Hi All, I Am trying to identify which American troops liberated British PoWs on Lunberg Heath sometime around the middle of April 1945. I think they would have been from the 84th Division of the 9th US Army but would like to identify the exact unit. As they may have liberated my Grandfather. Many thanks, Dean Darvill
Dean, Cannot help with the details. For context then. The USA negotiated that Bremerhaven would be in their occupation zone, as port for supporting their forces. So, looking for which units liberated the city might help.
Hi Dean - I'm not aware of any US formations or units being in the Lüneburg Heath area in April 1945 as this area was very much within British Second Army's axis of advance/area of operations. Although there were undoubtedly slave labour camps on the heath (Belsen being the most infamous), I believe the last PW camps to be liberated in this specific area were Stalags XIB and 357 at Fallingbostel. Bremerhaven was captured by formations from British XXX Corps and only after the war's end was it handed over to the US to provide a logistic base area. Do you know in which camp your grandfather was held?
Hi JDKR, I have just received these photos from my uncle. They were part of my grandfathers collection from the war. He is not in them and i am making the assumption that he was with the men that are in them. I know he left stalag XXa in the winter of 1945, walked back to germany and probaly was at Fallingbostel March 1945 (no proof ) and then left there marching northward. I have identified one person in the photo's, L/Cpl Harold Astbury of the 1/7th Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who's son told me his father had been liberated on Lunberg Heath by American troops. So my assumption is that my Grandfather was part of the same group that L/Cpl Astbury was in. L/Cpl Astbury on the right with two Afro-American soldiers behind him. L/Cpl Astbury on the right, standing infront of what I think is a US army Chevrolet G506 Note in background on the leftin the tent door way what appears to be an American GI with his back to the camera wearing a helmet
I’m happy to be corrected as it isn’t my strong point, but the African American chaps at the time were mostly employed as logistics, truck drivers, manning ammo dumps etc etc. they may have been merely transport troops taking them to an airfield for evac? The Americans took the city of Hannover with the British just north of there. There is an airfield in Luneburg itself but only know it British flights out of there after VE Day. Alex
Hi Alex Your right about the Afro-American troops as my own research backs this up. If it wasn't for L/Cpl Astburys son telling me on the Stalag XXa Facebook page that his father was liberated by Americans I would assume that the group in the photo's were liberated by British troops as they advanced towards Hamburg. It could be that as you suggest the Americans just transported them once liberated. As to the airfield that they were transported from, this photo was also in my Grandfather's collection. This has been identified as probaly being hildesheim airfield due to the fact that the destroyed Junkers JU 290A-7 shown in the picture belonged to staffel 1 of Kampfgeschwader 200 (KG 200) a Luftwaffe special missions unit. Its full fuselage Markings should read A3+PB, it collided with German fighter plane on Hildesheim airfield on 20/2/45. The American Dakota is from the 310th Troop Carrier Squadron USAAF. During April they delivered stores to the front line and returned with released PoWs. It would make sense that they were liberated by British forces and transport south by US forces to hildesheim as that area was under US Army control.
Wouldn’t disagree with any of the above. My limited understanding would be that those who were marched from Stalag XXA to Stalag 357 probably remained at Fallingbostel having reached it and would not have been moved again. I agree that your photos showing US troops were probably taken at an airhead (Hildesheim?) prior to the PWs being flown back to the UK. Best John
Hi John, My Grandfather probaly arrived at Fallingbostal sometime in March (I cannot prove this), on the 6th &7th April approximately 7,000 PoWs were then moved again northwards from Stalag 357, which would fit with his being in or around the lunberg heath area when liberated or he have never have got to Stalag 357 as he's used for work parties in the lunberg heath area. Regards, Dean
Hildesheim definitely being in the US sector being south of Hannover. Wasn’t the American area for long though.
