1942 Prisoner of War in Lamsdorf Germany

Stalag VIIIB Near Breslau: 10,0000 Captured

Stalag VIIIB housed soldiers taken prisoner in 1942 from Dieppe, France and elsewhere. The camp is located at Lamsdorf, Germany near Breslau, and was occupied by more than 10,000 men. Harold G. Scharfe served with the Essex Scottish Regiment Sept. 6, 1939 to Sept. 12, 1945, Canadian 2nd Division and was one of Lamsdorf's survivors.

Scharfe enlisted at 17 and boarded the Empress of Australia at Gurock, Scotland then took the train to Aldershot, England. He was stationed in Brighton and other south coast locations to defend against the German invasion, which was only 22 miles away in France. He trained on the Isle of Wight as a commando and on Aug.19, 1942 participated in The Dieppe Raid.

Germans were positioned in cliffs overlooking the beaches of Dieppe and in other strategic defensive positions. Before landing, the Canadian forces encountered a German patrol and the defenders were advised of their presence in the English Channel. After 9 hours of German fire on an open beach with little or no cover, 907 of Scharfe's fellow soldiers had given their lives.

The next four days and nights were spent standing up in boxcars with little food or water and no toilet facilities en route to Stalag VIII B, Lamsdorf, Germany in the Polish corridor. They were tied with rope and chains each day for 13 months as 'commandos.'

British Tommies had been prisoners since being captured at Dunkirk France in 1940. They shared cigarettes and food from their Red Cross parcels. The Germans divided the compounds into 4 double-barrack rooms. Each barracks was made of concrete with poor lighting and heating. The Germans issued one blanket and soldiers slept in their clothes to keep warm. Beds were three-tier bunks made of wood and put together with bed boards to hold a straw mattress.

Each room held 120 men, 3 tables and 6 benches. A washing hands facility was used for laundry between the barracks. Roll call was done twice each day and took up to 4 hours and began with roll call at 6 a.m. At 8 a.m.they received tea many used to shave with because of hot water shortages.

At 3 p.m., a ration of 4 potatoes, fish, cheese, sausage, artificial jam and margarine a loaf of heavy black bread divided between 8 men. The Red Cross also provided sports equipment to play softball, soccer, rugby football, volleyball and other activities. The men could survive on Red Cross parcels but when the Allies gained supremacy of the air space over Germany, help from the Red Cross dwindled due to bombed out railroads.

All of the supplies from Red Cross came from Switzerland via rail. Parcels and letters from Canada were cut off; letters were censored and any food in cans were punctured lest they be used for escape purposes. Softballs and bats were cut into pieces to make sure a compass was not inside.

Stalag VIIIB had a tunnel completed in 9 months using bed boards from a barrack room, under an in-camp road and into German guard territory under the sentry box. Canadians had an escape committee to screen prisoners to be certain they spoke German, Polish, French, or Dutch and had the proper documents. Everyone wanted to escape, but once outside the barb wired fence, you were treated as a spy and shot without reason.

The Geneva Convention states that POWs can be made to work as long as their rank is below corporal. Men workied in mines guarded by young soldiers recuperating from wounds.

The BBC news came at lunch when the guard took a break for his lunch -2 weeks old. Soldiers had a school, theatre, band, hospital and library. Men were allowed a 10-minute shower once a month while bed bugs and lice were gassed with cyanide. Bread could be bought from guards for 10 cigarettes. German guard dogs were brought into compounds each night to sniff 'round before lights out.

Some soldiers were moved to Stalag IID near Stettin or Stalag 357, Torun, Poland. From Poland, they were on a forced Death March for 10 weeks to a camp near Hannover. En route, they were shot at by airmen who did not know they were POWs. On May 2, 1945, they were led to freedom by Allied troops,