Camp Howze Museum

Title

My WWII as I Recall

Description

Screenshots from a selection of pages of Carl Reed's book, "My WWII as I Recall."

Source

Reed, Carl. My WWII as I Recall. 

Subject

Carl Reed

memoir

German POWs

prisoners of war

Historical Memory

WWII Literature

extracted text

MY WWII
AS I RECALL

CARL REED

CHAPTER XIV

PRISONERS OF WAR
The 103rd

Division

was

several months after the

war

becarne evident that it

was

in

training in the States until
Europe had begun. Early on it

still

most etBicient to send German

America on empty returning ships and
instead of for food
European bound boats for military materiel
POWs
for interned POWs in Europe. Thus many Geman
and
Were sent to the USA. Some were selected as farm helpers

POWs

to

to

use

many others were sent to Camp Howze. These particular
African
emans had been members of Gen. Rommel's elte
Corps. They were all healthy and physically fit blonde

ecimens. As we "Amis" moved about camp in the hot sun,
neck ties torturing us, we looked with envy at the well fed

eman POWs who "toile

in shorts and bare, tanned torsos.

159

For them der Krieg war beendigt (the war was over) while we
we
Often
we
of
us.
ahead
combat
wondered
if
all still had
nan
held prisoners were as well ofl as our American held POW.

We hoped so.
The Geman PCWs, at Howze noved about the nost

without amed guards standing over them. Those Germans wh
had been assigned to lam work, ate and lived with the fam

families.

Many international romances began.

Numerous

mamiages were consummated after the war. Many former
POWs returned to the USA to visit their American "friends
after having been returned to Germany, at war's end.
The following reports of several American POWs reveal

that, with one exception, al men in German pison camps were
fed. As
roughly treated, always under armed guard, and poorly
the one exception who was
a hospital patient, Clif Perkins was
kindly treated.
Rothbach on the night of 03 Feb. 45 the German
marched to the nearby town of
in
Perkins
tow,
with
patrol,
There were five
Krauts.
the
held
was
which
by
Ottwiller
for the night.
Germans in the house where they stopped
The Gemans
Perkins was bleeding profusely and in great pain.
The next night 04 Feb.
put a splint on his arm and bandaged it.
45 an old German soldier - about 45 years old - was sent wiu
hours walk deeper
six
to
five
about
another
to
Perkins
town,
was walking win
into Germany. He was still bleeding and
old
on a
him
o
difficulty. The next morning 05 Feb. 45 they put more
WOOu
to add
WOod buming bus that stopped frequently
wounded Geman soldie
Besides Perkins, the bus caried five
The Dus
Heidelberg.
He had seen signs advertising breweries in

Leaving

160

stoppe by an abandoed sclhool housc, where Perkins was led
a room and
lelt alone lor a while. Then

a

young German
in wcaring his
highly polished jackk
Nke Englislh and triccd to impress
Perkins with his
ledoe of the istory ol the T08rcd Division

jntocCr (30-35 ycars old) came

nto

boots.

Perkins
hackground. Ol course tfhe young Hauptman and
had access
ins bill fold and dralt card. Only a week before
Len ordered to sew on the cactus patch of the troops had
Perkins proftered only his name, rank and serial 103rd Div.
to

salusty the Geman otficer and he number. This
took Perkins to
another very large room. It probably had
been a library, as
there were several chairs and a table about
eight feet long. There
were three

seemed

to

young Germans and an older man
in the room.
They spoke only German. The older man
motioned for the
prisoner to remove his jacket and to sit up on the
table. He was
directed to open and close his
right fist; after trying several
times, he couldn't close his hand.
His foream was swollen
bigger than his thigh. It appeared now that
the German was a
doctor, and by his actions he indicated that
he

amputate the right arm. Perkins vigorously shook hisplanned to
head and
indicated his opposition to this action. The

pushed him
cloth

over

down

lengthwise

his face and "the

later he woke up

on a

men

on

lights

straw mat

in the

room

the table. They put a
damp
went out." About three hours

the floor. Next to him was a
wounded Geman soldier who seemed to be concerned about
the American, who then realized that his
right arm had been cut
off at the shoulder. His jacket with his
cigarettes was hanging on
on

the wall above him. The next day 06 Feb. 45 Perkins was
placed on a traditional gas fired bus and driven to a Geman

hospital, where he became a patient along with several wounded
Geman soldiers. The hospital was located on top ofa small hill
outside of Landau, Germany. Here the GCeman doctors were

