Looking for Information on British/Commonwealth airborne medics in Rennes POW camp

I am looking for any information/stories/accounts of British/Commonwealth airborne medical personnel that were captured on or about D-Day and were sent to the Rennes POW Hospital (also called Rennes Military Hospital or Front-Stalag 221 or 221W). From other POW accounts there were a number of Allied doctors and medic/aidmen, both wounded and unwounded, that treated the Allied POWs brought there.

My reason is because my Father was wounded and captured on D-Day and sent to Rennes arriving on June 13th. I am trying to get idea of the layout of the camp and the conditions. I know there was another POW camp (Lazaret Stalag 133) in Rennes but it held only lightly wounded and unwounded POWs and my Father's letters are postmarked from 221.

I have only found a few brief accounts and am looking to flesh out the story more completely. I have his medical papers from the Germans and the initial couple of entries are in English and refer to Jerries. So I think an Allied doctor wrote them. See attached.

Any new information will be greatly appreciated as I intend on visiting the building which still exists in Rennes in June 2011.

 

I found mention a RAMC Captain, but it does not say what unit he was atached to. "There I met Capt. NELSON, R.A.M.C. [Royal Army Medical Corps] and orderly MATTHEWS, who later both went to RENNES hospital to work". Lieutenant John Kay England

 

Could this be him? Approximately two thirds of the Unit were still unaccounted for including the following officers:- Lt. Col. THOMPSON, Major J.S. DARLING, Lt.(QM) R.F. HARDER, Capt. D.H. Nelson, Lieut. R.M. MARQUIS, Capt. I.F.B. JOHNSTONE. If so he was part of 224 Parachute field ambulance RAMC. 224th Parachute Field Ambulance, RAMC Seems along with other RAMC doctors he was a POW see botom page of my link.

 

I don't know the name of any doctor I am just trying to find out more information on the medical staff that might have treated my Father and any stories associated with Rennes.

Read the link. Good stuff. The transit POW camp was Lazaret 133 near the Rennes Airfield where the medical staff were separated out and sent to the Hospital to work.

 

Thanks for that info. I am downloading it now and will search it. The sketch is of Lazaret Stalag 133 near the Rennes Airfield where the 'healthy' POWs were kept. Also kept there were French Colonial POWs interned from 1940.

 

Okay, I have gone through with the Mark I eyeball all of the documents dbf referenced and found five accounts that have reference to the Rennes Military Hospital. (LTC P.H. Richardson, LT J.k. England, Cpl W. R. Le Bar, Nursing Sepoy Bashir-Ud-Din Ahmed, and Cpl J. P. Mannion) Le Bar, Richardson and England accounts mostly describe the transit camp (I believe called Lazarett 133) and escape from trains taking them further north. Bashir-Ud-Din was captured in 1940 and served in multiple camps before escaping from Rennes Military Hospital in June 1944 but his account is very brief with not much detail.

Mannion's account could have more of the detail I need but the interview write up only has page 1 of multiple pages in there which only covers his capture but not his escapes and his stay at Rennes Military Hospital. He was liberated when the Hospital was taken on 4 August 1944.

In Richardson and England account they refer to a Major Oxley, Capt. Nelson (probably the D.H. Nelson from the 224th Ambulance), Orderly Matthews, American Capt. Gouenberg (101st Airborne) as medical staff and Major J.W.B Marshall, Sgt. Parsons and Pte. Scott of 8th Battalion Parachute regiment with F/O B. Cowie (from New Zealand) were indicated as sent to the Hospital for treatment of their wounds. Additional orderlies were sent to the Hospital but were not named.

So anyone have any information on where to get the other pages of Mannion's account of captivity or anything from the other medical personnel or the wounded from the 8th Battalion?

 

Just been told about this thread....it would seem three doctors from 224PFA were taken prisoner on or after D-Day....Lt Colonel Thompson, Major Darling and Captain Nelson....Thompson evaded for about 3 weeks so can't have been him and as previously posted it may be Captain Nelson did the treatment.....regret I do not konw anything else about him.....sorry....

 

Just been told about this thread....it would seem three doctors from 224PFA were taken prisoner on or after D-Day....Lt Colonel Thompson, Major Darling and Captain Nelson....Thompson evaded for about 3 weeks so can't have been him and as previously posted it may be Captain Nelson did the treatment.....regret I do not konw anything else about him.....sorry....

Captain Nelson gives a very detailed account of his capture and time at Rennes in his Escape and Evasion report IS9/WEA/2/18/67

 

John,

Thanks when did he escape???

 

John,

Thanks when did he escape???

Niall

Although he planned a couple of escapes he stayed at the Hospital until the Germans left on 1st August. The Americans arrived on the 4th August and took over the hospital and began evacuating patients on the 5th. He then made his own way to IS9.

John

 

Thanks for the information guys. I will follow up on this line. There also was a Major Oxley there according to other reports. Anyone know anything about him? I may have found an International Red Cross death report with his signature on it from Rennes.

 

I got some great info from the E&E reports that Horsapassenger sent me. Oxley and Nelson's E&E and a bunch of enlisted men as well. Thanks a bunch.

One thing Major Oxley mentions is that he kept the Admissions and Dispositions record for the Hospital and brought it back with him. Anyone have an idea where that would have ended up?

 

My pleasure Dale - glad to have been of some help and good luck with your trip

John

 

I got some great info from the E&E reports that Horsapassenger sent me. Oxley and Nelson's E&E and a bunch of enlisted men as well. Thanks a bunch.

One thing Major Oxley mentions is that he kept the Admissions and Dispositions record for the Hospital and brought it back with him. Anyone have an idea where that would have ended up?

Have you contacted the RAMC museum-They are ment to be quite helpful.

 

I have gotten a reply back from the RAMC museum guys and they said they don't have that sort of thing in their archives. So I guess that it might have ended up with MI9 or as an attachment to the E&E report.

 

The IWM documents collection has some administrative papers for the German Kommandantur at Rennes in WWII

 

Hmm my trip to England is really going to be busy. How do I get access to the IWM collection?

 

I have recently gotten my hands on a partial list of the A&D document maintained by Maj. Oxley. It is only the Canadians that were treated by and passed through Rennes. Anyone know of any other extracts like this for English or other Commonwealth countries?