Stalag XIII-C

Stalag XIII-C was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp built on what had been the German Army training camp Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.

Hammelburg was a large German Army training camp, set up in 1893. Part of this camp had been used as a POW camp during for Allied army personnel in World War I. After 1935 it was a training camp and military training area for the newly reconstituted German Army. In World War II the German Army used parts of camp Hammelburg for Stalag XIII-C, a camp for other ranks and NCOs. Oflag XIII-B was located close by.

As was usual for Stalags, many of the prisoners were located in Arbeitslager on farms or adjacent to factories or other industrial operations. The camp served as the base for distribution of International Red Cross packages and mail. A Lazarett (hospital) cared for prisoners that were sick or had been injured in industrial accidents or air-raids. A number of enlisted men and NCOs were housed in the adjacent Oflag to provide necessary services.

Timeline

* May 1940 - a POW camp was established in wooden huts at the south end of the training ground. The first prisoners included Belgian, Dutch and French soldiers taken during the Battle of France
* May-June 1941 - Yugoslavian, predominantly Serbian prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign.
* June-July 1941 - Australian and other British Commonwealth soldiers arrive, captured during the Battle of Crete.
* June-July 1944 - American soldiers arrived that had been captured during the Battle of Normandy.
* January 1945 - American soldiers arrived from the Battle of the Bulge.
* March 1945 - many prisoners arrived in deplorable condition after marching 500 miles from Stalag VIII-D in severe winter conditions
* 6 April 1945 - camp is liberated by Combat Command B of the U.S. 14th Armored Division

In television

The 1960s and 1970s American television program "Hogan's Heroes" was situated in a fictitious POW Camp called "Stalag 13" located near Hammelburg. However, there was no resemblance to the actual Stalags XIII-A, -B or -C.

See also

* Stalag
* Oflag XIII-B (includes coordinates of nearby sister camp)

External links

* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~txbosqu2/Contents/ferman.html Story of Cpl. Furman Grimm]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/stories/s1342399.htm Brief note on Australian Lawson Rolling]
* [http://tom.harding.free.fr/felixmadouasww2/felixmadouasww2.html Story of French prisoner Félix Madouas] in French
* [http://taskforcebaum.de/index1.html Description of Oflag XIII-B and Task Force Baum]