POW's Stalag 8b - Sherwood Foresters

[roseway20]

hi my father was in stalag luft 8b and we sent of to the vetrans agency and got a lot of info back .even got a pow photo of him when he was captured . also try the red cross

[janrm]

As this topic has woken up again, there is one story I would like to share with the forum:
Last summer I had the pleasure of reading "vi dro mot nord" (English: "We were heading north") - a book written by two Norwegians, but describing the invasion of Norway with German eyes & based on German archive material as well as interviews with former soldiers.

When capturing the north of Gudbrandsdalen, the Germans took a Whole train full of British equpiment, - amongst that: a lot of sporting equipment!

Private Herbert Silla wrote in his diary: "The Tommies* were obviously planning to do sports. Unfortunately it turned out to be only one sport: Long Distance Running. In return they performed excellent..."

Jan

*widely used nickname for British soldiers in this book.

[Stevet100]

Hello all,

My Dad was Sgt Fred Foster of the 8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, he fought in Norway and was wounded and captured on 23 April at the Battle at Tretten where the Foresters and 148 Brigade ceased to exist as a fighting unit after they fought against overwhelming odds.  They did give good account of themselves but only had rifles against an Armoured Division.  Dad spent the war at Stalag XXA in Poland and then Stalag 383 in Bavaria.  He was a Newark man from Bowbridge Road and joined the TA in 1939.

In 2010, I visited the battle sites in Lillehammer and Tretten, saw the CWGC cemetery and actually walked the ground at Rindheim where the battalion made it's last stand on 23 April 40.  The rock sangars which the Foresters had hastily built in the woods were still there.  It was quite a moving experience to think dad had been there 70 years before.

I have posted a full account of my visit with photos on the website ww2talk.com .  If you log on and look under "battlefields today", my thread with photos is called "8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters in Norway" and is there to read.  Have tried to post some photos on this site but they are too big, will try and reduce.

Cliff Housley's book "First Contact" gives the following details of Private Gilbert:
Gilbert H, Pte 322138,Held stalag 344 Lamsdorf, POW number 96358

Steve

[janrm]

Interesting story Steve!

Your description matches very well with Norwegian and German sources I have access to, I presume your father is no longer alive?

The Germans became somewhat cheerful on April 24 1940, actually, as they captured not only POW's and weapons from the British,
but also a crate of Scotch Whisky and several hundred bottles of beer...

The same private Silla attended a wounded British solidier at a farm in Tretten & wrote (loosely translated):

"The Tommie had six bullets in his thigh. He told us that his unit was completely disintegrated and without heavy weapons.
Initially they were 1,000 men from the militia. With only a short military education they had no chance against us..."

Jan