A friend is looking for information on her uncle Pte William Cross He was in 78 Coy BEF AMPC, his service record says he was taken prisoner on 31 May 1940 at Krombeke. Does anyone know why 78 Coy were at Krombeke that day or what action he might have been involved in to be have been captured. He spent the rest of the war as a POW in Stalag XX1B, Stalag XXID eventually ending up in Stalag VIIIB, sadly his death is recorded as 'on or after 1 May 1945' with the qualifying comments 'Presumably died while a prisoner of war' (Cat C). I thought most POWs from Stalag VIIIB were liberated by the Americans on 29 April, which surely must have meant that his cause of death would have been known. Does anyone know what 'Cat C' means and why his date of death is unknown. In a strange coincidence he is buried in Durnbach War Cemetery very close to my uncle a bomb aimer in Bomber Command who was killed on 28 January 1945 when his Lancaster was shot down on an operation to Stuttgart.
Welcome aboard. Your research should be interesting, although as a "rear area" formation it may be difficult and May 1940 was quite chaotic - with unit war diaries not been completed or lost. At least you have his service record, it may help to post that here as others can identify all manner of things. There is a possible explanation for his capture in an old thread from 2010: From Post 8 in: 4th Gordon Highlanders (MG). Help needed please? Note this thread refers to an officer being captured at Crombeke (the then current spelling of the place) on 29th May 1940. See: POW and Escapee Lt The Earl Of Cardigan RASC CCS being a Casualty Clearing Station and it was 100 CCS at Krombeke. See Post 6 (in 2013) for some of their story in May 1940: No 10 Casualty Clearing Station, Lille (1940) This website gives you some background, there were many AMPC unist in France in May 1940 and identifies the relevant war diary: Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps Order of Battle France May 1940 - Researching WW2 The 78th were part of 3 Corps Divisional Troops, see an Order of Battle: https://www.britishmilitaryhistory....s/sites/124/2019/05/III-Corps-Troops-1940.pdf and Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, May 1940 There are no threads here on the 78th Company. There are experts on May 1940, so hopefully they can help.
davidbfpo thanks for your reply. The post about 700 POWs on 30 May looks interesting. His POW number was 5425 so I imagine there weren't many POWs before him. I have just found this on BBC WW2 Peoples War website which refers to 700 POWs at the CCC. I suppose this means that 31 May on his service records is probably incorrect BBC - WW2 People's War - And the band played on His occupation before joining the Territorials was a General Labourer so is it possible he could have been attached to 10 CCC which was also part of 3 Corps. I suppose it might also be possible that he was wounded although there is nothing on his service record. Its really great that these message boards are full of people willing to help us novices
He may have been on a 'long march' from the camp. Many prisoners died on the way...grim. Lamsdorf Long March For Category C, see this link Casualty categories : 'Cat C' ... and the posts following on for confirmation. It means there was some evidence, neither firm nor conclusive but enough for the authorities to presume. Durnbach was used to concentrate burials in one cemetery Durnbach War Cemetery | Cemetery Details | CWGC "The remainder are men who were killed while escaping from prisoner of war camps in the same areas, or who died towards the end of the War on forced marches from the camps to more remote areas." This linked thread might be of interest, dealing with a POW who died during a long march. Long March POW Casualty 1945: John Antony Ronald Coulthard, Stalag XXA, Thorn
For those few days in May 1940 at Kronbeke, two divisions were present the 23rd and the 50th, both infantry divisions. From: Narrators' notes: Summary of events 1940 May 10 - June 3, FRANCE & FLANDERS It would help to have a map of the area to work out where the places were. The thread cited has maps on Post 15-19 as a starting point. See Post 3 for help, though a 2011 post! pioneer corps - dunkirk Note 3 Corps was withdrawn before 30th May 1940, so its units were commanded by 1 Corps or 2 Corps. See a very slim: III Corps (United Kingdom) - Wikipedia
Davidbfpo thanks for the information. I can't open any of the links in the 'Narrators Notes' message is it something I am doing wrong
DBF thanks for reply. Davidbfpo sent me a link to a post you made on 13 Dec 2011 with regard to 'Narrators' notes: Summary of events 1940 May 10 - June 3, FRANCE & FLANDERS'. I cant open the links in posts #1 and #2, is there something I am doing wrong or have the links expired
Narrators' notes: Summary of events 1940 May 10 - June 3, FRANCE & FLANDERS Thanks for pointing that out. I've deleted the post with the dead links. Years ago, when forum software was updated, some internal links were broken. They were simply an index of the posts following on; a way of navigating the thread. The actual information/transcription is still there, in the rest of the thread.
