Stalag IX-C

Stalag IX-C
Bad Sulza,Thuringia
Stalag IX-C
Coordinates	51.097867°N 11.632828°E/51.097867; 11.632828
Type	Prisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled by	Nazi Germany
Site history
In use	1940–1945
Battles/wars	World War II
Garrison information
Occupants	Polish, Belgian, French, British, Yugoslav,Italian, Canadian, Commonwealth, American prisoners of war

StalagIX-Cwas a Germanprisoner-of-war campforAlliedsoldiers inWorld War II.Although its headquarters were located nearBad Sulza,betweenErfurtandLeipziginThuringia,its sub-camps –Arbeitskommando– were spread over a wide area, particularly those holding prisoners working in the potassium mines, south ofMühlhausen.

Camp history

The camp was opened in February 1940 to holdPolishsoldiers from the Germaninvasion of Polandwhich started World War II in 1939. In June 1940 manyBelgianandFrenchtroops taken prisoner during theBattle of Francearrived. In late 1940, soldiers from theArgyll and Sutherland HighlandersandGordon Highlanders,captured atDunkirk,were marched to the camp. In April 1941 prisoners fromYugoslaviacame into camp. In 1943BritishandCommonwealthsoldiers came from the battles inItalyandNorth Africa.In September and October 1944 British andCanadianairborne troops, taken prisoner during "Operation Market Garden"atArnhem,arrived. Finally in late December 1944Americansarrived that were captured in theBattle of the Bulge.On 29 March 1945 the camp was evacuated and the POWs were forced to march eastwards in advance of the American offensive. For somethe marchlasted four weeks before being freed by U.S. Army units. Those left in the camp were freed by troops ofU.S. 3rd Army.

Hospitals

Also under the administration ofStalagIX-C was a large hospital,Reserve-LazaretIX-C(a). This was in the town ofObermaßfeld,south-west of Erfurt, in a three-story stone building that was previously aStrength Through Joyhostel. The hospital was operated by British, Canadian and New Zealand medical staff. Its staff was considerably augmented in October 1944 with the arrival of an entire ambulance team of the British1st Airborne Division,captured at Arnhem. Patients came from across Germany, but mainly fromWehrkreisIX. The hospital was liberated by theU.S. 11th Armored Division.

There was also a smaller hospitalReserve-LazaretIX-C(b) atMeiningen.

Escapes

In March 1942, two British privates, Macfarlane and Goldie, escaped wearing their blue work detail overalls over their battledress. They wore rucksacks to cover the markings "KG" (Kriegsgefangener,"prisoner of war" ) on their backs. They secreted themselves in a rail wagon carrying salt toBelgium.There they managed to contact an escape line and, by the middle of the year, they were safely back in Scotland.

Notable inmates

• Captain John B. Sherman,RAMC,Army No. 115959, carried out skin grafts using a razor blade.
• Reba Z. Whittle,an Army Air Corps nurse who was captured in September 1944 when the aircraft she was in was shot down while on a flight to evacuate wounded Allied soldiers, was held briefly at Obermaßfeld and then transferred toMeiningen.She was held as a POW until January 1945 when she was repatriated. Whittle was the only female American POW in theETOin World War II.
• Pierre-Antoine Cousteau,reporter.
• Ted Brown,American radio personality.
• Jack Hintona New Zealand soldier who served during the Second World War. He was awarded theVictoria Cross,the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for his actions at Kalamata on 29 April 1941 during the Battle of Greece.

See also

• List of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany
• Stalag

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Stories of Great Escapes
• Memoir of British Airborne medic
• Reserve-Lazarett IX-C(a)from 303rd Bomb Group, 8th AF, Association.

External links

• New Zealand WWII Archives