Prisoners-Of-War

POW identification card and metal dogtag. Lt. Pierce was assigned to the south compound of Stalag Luft III, Sagan Germany barrack #125 room 7.

Transcribed from personal logbook (all spelling and grammatical errors are taken from the log).

Front page...
Property of

A.I. PIERCE

ROOM 7
BLOCK 125
STALAG LUFT 3
SAGAN
GERMANY

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942

P PIERCE A.I 0-818929 POW
CP WILLIS CORBIN 0-814025 POW
N LANSCHE POW
B HAMPTON NEIL. H
E BUTLER HOWARD. G POW
R STUEDEIKIS ALBERT. H POW
B MULLEN KENNITH. R POW
W WARREN
T NEMES STEPHEN. J
486 832
Col OVERING
Maj Clyde THOMPSON
Cap THOMAS

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SHOT DOWN NOV.2 1944 AT DUSSELDORF AFTER FLYING FROM MERSEBURG.
CAPTURED BY MILITARY POLICE AND HELD IN A PRIVATE HOME FOR SEVERAL HOURS AWAITING TRANSPORTATION.
TAKEN TO COLOGNE AND KEPT IN THE COLOGNE COUNTY JAIL UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON OF THE 3RD.
REMOVED FROM JAIL AND TAKEN TO RAILROAD STATION AT DUSSELDORF. WAITED SEVERAL HOURS AND WERE THEN PUT ON A TRAIN. TRAVELED ALL NIGHT AND MOST OF THE NEXT DAY. AFTER CHANGING TRAINS SEVERAL TIMES WE FINALLY ARRIVED AT FRANKFURT AND WERE TAKEN TO THE INTERAGATION CENTER LATE IN THE AFTERNOON OF THE 4TH.
REMAINED AT FRANKFURT FOR FIVE DAYS, In solitary confinement, for interagation.

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LEFT FRANKFURT THE MORNING OF THE 10TH AND ARRIVED AT DULAG 2, AT WETZLAR, IN THE AFTERNOON GIVEN CLOTHES AND THE FIRST GOOD FOOD BY THE RED CROSS. REMAINED THERE TWO DAYS. LEFT THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH. TRAVELED FOUR DAYS ON A CROWDED PRISION RAILROAD CAR.
ARRIVED AT STALAG LUFT 3, SAGAN, ON THE NIGHT OF THE 16TH.

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AFTER SAGAN
On the night of Jan27, 1945, at aprox. 2100 hours we were given 30 min. notice to evacuate. No destination or other information was given us. Fortunately we had made some preparations on our own, such as; makeshift packs, made from shirts and trousers etc., and some reserve of food, for a possible forced march. Naturally a mad scramble ensued. We packed as much food and clothing as possible, but much was left behind in much of a mess. We assembled outside at 2130 and then returned to our rooms for fifteen min. because the Germans weren't ready for us. Rumors hit a new high. The Russians were supposed to be advancing rapidly and many of us thought that they would overtake us before we had traveled far. By 2200 we were again assembled and waiting, in

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the outer lager, to leave. The night was quite cold, but because of the excitement, it was several hours before it took affect.
We marched all night in below zero weather with wet feet. It was necessary to keep moving to keep from freezing. At 1100 on 28 Jan we arrived at Gross Selten where we were packed into barns. We managed to keep warm enough to get a few hours rest.
We left Gross Selten at 1700. Each man was given half a loaf of break and a 1/4 lb of marge. We marched 25 km to Muskau arriving there about midnight. It snowed and the wind blew all night. Many of the men dropped out along the way. Many had frost bite and frozen feet. When we finally reached Mauskau we were taken to a large glass factory where we were able to get

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some warmth and dry our clothes. It was quite difficult to get all of our some 2100 men near the furnaces or even inside the building and before everyone could get inside some had collapsed from exhaustion and had to be carried in. All of the men were so exausted that Col. C.B. Goodrich the S.A.O. refused to move until we had had some rest. The goons gave us no food so we lived on what we had carried from Sagan.
By 0900 Jan 30 about 75% of us were again able to move. The balance remained behind with no assurance of care from the Germans. We started on an 18 km hike to Groustein. Aside from being cold and wet and having no food this part of the march was not hard.
We arrived at Graustein about 1800 and were again put up in cold damp barns

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for the night.
We left at 0900 the morning of the 31st and marched 7 km to Spremburg at 1200 where we spent most of the day on cement floors of warehouses of an army post. We were given some soup in the afternoon. The first food from the goons in several days.
About 1600 were marched to the railroad yards and put in small French boxcars. Packed in 50 men to a car, where we remained for the next three days on our 450 km ride to Moosberg. We were allowed to get out of the car twice during those three days. The goons gave us a very small amount of bread, marge and meat.
About 0700 Feb 3 we were taken off the train and taken to filthy bars in the outer lager of Stalag 7A.

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On the evening of the 6th we were deloused and put in filthy baracks inside the camp.

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CHRONILOGICAL EVENTS OF THE WAR

Germany occupies Saar Basin & Rhine Neutral Zone 1936
Aunschluss with Austria Mar. 1938
Munich conference (Chamberlin O.K.'s Germany taking Sudentenland) Sept. 1938
Germany annexes rest of Czechoslavakia & Memel Mar. 1939
German-Russian Non Aggression Pact (Revealed Sept. 17th) Aug 22, 1939
Germany Marches on Poland Sept. 1, 1939
ENG. & FRANCE Declare War on Germany Sept. 3, 1939
Poland Capitulates Sept. 27, 1939
Poland is partitioned by Germany & Russia Sept. 29, 1939
Russia severs relations with Finland Nov. 28, 1939
Russia Bombs Helsinki Nov. 30, 1939
Russina Finish Peace Pact Signed Mar. 12, 1940
War of Nerves on W. front Winter 1939-1940
Norway & Denmark invaded by Germany Apr. 9, 1940
German push in W begins May 10, 1940
Holland surrenders May 14, 1940

PERSONAL EQUIPMENT

TOILET KIT
LEATHER CASE
STEEL MIRROR
TOOTH BRUSH & PLASTIC CASE
" POWDER " "
PLASTIC SOAP CASE
COMB
FACE TOWEL
RAZOR - PLASTIC CASE - SHICK INJEC.
BLADES
BRUSH
SHAVING SOAP & CASE
SMALL SCISSORS - NAIL FILE
" SEWING KIT
MECH. PENCIL
CANVAS SHOE COVERS
PEN STATIONARY PENCILS
EXTRA COMBS
SHOE SHINE KIT
BRUSH
POLISH RAG

CLOTHES BRUSH
SWAGGER STICK
CLOTHES RACH COVER
GLOVES
SIPPO LIGHTER - FLUID FLINTS
SPOT REMOVER
POCKET COMPASS
LARGE JACK KNIFE
POCKET "
HAND AXE & HAMMER - NAILS
PLIERS SCREW DRIVE
LIGHT RUBBERS
SHEETS PILLOW CASES
TRAVELING CLOCK
SMALL LEATHER NOTE BOOK
MONEY BELT
WET STONE
SMALL PORTABLE RADIO
CLOTHES LINE
SECHRINE TABLETS
SMALL FLASK