161

capable and solicitous,
pay1ng
than

more

attention to the
soldiers,
Their
were also very
respectful of Perkins and
German
were
atien
about life in the United States.
patienms
uite
Anerican curiOs
planes
bombed ncarby, they all watched out ofWhen
the 2nd
Later they were encouraged to use the
story windows
safety of the cel
cellan A
couple of times a single engine plane came
over with the
sputtering. All of the German patients ran to the windows

prisoner

to

their

own

Amencan

shouting "Luttwalfe! Luftwaffe!"

After a couple of weeks
bus

at

Landau, Perkins was shuttled h

another hospital Neustadt. Again he was treated
with
the
both
and
medical
deference by
Geman patients. The
staff
to

-

German soldiers appeared to Perkins to be very similar to
American Gls. By this tünme Perkins had leaned enough
German - alongwith sign language

to be able to communicate

satisfactorily. About 15% of the Germans were able to speak
English reasonably well. Perkins, now with halting reluctance,

confessed that he "began to slightly enjoy the experience."

The next move was to
Rhine. The Stalag was a

Stalag 12A close to Mannheim on the
wall
big 2 story building with a 10ft.

for allied POWs. These
barbed wire on top
Enghsh
inluded Americans, French and French Moroccans,
cellar and "never
aviators, and Russians who were kept in the
at Stala
allowed to see the light of day", When Perkins arrived

around it

-

-

12A he had developed a rather stilted style of speaking. 1ne

other Americans thought that he was a spy. However in
days his Texas accent came back and all was ok.

about

3

Perkins was assigned to a rather large room with 12 Dedu
There

were

Americans, French and
162

two

English patients.

AbOul

were allowed to go outside for a few
3 times a weck hey
with cach other. No Russians were permitted
hals and visited
conlnement in the cellar,
outside of their

9or

A British aviator, who had been shot down, became a
Datient at Stalag 12 A. He too had had his right arm amputated.
His health deteriorated rapidly and he died. Another empty

bed. The rest of the patients seemed to gain back their health,
in spite of the fact that they were seriously underfed. Every day
the diet was severely rationed as follows:

1. Breakfast - one

slice of black German bread; 2. Lunch -

three small boiled

potatoes; 3. Supper - a small bowl of soup made from potato

peelings: This diet never varied.
After three weeks at Stalag 12A, artillery could be heard in
the distance. The thundering sound rapidly approached and on
30 March 45 the POWs were liberated and their "trial" was over
for them. No provisions were made to care for the released
So they stayed for two more nights in the prison and
raided civilian houses for food and souvenirs. Perkins came

men.

away with the burgermeister's top hat.
The Russians were released from the cellar darkness.
Perkins assessed them as OK guys "but rather stupid". They

treated all Americans as heroes. Thus the saga of Rothbach

closed out
Other 103rd Div. Men who became POWs were not treated
as considerately as was Perkins. Fred Lyons, a medic from 410
riq. Co. was taken prisoner in late Nov. 44 and was assigned to
In a prison
hospital. He lost sixty pounds in three months

WOTk
time.

