6898074 Rfn Harold George LARGE, KRRC: POW, Stalag XXA Thorn

Hello, my first day here.
I've been asked to look into the story of someone's great-uncle who was said to have been on the "Death March" from Stalag XXA in 1945.
6898074 Rfn Harold George Large of the KRRC The Rangers. He was captured in Crete in June 1941 and was held at three PoW camps, the last being Stalag XXA Thorn from September 1943. From May 1944 he was working on a farm at Bromberg.
His General Questionnaire for British/American Ex-Prisoners of War show his time at both Thorn and Bromberg ending on 30 January 1945. Does that he he was liberated on that day, or was it the day he began the "Death March" and was liberated months later?
Do we know when and where he was eventually rescued by Allied forces?
Thanks

 

I've only been sent page 1 as far as question 12b.

 

Have a look on Ancestry for the missing page(s). 80k+ Libération Questionnaires were made available on the site last summer.

Steve

 

Welcome aboard. There is plenty of knowledge and expertise here.

We always recommend applying for the Service Record. It is the definitive account of his service. Yes, it can take time and regularly has good and disappointing responses. A very short note (copied from Clive): you will need his date of birth and death cert available here for £7 https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ Link for service records
Select the service - Apply for a deceased person's military record - GOV.UK

It might be worth checking if there is a local newspaper article about him when he returned home or died later. Most public libraries have access to the British Newspaper Archive when in the library, not online.

On your current information he has not appeared here before today.

Some research tips, now a four pg. PDF available on: WW2 Soldier Research - Tips and Links for New Researchers (update) Plus: How to Start a new Thread / Edit Post / Upload Image

The forum's search option is simple, literally one word or number. I just used "stalag xxa" site: ww2talk.com and found multiple threads and if you add + "death march" that will narrow down the results.

 

Thanks, plenty to go on with there.

 

I've found the document on Ancestry and he signed it on 5 May, so presumably he was part of the Death March and was liberated around that time. It looks like PoWs from Thorn were sent west and ended up at Fallingbostel where they were liberated by British troops?