confusion might have arisen.
    Not an expert by any means though.
     
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  3. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

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    Hello Andre, welcome first off! I would be extremely surprised if a German POW captured in the Eastern front could even make it outside of Russia during the war. The Soviets kept all of their POW's as far as I'm aware, and I highly doubt they would take the time to transfer them to England when they had plenty of lovely places in Siberia to hold them.
     
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  4. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    Yes, welcome indeed. Where's me manners?
    I know the Americans transferred some German PoWs to Russia at the end of the war, but not aware of it happening the other way round.
     
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  5. André PD

    André PD New Member

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    Thanks for the welcome folks! And the info. Yes, I was surprised at this. My knowledge of the war is quite reasonable and I thought the likelihood of an Eastern Front German POW ending up in the UK highly unlikely. I am not aware of any Allied forces directly fighting with the Soviets especially on that front and can find no info on this at all.

    And as mentioned we did not take German POW's from the Russians as far as any info I can find or have ever read says.

    Did we take any German POW's 'home' with us after the Norwegian campaign?
     
  6. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

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    As Gordon, mentioned the US and U.K gave prisoners who fought on the Eastern Front at some point (I'm sure what the cutoff was) back to the Soviets. This happened with Luftwaffe ace Eric Hartmann and many others.
     
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  7. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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  8. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Welcome Andre. It would appear that at least some information is forthcoming. I hope more people can provide even more data.
     
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  9. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

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    Just a thought, might be totally wrong, Maybe your grandmother had seen ETO meaning (European Theater Operations) or heard her husband say ETO, leading her to think he meant Eastern? I know of many simple misunderstandings like this.
     
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  10. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Is it possible for your colleague to get more information? Such details would help us to give you a better, more complete answer.
     
  11. toki2

    toki2 Active Member

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    I did read about some German soldiers who managed to escape the Eastern Front at the tail end of the war and got to Lubeck where they were taken prisoner by the British. After some time volunteers were taken to UK to work on the land or as labourers. After repatriation c1947 there was an opportunity for them to return to UK as citizens especially if they had formed liaisons earlier.
    Now I must remember the source of that information!
     
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  12. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

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    Well there you go, very unlikely, but not impossible.
     
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  13. Jaap Vermeer MDE

    Jaap Vermeer MDE Active Member

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    Dear Andre,

    In After the Battle was once a story of a former German POW who married an English girl. I can send Karl Margry an email if he knows the article.

    Jaap
     
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  14. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake Member

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    Family history is often garbled and sometimes misleading. As children we take it at face value when young, because we believe our parents. People often grow up without challenging statements that would raise a question if about someone else.

    A lot of Germans who had fought on the Eastern front ended up as PW in the UK.. Its where most Germans fought. But there was also a reticence by many Germans who settled in the UK to talk openly about their war service against the British. It avoided difficult questions such as: "what part did you play in the death of my husband/son/father?" It also put them one the same side in the Cold War.

    A number of ex Wehrmacht soldiers may have ended up in the UK via DP rather than PW camps. Many ex members of ethnic SS units mingled with the hordes of eastern European refugees. These were locked up in refugee camps and it was academic whether you were locked up as a DP or PW. The father of an old friend of mine was a former Latvian SS man who came to Britain via this route.
     
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  15. Jaap Vermeer MDE

    Jaap Vermeer MDE Active Member

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  16. Jaap Vermeer MDE

    Jaap Vermeer MDE Active Member

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    British RAF Sgt. married German girl. This happens to, see article,

    Jaap
     

    Attached Files:

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  17. André PD

    André PD New Member

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    Hey, many thanks everyone. Very interesting reading and some valid points about family memories.

    My grandfather on my mothers side served in the Norwegian Campaign and his description of the evacuation and what preceded it, obviously only detailed about his location, he only made it Lance Corporal mind (was an independent man and I don't think he took orders well) so he was not going to be privy to that much information, certainly made me believe that we had little chance of having any German prisoners and were struggling to get our troops out let alone any captives.

    I wanted to ask my work colleague some questions today but obviously one does not want to offend and has to tread lightly and I simply didn't have time. Now I'm off until next Monday so it will have to wait until next week.

    Thanks for all the links, for some reason Jaap the Guardian pdf will not open but I would be interested in reading it.
     
  18. Jaap Vermeer MDE

    Jaap Vermeer MDE Active Member

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    Andre I change the PDF.

    Jaap
     
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  19. André PD

    André PD New Member

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    Well, sorry for starting an interesting(ish) thread and then disappearing. My line manager and me have been disagreeing about a lot and as I was only on a probationary contract I left today. So no more discussion with the person in question is going to be forthcoming.

    Best of luck.
     

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