206831 S/Sgt Ken Edwards Royal Air Force from:167 Upper Woodcote Road, Reading A friend of mine is in search of information her uncle, Ken Edwards, who we believe was a Glider pilot on a mission to Arnhem and was taken prisoner and in Stalag Luft 7 Bankau. I believe he died in the early/mid seventies but would never talk about his experience during the War.The only mention of him we can find is in David Scott's
Diary of my Time as a P.O.W. which lists him as one of David's room mates. We do know that there is a trophy dedicated in his name which is apparently awarded to Alan Sugar's "The Apprentice" If anyone can help by pointing us in the right direction it would be a great help.
Additional Information: | My late father Arthur William Oram was Ken's co-pilot in the Horsa glider that went down over occupied Holland. Dad remembered Ken fondly, referring to him as "Yank" Edwards, though sadly he never gave us any details. I don't know if they met again after the war, but I have a photograph of my mum and dad's wedding, and I've often wondered if Ken was in it. Dad died in 1989 of cancer.
After the usual interrogation at Oberursel, I believe my dad was taken to Stalag Luft 7, a Luftwaffe prisoner-of-war camp located in Bankau (now B?ków, Opole Voivodeship, Poland). The camp was opened on 6 June 1944, and by July held 230 prisoners, all RAF flying crews. They were joined by members of the Glider Pilot Regiment captured at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. By 1 January 1945, the camp held 1,578 British, American, Russian, Polish and Canadian troops. On 19 January 1945, 1,500 prisoners marched out of camp in bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oder on 21 January, reached Goldberg (Pol. Zlotoryja) on 5 February, and were loaded onto a train. On 8 February they reached Stalag III-A located south of Berlin near Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the U.S. and Russia.
On an unknown date in 1945, I believe Stalag III-A was abandoned by the Germans, and my Dad told me that he walked out with the Russians, but they were so foul that he stole a bike and rode to find the Americans, possibly near Spremberg.
I've marked all these places on a map, but can't be certain that my Dad took that exact route, and I don't know if he was with Ken for any part of it.
Patrick Oram
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