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213403
Samuel Welbourne
British Army Royal Welch Regiment
from:South Wales
My grandfather was Pte Samuel Welbourne from South Wales. He was with the Royal Welch Regiment when he was captured on 1st October 1944 in Italy. He first went to Stalag VII-A in Moosburg, Germany and then went to Stalag 344 / VIII-B in Poland in December 1944. He worked in one of the mines in this area too. My mother recalls him saying it was a salt mine.
I have obtained a copy of his ID card from the camp which states on the back that he was part of "E72 Beuthen". This is the name of a nearby town which had lots of mines although I'm not sure exactly what "E72" was mining.
I don't know what happened to him between Dec 1944 and his hospital records from Newbury District Hospital on 9th May 1945. It says that 10 days earlier he had been in the vicinity of Regensburg, Germany. Can anyone shed any light on how he may have gone from Poland to Germany? If you have any more information to add to this I'd be really grateful.