163

Tdered to caplire

lhe 409h Regt. was ordered
In late Nov. 44
aph
and snow covered plains. By
By es.
early rnoming
Selestat in the cold
B had clearecd the lirst six houseson the
Co.
44
Dec.
on 1
tanks and
and supenionh
The Gemans countered with tanks

end of

nonh

toWn.

of infanuy

numbers
cupants

representing
of the lirst houscs,

was one
one

There

weatne
ns.

most

is

suffered in
men who

of the
day of pleasure

The

of Cornpany
ComDana
of

awa

and were herded
torced to surender
to POW camps in Czechoslovakia

were quickly
the road on their way

Stiles
recalls his

wilh automatic

aincd

those camps

Dren

He

as an escapee.

for the treatment of the
sight justificationThe imited
limited amount
food
amount offori

a

of

The
in Germany.
Americans
food for all people
to the shortage of
due
somewhat
liíe
was
Beng engaged in a life
civilians. Being
and
German troops
not likely that the
including
Americans, it is
the
struggle with
transporting gallons and
or death
concermed about
interred

captors

could be too

the enemy pisoners.
to supply
into Germany

The continuous
to wo

was due
gallons of
captives deeper distance of food and suppies
moving of the
the hauling
front lines of the
1) to shorten
the
2)
distribution centers;
of the
drawn back all
from the main
being

water

reasons:

continually

were
German troops
in combat.
time that we were

suflered

G 41lth Regt.
Co.
Benioff,
Harold
his capture
Staff Sergeant
the time of
from
series of mishaps
liberation on 20
an unusual
his
until
45
attack
Schillersdorf on 25 Jan.
for the
of
outside
off
stepped
snow
company
his
that
deep
The
day
45.
sno
hip
The
April
on

the

town

was

beautiful.
described as

provided a glorious

An

order to

mantle for the

move

rolling countryside
didn't

out

came

so

164

abruptly that

Benioff

w t o e r the 1 a

Inw

t

t e Toute which they were te fol

weTT WE ang their handmarle carnonulage.

Mattress

NYI Wrof dl at knee lerigth and holes marle for the arms
e ad Ielt over peces Were used to cover the helmet. back
I n d mortar ammunitiOn bagS.As the troops
began to

ah ance a

heavy

sinOW

began

to

fall.

squad, with their heavy equipment and
a/Tmunition, began to lag behind the rest of the battalion. Soon
The

the

mortar

tanks and the battalion

were

lost to

view in

the

and
covered
quickly
by the falling snow. As
Beniofl urailed along the side ol a toothill, he could see the town

hazc. Footprints

snow

were

ofSchillersdorf below.

The 410th Regt. which had preceded them into the
town
had been caught off guard by an attack of the
Jerries. Large
numbers of the Regt. were killed and

captured.

Moving ahead cautiously,

and trying to avoid mine fields,
small Geman patrol. A landser

Benioff was intercepted by a
called out "Hand hoch!" Benioff hit the
ground and began
fining at the patrol. The enemy slinked off and Beniof quickly
moved out. ater he was pinned down when a
larger patrol
began to fire riles and a machine gun. The first patrol had now
positioned itself on his flank. There was no escape. Benioff
states that he said his prayers, said good-bye to his wife and

parents, and shouted "Kamerad"
He was stripped of his watch and personal articles, and a

Geman Captain briefly interrogated him before he was turned
Over to a guard.

He was led to a ban.

On entenng he was

Surprised to find about 50 Yank soldiers and a black Lieutenant.
165

I
the
n
e

h

he

courtyard.
tyard. The
Theprisoners were
raging
s we
were mnarched
awaken
in the blizzard. Dead POWs
were
awakenedl
ened and
and counted
soldiers,
or
gardens
marched
next town
hanging from both amies, we counteedd omo

from
hrough
t
o
wn
i
n
a
armies,
windows
been sturdy prisoners found it indows just as ere stprawledin
thev die e
homes were
they
shattered and bumt
shambles.
now piles of
Wh
piles
What
of
see later
timbers.
ha e
All
were in the
of the
of
bricks.,
the villagesbricks, stseuones and
same state
the
the

. In be

29th the
villages
ofi
that the
that
t
h
ey
marchers
demolition.
they were
reached division
By
By the
the nih
ni
well fed interrogated. "They
They
slept in wam
headquarters,
sardines,
whe.
bread
and
their next
rooms
ersatz
and were
destination
coffee.
They set out for
carrying a third of a They
canned meat.

