Oflag XXI-B

Monument in Szubin

Oflag XXI-B and Stalag XXI-B were World War II German prisoner-of-war camps for officers and enlisted men, located at Szubin a few miles south of Bydgoszcz, in Pomorze, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany.

Timeline

• September 1940 - The camp was built around a Polish boys' school by adding barracks. Initially it was Stalag XXI-B to accommodate Polish soldiers captured during the Invasion of Poland (1939). These prisoners were used for the expansion of the camp.
• December 1940 - the camp was split and Polish officers, previously held together with enlisted men in other camps, were moved here and part of the camp was renumbered Oflag XXI-B
• June 1940 - the Polish officers were transferred to other camps. French officers were brought here from the Battle of France. All French officers had been transferred elsewhere prior to the arrival of British Officer POWs
• September 1942 - British and Commonwealth Officers of the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm were transferred in from Oflag VI-B at Warburg following its temporary closure. These included airman from Poland, Czechoslovakia and other occupied countries serving in the RAF, as well as airmen from the Allied Air Forces - RAAF, RNZAF, RCAF, SAAF, USAAF.^[1]
• October 1942 - More British RAF Officers and NCOs arrive from Stalag Luft III to help relieve overcrowding there.
• November 1942 - A second batch of British RAF Officers arrive from Stalag Luft III
• October to March 1943 - Newly captured British, American and Allied Air Force Officers arrive in batches transferred from Dulag luft.
• March 1943 - A mass escape through a tunnel occurs - 35 men escape, albeit none are successful at reaching neutral territory.^[2]
• April 1943 - The camp is cleared of all POWs - all being sent to the enlarged Stalag Luft III.
• The camp was later reopened and re-numbered Oflag 64 for American officers only.
• The separate Stalag XXI-B stayed in Szubin until 1945.

Notable Prisoners

• Wing Commander Harry Day - Senior British Officer (November 1942 to March 1943) and Great Escape survivor
• Flight Lieutenant Bertram James - RAF Pilot and Great Escape survivor
• Lieutenant Commander Jimmy Buckley RN - Fleet Air Arm Pilot and escapee
• Anthony Barber - RAF Pilot and future Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Robert Kee - RAF Pilot and future author and journalist
• Aidan Crawley - RAF Officer and future author, journalist and MP
• Oliver Philpot - RAF Pilot and escapee
• Eric Williams - RAF Officer and escapee
• Per Bergsland - Norwegian pilot serving in RAF and Great Escape
• William Ash - American serving in RCAF, escapee and future author
• Johnnie Dodge - British Army officer and Great Escape survivor
• Flight Lieutenant CC Cheshire - RAF Pilot and brother of Leonard Cheshire VC
• Pete Stevens - RAF Pilot of German birth
• Jorgen Thalbitzer - Danish pilot serving in RAF

References

1. ^ WO208/3296 Official Camp History Chapter I
2. ^ WO208/3296 Official Camp History Chapter II Para 24

Sources

• Letters of J.D.Chew from Stalags XXI-A,B,D and VIII-B
• letters of Colin N. Dilly from Oflag XXI-B and Stalag Luft 3
• about attempted escape of Dudley Craig from Oflag XXI-B

See also

• List of German WWII POW camps
• Oflag
• Oflag 64
• Stalag Luft III