OFLAG XIII-B - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Oflag XIII-B was a German Army

German Army

The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

Prisoner-of-war camp

A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...

camp for officers

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

, originally in Langwasser

Langwasser

Langwasser is a district of Nuremberg in the southeastern area of the city. It was developed as a prototype of the satellite town concept in the 1960s and is primarily a suburban residential area...

near Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

. In 1943 it was moved to 3 km south of Hammelburg

Hammelburg

Hammelburg is a town in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt...

, Lower Franconia

Lower Franconia

Lower Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria , Germany ....

, Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Hammelburg was a large German Army training camp, set up in 1873. Part of this camp had been used as a POW camp during for Allied army personnel in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. 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 Oflag XIII-B. It consisted of stone buildings. Stalag XIII-C

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....

for other ranks

Other Ranks

Other Ranks in the British Army, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force are those personnel who are not commissioned officers. In the Royal Navy, these personnel are called ratings...

and NCOs was located close by.

Timeline

May 1941 - Part of Oflag XIII-A
Oflag XIII-A
Oflag XIII-A, Oflag XIII-B and Oflag XIII-D Nürnberg Langwasser were all German Army prisoner-of-war camps in World War II for officers. They were all located on the old Nazi party parade grounds in Nürnberg, northern Bavaria...

Langwasser, near Nuremberg, was separated and a new camp, designated Oflag XIII-B, created for Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

n officers. predominantly Serbs
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

captured in the Balkans Campaign.
April 1943 - at least 3,000 Serbian officers were moved from Langwasser to Hammelburg. Many were members of the Yugoslavian General Staff, some of whom had been POWs in Germany during the first World War.
11 January 1945 - American officers captured during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...

arrived and were placed in a separated section.
25 January - at this time the total number of Americans was 453 officers, 12 non-commissioned officers and 18 privates.
9 March 1945 - American officers (captured in the North Africa Campaign,1943 or Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

) arrived in a forced march from Oflag 64
Oflag 64
Oflag 64 was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located at Szubin a few miles south of Bydgoszcz, in Pomorze, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany. It was probably the only German POW camp set up exclusively for U.S. Army officers...

in Szubin
Szubin
Szubin is a town in Nakło County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located southwest of Bydgoszcz. As of 12 December 2004 it had a population of 9354.-History:...

, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

.
25 March - American count: 1291 officers and 127 enlisted men which included the 423 officers and 67 enlisted men who arrived from OFLAG 64 at Schubin, Poland^{http://www.taskforcebaum.de/oflag13/report1.html}.
27 March 1945 - Task Force Baum
Task Force Baum
Task Force Baum was a secret and controversial World War II task force set up by U.S. Army general George S. Patton and commanded by Capt. Abraham Baum in late March 1945. Baum was given the task of penetrating 50 miles behind German lines and liberating the POWs in camp OFLAG XIII-B, near...

breached fence of camp, but was later surrounded by German troops and surrendered.
29 March - many of the POWs were force marched to Langwasser (Nuremberg) from the partially damaged camp and some were killed when Allied planes strafed the marching columns.
6 April 1945 - camp is liberated by Combat Command B of the U.S. 14th Armored Division

Rations

"In the American camp by March rations had decreased to the level of 1,070 calories a day. Officers were allowed to purchase supplementary rations from the canteen when supplies were available. These usually consisted of cabbage, carrots and beets. There were no Red Cross packages delivered during the entire period, but the Serbian officers insisted on sharing with the American officers on a per capita basis all of the Red Cross food parcels received by Serbs. In all, approximately 1,500 parcels were given to the Americans during the 3 months of the camp's operation^{http://www.taskforcebaum.de/oflag13/report1.html}".

External links

For a first-hand description from Donald Prell

Donald Prell

Donald B. Prell is a venture capitalist and futurist who created Datamation, the first magazine devoted solely to the computer hardware and software industry.-Early life:...

, a POW in Oflag XIII-B who was liberated and tried to find his way back to the US lines, only to be recaptured, log on to: http://www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/Prisoner%20of%20War/PW%20Camps/Oflag%20XIII-B/Prell/Prell-Donald.pdf

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Timeline

Rations

See also

External links