headquarters, where

-

f

loaf
loaf ofof bread and
and

The natives were all
living in their cellars under
what had been their
the ruins of
homes. A smoke stack
cellar windows. The
protruded from the
Jery
soldiers
taunted
the prisoners and
made the motions of
them mostly for the
the civilians who shootng
spat on the Americans and benefit of
called out
"Schwarz" to the black soldiers.
-

As the column

approached

Dambach they watched the
American bombers flatten the railroad station. The next day the

troops were jammed into box cars. As the weather cleared the
Amencan bombers came out. The troops were forced to leave
the trains and were led into an air raid shelter from which
they

Were soon evicted by civilians.

The next day it was back imto c

40 and 8s and arrival at Limburg. So this is where Limburger
Cheese comes from! In camp the POWs were issued a Gemait

army mess kit, battered Belgian
torn blankets. Troops slept on

over

wet straw

floor tiles. Food and water was scarce.
166

coats

and

two diry

spread

on

he

d
cou

T

miniran

r.r

REED
and
Bernard Law Montgomery, Viscount

General commanding the 21st Army Group
July

1944- June 1945.

R

i

Soon there
American prisoners.
a
appeared
hair and
phenomenal
They werc
were
beards,
Op ol emacted
sunken eyes andwalking groun
been
skele
captured about 40
ari
skel
e
t
o
ns,
shriveled
declared
wivtthhh kmg
days
skin
POWs.
shifts repairing They had beenpreviously
and ha
and
vard hey heenhar
had
forced
railroads.
to
allied planes. Their
hey were
work
They
work om
12 h
living
contimous
space had been
wasn't enough
cont
i
n
uOusl
y
strale
so
space to lie down. peen so
croweee
crOwded
If the
coming out of the baracks
that he
men wedl
the
were
their quarters. A
guards
too so
toll had been would fire their nfles
heavy
hunger, cold, exposure, disease
inlicted on the
and
ille fire.
killed at work by allied
Ohers had been
strafing planes.
t

On 17 March the first
American Red Cross
given to the POWs. Allied
packages were
flew over the
planes
barracks
and night. At night the
troops heard the bombing and in darthe

day they

saw

it.

killed 93 officers

A British Lancaster
planted a bomb which
and men. The Amenicans made stoves
out

of

huge powdered milk cans and bought wood from the Russan
prisoners with cigarettes.

On Sunday, 1 April the POWs were moved to CampXC
This
Milag Morlay Norel located in Zeven.civilians.

was

the best pmson

The Amenicas
was run by
and
in
Gemany
camp
Merchant Navy men
British
of
hundreds
ws
were housed with
New clothing
5 year prisoners.
most of whom were 4 or
best ofa
and,
food
articles, blankets,
ISsued along with toilet
-

new hope and spirit."
The prisones
forces.
n e a r e s t t h e town.
allied

approaching
Rumors floated of
i
the camp nearest u hulets
of
end
the
2
at
at
evacuated from
and
and
2a
Were
be heard
am.

The

next

night artillery

could

168

besaun to whiz through the bairacks and shells exploded nearby.
The POWs stayed low and waited.

At daylight the Brits

marched in to the tune ol a Scolch Guards Regimental bagpipe

band. The Union Jack was nun up, and jeeps, ambulances and

photographers nished in. Three days later Benioff flew to
Belgium. Freedom from Gemany at last!

Benioffs condition made a hospital stay necessary. While
there a tall slim soldier walked in who resembled Benioff's
buddy Alvin Rosenzweig from across the street in Astoria, Long

Island.

Benioff shouted "Ross', who turmed toward him in

astonishnment. After a moments hesitation, the two gaunt former

neighbors, and former POWs, embraced wamly as each
dripped tears on the other's shoulder.

