Oflag IX-A/H

Oflag IX-A
Spangenberg, Hesse
Schloss Spangenberg
Oflag IX-A
Coordinates 51°7′9.86″N 9°39′43.51″E / 51.1194056°N 9.6620861°E / 51.1194056; 9.6620861
Type Prisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled by  Nazi Germany
Site history
In use 1939–1945
Garrison information
Occupants French and British officers

Oflag IX-A was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located in Schloss Spangenberg ("Spangenberg Castle") in the small town of Spangenberg in northeastern Hesse, Germany.

Camp history

The camp was opened in October 1939 as Oflag IX-A[1] to house POWs from the British Royal Air Force and the French Armée de l'Air.[2] The camp was renamed Oflag IX-A/H (Hauptlager, "Main camp") in June 1940,[1] after Oflag IX-C at Rotenburg an der Fulda became a sub-camp (Zweiglager) designated Oflag IX-A/Z.[3]

The first person to escape from the camp was Flight Lieutenant Howard Wardle in August 1940, but he was recaptured and sent to Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle.[4]

The camp was closed in February 1941, but reopened in July when it was used for housing RAF and British Army officers.[2] On 3 September 1941 three RAF officers, Dominic Bruce, Peter Tunstall and Eustace Newborn, escaped disguised as members of a civilian Swiss Red Cross Commission. They passed through the gate and then, wearing faked Luftwaffe uniforms, headed to an airfield near Kassel intending to steal a Ju 52, which Newborn had flown before the war, and fly home. Unfortunately, they were detected before they could start the plane, so they decided to find another less well guarded aerodrome. After ten days, they were challenged by a former Spangenberg guard and arrested. They were taken directly to Colditz.

The Germans marched the prisoners east on March 29 1945 and some 25 escaped as they left the castle (see Eric Foster's autobiography). The Americans liberated the camp's inmates at Lengefeld unterm Stein on 4 April.[5] Spangenberg Castle was destroyed by American bombs after Oflag IX A/H had left.[2]

Notable prisoners

The following prisoners are known to have been held at the camp:;[6]

 Lt Corrran Purdon MC. His party blew up the Northern Winding House at StNazaire.  He escaped from Spangenberg and ended up in Colditz.
  • Micky Burn, 2 Commando. Participant in Operation Chariot, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. Later transferred to Colditz.
  • Donald "The Laird" Roy, 2 Commando. Participant in Operation Chariot, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Escaped but captured and returned after 10 days.

See also

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 Mattiello (1986), p.206
  2. 1 2 3 WO208/3293 The National Archives Official Camp History O9A/H & O9A/Z
  3. ↑ Mattiello (1986), p.207
  4. ↑ Reid (1952), p.65
  5. ↑ http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/index.php/the-march-east-1945-ebook.html
  6. ↑ Rollings (2003), Appendix II
  7. ↑ Robin Mackie (2004). "Shaw, Brian Duncan (1898-1999)". The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73575.
Bibliography
  • Mattiello, G.; Vogt, Wolfgang (1986). Deutsche Kriegsgefangenen-und Internierten einrichtungen 1939–1945 [German prisoners of war and internee facilities 1939-1945] (in German). Koblenz: Selbstverlag.
  • Reid, P.R. (1952). The Colditz Story. Hodder & Stoughton.
  • Rollings, Charles (2003). Wire and Walls : RAF prisoners of war in Itzehoe, Spangenberg and Thorn 1939-42. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2991-1.
  • Mansel, John. "The Mansel Diaries" (1977). Privately printed. ISBN 0950391115


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