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World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII
Stalag 4C was a POW Camp at Sudentenland Treibstoff Werke, Wistritz bei Teplitz near Brüx (now called Most) in Czechoslovakia, where fuel was synthesized from brown coal and many of the POWs worked in the mines.
List of those who were held in Stalag 4C during the Second World War.
- Joseph William Draper 51st Ack Ack Regiment Read their Story.
- Spr. John Galloway Read their Story.
- Pte. Peter Ronald "Mick" Hickman Read their Story.
- Cpl. Stanley Alfred Munns Read their Story.
- Private Thomas Richard Owen Read their Story.
- Trooper Thomas Randall Read their Story.
- Rifleman Henry James Turner Read their Story.
- Leslie Frederick Turner Read their Story.
If you have any names to add to this list, or any recollections or photos of those listed, please get in touch.
Leslie Frederick Turner
My Dad, Leslie Frederick Turner of the Royal Marines, was captured in Crete and imprisoned in Stalag 4C.
Joseph William Draper 51st Ack Ack Regiment Royal Artillery
My Grandfather Joe Draper was trained in Yeovil, Somerset and was shipped out to Africa. My Dad said he was in the 51st Ack Ack Regiment. He was captured on Crete and taken to Stalag 4C. He had a hard time there. The Germans used to dress them in smart uniforms and take a picture of them. They wrote short letters home on the back of the pictures. You could see it was staged, because they had cigarettes in their mouths which weren`t lit. I have a picture of him with his friend Victor Nutman. If anyone knows of his whereabouts,please contact me.
Rifleman Henry James Turner Ulster Rifles
My father, Henry James Turner, was taken prisoner in Sicily. I believe his Major was called Sir James Henry. I have never been able to find out more. Sir Henry actually managed to get away but I believe his wife wrote to my mother to tell her that my father had been taken prisoner.
Dad was taken prisoner sometime in 1943, and taken through Italy by cattle train, said they could only look through slats, to Czkecoslovakia Stalag 4c where he stayed until the war ended.
Until the authorities knew officially, he was missing presumed killed, and my mother tore up the widow's pension book she had been sent and refused to believe he had been killed.
During his stay there he saw officers shot for one reason or another. They were taken regularly out of the camp to build roads and then back again.
He became ill at one time with phneumonia, not sure and was thrown on the back of a dung cart and taken to the local Red Cross Hospital which was believed to be run by the French Red Cross. He was nursed back to health.
When he returned to the camp his fellow prisoners in his hut had saved his Red Cross food parcels for him which he needed badly as was very thin and weak from the infection.
At the end of the war, he said they woke up one morning and found there were no guards, no one around and it was sometime later I believe that Russian soldiers came into the camp and took them out.And some time later, not sure of the time scale, handed them over to the Americans.
They were all quite weak, I believe, with having had an atrocious diet and had to be medically checked over. I believe my father was told he wouldn't live beyond his mid fifties and would never be able to work inside again, but he lived until he was 88, but always had a bit of a cough.
I don't know how long it was before he was sent home, but said he travelled back to England in the bombhold of a bomber. Mum said for a while he wasn't the same when he returned, always looking over his shoulder.
He tried a few outdoor jobs but finally worked for the GPO as a postie, always out in the fresh air, free, he could never stand to be cooped up. I still have letters written to my mother from Stalag 4c
Spr. John Galloway Royal Engineers
My father served as a Sapper in the North African Campaign before being shipped over to Greece in 1941, where he was captured, I think in the Bay of Corinth, by the Germans on 29 April 1941. I know that he was imprisoned firstly in Stalag 4B (Mûhlberg) and at a later date transferred to Stalag 4C (Wistritz), but have no idea, record or means of finding out when.
My father died, aged 83, in 1998. He spent his working life as a bricklayer, but it was his recollection of his wartime experiences and his command of German which led to my studying the language and engaging in Twinning activities between my county in Scotland (East Lothian) and its twin county in Germany (Spree-Neisse), which is situated only 2 hours by train from Mûhlberg.
I have visited Mûhlberg on 2 occasions, most recently only 2 weeks ago with a group of students. Frau Stamm gave us an illuminating guided tour on both occasions.
Private Thomas Richard Owen Royal Welch Fusiliers
Stalag 4c POW No 248587
Cpl. Stanley Alfred Munns
Cpl Stan Munns served in the Royal Marines in North Africa and was then part of the Battle on Crete in 1942, when he was part of the withdrawal from the island after crack German paratroopers invaded. He was part of the final rear guard action on the island and was put in charge of a group of Australians from the 2/2 Field Artillery. He was captured and spent the remainder of the war in Stalag 4C. He compiled a diary during the latter stages of the war which included some photographs of other prisoners.
On repatriation in May 1945 he married one month later and then returned to his vocation as a book binder finally working for the HMSO as an Asst Director until retirement in Norfolk UK.
Trooper Thomas Randall Royal Tank Reginment
Just received my father's prisoner of war record from the Red Cross.He never spoke about his imprisonment much,so this is our first record of his war years... Thomas Randall was in the Royal Tank Regiment, taken in Tobruk in August 1942, to Italy then moved to a few camps in Italy, until he was moved to Stalag IV/B in April 1943. He was then moved to Stalag IV/C in October 1943 until 1945. Loved reading all the stories of the brave men from this camp, anyone who knew of my dad or any other details,I would love to hear from them.
Pte. Peter Ronald "Mick" Hickman 2/7 Royal Middlesex
My dear old dad, Peter Hickman, was in the 2/7 Battalion Royal Middlesex Regiment and was a prisoner of war in Germany interned in Stalag 1VC on 13th June 1944. My Grandmother, Thurza, in 1944 would read tarrot cards for her friends and neighbours and decided that she would read her own card as she was so worried about her son as she had not heard from him.
(Despite knowing that you should never read your own cards!) Poor Grandmar saw death all around her son, this worried her terribly and I guess this may have been the dreadful prisoner of war camp that she later discovered he was in. Dad has never spoken much about these dark days but said he was treated well considering the circumstances. I believe his best pal was a gentleman called Harry Sugar and I know dad often thought about Harry and his lost comrades and they are still in his heart and memory today. Dad is still alive and kicking! Bless him - we are very lucky for our dad to have survived as we appreciate how fragile life can be.
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