Sgt. Ray Miller in Co. 410th

was

captured by

the enemy

along with several other GIs when they were pushed back to
Mulhouse on 25 Jan. 45. They marched and rode by train to
Stalag XII Many died there of malnutrition, exposure,
pneumonia and complications from untreated wounds.
In the Ottwiller area, during the early morning of 25 Jan. 45
a group of Germans (later estimated to be about 30 men)

apparenty full of schnapps, came storming thru the sector of the
Znd Bn. of the 410th Inf. and caught E Co. troops completely
by surprise. All of the Headquarters Company were killed or
captured. In attempting an escape, Cpl. Timothy Alkire was
shot in the butt by a German 30 caliber slug. The captives were

marched back into German held areas. To avoid detection,
along the way, by the American reconnaissance planes, the

POWs were hidden in barns, churches and caves. Our artillery

fired on a church hiding the prisoners and several men were
169

severely wounded. The captives

linal installe
Badorb baracks located high on a mountan. Fach naCar
held 200 men who slcpt on the floor in below
were

temperatures. There was no walcr nor electricity. "T.
soup was served daily, and vey rarely was any meat

catiw

included.

Alkire developed pneumonia and was hospitalized, wh
he was treated by a young POW American ieutenant.
Alkire

wounds had become inlected, but the American doxtorhal

medications. In the hospital he was able to sleep on astr
mattress. Several patients died of malnutition. Alkire weighei
in at 80 pounds when he was liberated.
Recentdy Corporal Alkire recounted: "I was liberated from
prison camp on Easter Sunday morning. It was the most jovhl

experience of my lite when those American tanks crashed
through the front gates of the prison enclosure. I just stood
there and cried on the happiest day of my life!"
-

During the Battle of the Bulge the Allied lines east of
Bastogne were stretched very thin where the 103rd was applying

Gemans from diverting any
Just enough pressure to prevent the
the Germans had a
troops to the Bulge, and it is presumed that

similar mission.
When it

appeared that the Germans

were

attemping to cut

off the supply route North from Marseilles a combat team of the

411th Inf. was shuttled to Sessenheim. On the morming of i9

Jan. 45 at 0630 the 411th attacked across the open gTOund.
lares lit up the area and the firing began - artillery, machine
gun, mortar, and

rifle. The German Tiger tanks
170

were hidden

CR

RKEE

General George Smith Patton
commander of the U. S. 7th Army in
1943 and the U. S. 3rd Army 1944-45.

ww

between the buildings and knocked out all of our
ks
n
order. Several GIs, and Sgt. P'aul Bealor, a medic from

shon
Co..
The Ger

bain at the cdge ofthe village.
took shclter in a
into the arca and surrounded the bar rmans
forced their way
As the
he
barn they were kicked or ifle
blazing
the
lelt
Americans
hned Ucm up along the eclge of the
by the Kauts, as they
on the opposite sidle
then set up a machine gun

butted

the
They
ominous lor the Americans, int
looked
very
road.
road. This
on the scene.
Ater
After aa heated
ieutenant appeared
Geman
the Amercans were marched thronoh
discussion with his troops
into a Pig sty. The Germans took all wri
ordered
and
the town
a
outer clothng. Each man was
and
heavy
watches, ings
there were not enouh
a blanket. As
and
food
for
tin can to use
Then the
were torn in half.
man, s o m e
each
for
blankets
days. Some
for several days
marched North
were
prisoners
of bread. In the
tea and a slice
w e r e given
sometimes in
mornings they
and somehmes
retained in barns
were

evenings they
Usually they
barnyards.

no

thin tumip soup

served

were

food at al.

-

The prisoners were
could locate around the

occasionally there
that they
any food
allowed to requisition
one occasion, after
and turnips. On
Lieutenant
German Lieutenant
milk, potatoes
was

farms

eggs,

couple of days

Geman

the
tood, the
food,

without

the guards

a cow that
farmer to donate
reluctant
which
persuaded a
slice of raw meat

aa

butchered.

roasted
soldiers

The
the bam. The
behind
fire in the orchard, stomachs rebelled
rebelled

Each

over a

given

was

a

m a n was

gorged,

but

later

stomachs

their

uncomfortably.
rode

in charge
The Geman officer
weakened
on foot. Soldiers

marched
out

n o one ever

planes often flew

knew what became

over

-

a

all others
forced to drop

bicycle while

and

were

of them.

