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INCIDENTS DURING LIFE IN THE CAMPS
Camp 168, Glen Mill Camp which was a disused cotton mill in Wellyhole Road in Oldham, Lancashire and possessed a large number of Russian volunteers who had been captured fighting for the Germans in France. It was at this camp also that a number of Fallschirmjäger were also sent who, coming straight from the battlefields in France and with their strong sense of discipline intact, were enraged at the behaviour of the ill-disciplined Russians. At mealtimes they would violently push the German prisoners out of the way and eat with their bare hands straight from the serving pots, shovelling as much food into their mouths as possible. Feldwebel Gerald Hanel who was among the number of Fallschirmjäger remembers that this was a very turbulent time at Glen Mill with discipline non-existant among the prisoners and on their arrival decided "...these Russians must be taught the sharpest lesson!" He relates that the next mealtime, at a hand signal from him, his tough Fallschirmjäger comrades descended on the Russians who were like pigs feeding at a trough. Using their fists, elbows and knees dragged the Russians away from the food back to the other end of the hall. This enraged the Russians who hated the Germans far more that the British guards and they planned their revenge. Two nights later the German prisoners had planned a concert but the Russians seeing this as a chance for revenge decided to smash the stage up shortly before it was due to begin so no concert could take place. Word got back to Hanel's paratroopers about the Russian's plans and they decided to ambush the Russians and armed themselves with iron bars, wooden staves and planks of wood with nails hammered in to the ends. The Russians were taken by surprise and the stage remained undamaged-which is more than can said for a large number of Russians who required medical treatment for their injuries! Needless to say there was no reoccurance of such incidents again.
Hanel and his paratroopers imposed a strict Nazi-style type of order and the anti-Nazi contingent among the German prisoners were quick to fall into line. Kangaroo courts were set up for offenders who could expect severe beating when found guilty. They encouraged other prisoners to be awkward with the British guards and when ordered to salute a British officer, did so with a Nazi salute. They stated that under the Geneva Convention, flying crews were not allowed to work and as they were part of the Luftwaffe they were not going to work. The British replied with a "No work, No food" policy but although this forced the paras to work they practised a go-slow so very little productivity was gained from them. Another method of causing annoyance to the British guards took place at night when the prisoners would throw paper aeroplanes from the top floor of the camp into the streets below. The guards (much to their anger) had to pick up every single one in case they contained secret messages. Also when the prisoners went on work duty early in the morning they would sing Nazi marching songs at the tops of their voices and occasionally spat at the locals they passed. More than once the guards were forced to separate enraged locals and German prisoners who had come to blows with each other.
There was in December 1944 an audacious plan hatched by Waffen SS officers and some Fallschirmjäger troops to break out of their camp in Devizes, Wiltshire and seize weapons, including tanks from a local army depot and march on London, all this was to coincide with the Ardennes offensive which was taking place in Europe. The Ardennes Offensive lifted the moral of many German prisoners as they though this would lead to their liberation but they were very much mistaken. Although the plan sounds ludicrous it caused the British some concern and not unfoundedly as there were around 250,000 prisoners in Britain (the equivalent of 48 divisions) at that time and the British and American forces stationed in Britain numbered considerably less as they were fighting in Europe and the Far East. The plan was fortunately discovered and the perpetrators were dealt with, being sent to Comrie Camp in Perthshire (Camp 21) in the wilds of Scotland which housed hard-line line Nazis (mainly young Waffen SS, Fallschirmjäger and U-boat crew prisoners) out of the way of other moderate prisoners. This did lead to one very unfortunate incident where Feldwebel Wolfgang Rosterg-a known anti-Nazi was sent by mistake. He was believed to have informed of the plot to march on London and after a severe beating was hanged in the latrine. Five prisoners were caught, tried and hanged in Pentonville Prison in North London on 6th October 1946. Another prisoner- Unteroffizer Gerhard Rettig was beaten to death for his open criticism of the plan and was beaten to death after being chased round the camp and two other prisoners were executed in November 1946 in Pentonville Prison.
There were several escape attempts made and various methods were employed such as tunnelling and breaching the wire fences although most ended in failure with the escapees being re-captured within a few days. The local around the vicinity of the camp were alert to the possibility of escaped German prisoners and many were turned over by the locals to the authorities. There was one case however of two German POWs escaping from Glen Mill prison camp and making it back to Hamburg. From there they sent a rude letter to the camp commandant stating that they would not be coming back to enjoy any more of his kind hospitality!!
October 18th, 2008, 01:43 PM
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