Stalag XVIII-A

Stalag XVIII-A Wolfsberg and Stalag XVIII-A/Z Spittal were World War II German Army Prisoner-of-war camps located at Wolfsberg and Spittal an der Drau in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia, then part of Germany.

Timeline

* October 1939 Polish officer prisoners arrived from the invasion of Poland It was then called Oflag XVIII-B.
* March 1941 Camp redesignated Stalag XVIII-A. French and Belgian arrive, transferred from another camp.
* July - August1941 British and Commonwealth prisoners arrive from Battle of Greece and Battle of Crete. They had come via a transit camp in Saloniki, Greece.
* October 1941 Soviet prisoners arrive, but they were kept in separate enclosure.
* December 1941 typhus epidemic, mainly among Soviet prisoners.
* 1942 new barracks built, 400 British NCOs moved to Spittal sub camp.
* March 1943 Lazarett (camp hospital) built at Spittal sub-camp.
* November 1943, after Italian armistice, Italian and Commonwealth prisoners arrive from Italy.
* June 1944 200 NCOs transferred to Stalag XVIII-C, Markt-Pongau.
* July 1944 Total count: 38,831 all nationalities - 825 in main camp, rest in Work Groups ("Arbeitskommandos"), of this 10,667 British and Commonwealth.
* December 1944 camp bombed by USAF. 61 prisoners killed.
* April 1945 all fit prisoners from camps and neighboring work groups marched eastward to Stalag XVIII-C in Markt-Pongau.
* May 1945 camp liberated by British 8th Army.
* June 1945 camp becomes British Intelligence detention center for ex-Nazis - until mid 1947..

Escapes

There were several attempts to escape, primarily from "Arbeitskommandos".

WWII-stub

Sources

* [http://www.stalag18a.org.uk/frameset.html History of camp]
* [http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/pow/stalag18a.html Stories of inmates, photos]
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-023290.html Photos of Stalag XVIIIA (from New Zealande official war history)]

ee also

*List of German WWII POW camps
*stalag
*Arbeitskommando