British
lignter
Britsh fighter

their knitted cas
the Americans waved

172

the

planes would dip their wings and fly ofl. With this gesture
POW's were ceitain thal the Allied Command was aware of

the
ther locations.

The

captives

another. They

were

moVed irom

one

prison

at

compound

to

Ludwigsberg in Stalag V-A for several
davs and then marched to the Stuttgart rail center and
loaded
into boxcars - the famous 40 and 8s
- and, after some strafing
Allied
by
planes, moved North to Stalag X1-B. Food there was
terrible and consisted of barley tea
a coffee
(really
substitute)
sauerkraut or utabaga soup and a
of
piece German (sawdust)
bread. At Stalag X1-B the POWs received two
shipments of
Red Cross parcels. One
parcel was divided among five men.
The few cigarettes were used to
trade with the guards
44
for
one slice of
cigarettes
were

-

unning
trench.

a

water nor

good German bread. There

toilet facilities. The

In the evening of 04
barmn. In the early

men

used

an

was no

open slit

May 45 the prisoners were locked up in

morning the guards let them out. Then the
Germans stacked their own
rifles, dumped all of their
ammunition in the farm pond and
announced to the prisoners
that they could
go free. Up the road came British

troops and
Jeeps. The Brits gave the POWs
some real soup and
- beng
British served tea. Then
they were showered and de-loused.
All
clothing was burned and British uniforms were issued.
As
Sgt Bealor relates "After a
few days I was placed on a British
(my first ever plane ride) and flown to Brussels. After
berator
lew
a
days we moved to Camp
Lucky Strike in France. Then on
06 June 45
I arived in
Newport News, Virginia. Back in the
good old USA.
Many a day I thought that I would never see
home

again. Thank God!"

173

The American airmen
were
-

who

were

captured by the Gen
kept in separate camps containing only air-force nris

Stalag-Lufts. There

POWs

were

Gemans

trcated with some

respec
they were all officers and high ranking non-coms. The
sen as
Senior
American officer maintained his cohorts in a well
and
well disciplined unit. Griping was not tolerated and

organized

officer

were delegated to keep the morale high. The once popular Ty
serial

"Hogan's Heroes" - was a comical spoof on both the

oth the

Americans and their German captors in a stalag unit. Most

readers will recall Col. Klink and Sgt. Schultz.
One of my former students
Doug VanWeelden
described for me the action leading up to his becoming a Stalag
Luft captive. He was flying his 14th mission over Germany.
About 1% hours into the flight his #2 engine konked out This
made tuning left difficult and he lost his formation over
Halberstat. Nine Messerschmitt 109 German fighters closed in
crew shot down three of the fighters
on the lone bomber. His
the Germans set his #3
and one was a "probable" casualty, but
are out in ten
and #4 engines on fire. When that happens "you
of gas directly behind
seconds" because you haul 1,400 gallons
to earth. Civilian
them. All of the crew parachuted safely
one.
famers rounded them up and hung each
to
a little while longer hoping
bomber
with
his
Doug stayed
himself. For eight
glhde across the Rhine, but he had to eject
at night -trying to
days he cautiously moved about mostly
the
to Holland. In
contact underground agents or make it
3o
confusion he was taking pep pills instead of sleeping tablets.
to hop
Trying
of
activity.
state
on
a
high
super
he was operating
a

lreight uain for Holland he

He then became

a

was

"resident" of

picked up by Geman Police.
Two

a stalag-luft at Mooseburg.

174

high school classmates were in the same
camp
Ken
Hamiman, and Ralston Geary. After several months
on the
ISual slim rations of the POW canps Doug
weighed 100 lbs
when he was liberated by Gen. Patton's 13th and just
14th amored
divisions.
f

his

-