Escape from Stalag 383 - October 1943

N.C.O CAMP

Stalag 383

POW ESCAPE 1943

HOHENFELS BAVARIA

After our unsuccessful attempt to escape over the wire, our next attempt on the night of October the 9^th (successful) 1943 took us, Sgt. A. W. Brough A&SH [Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders] and W.O. J. Quinn RAF through the camp wire and after many interesting experiences, on an adventure of one week to unfortunate arrest at Trier on the Luxembourg borders in Koblenz area.

(Method of ESCAPE).

After much thought and frustrating attempts, a very simple and effective solution came to our aid, namely (CLOUDS).

Our camp was on high ground in Bavaria, near the village is of HOHENFELS, and in October 1943, low CLOUDS at times covered the hilltops. On this particular Sunday night (I believe) I was sitting at the end of the block of camp huts, contemplating how we would ever beat the 10' high by 10' thick barbed wire fences and the German sentries. When I heard to my right a few Australian and British POWs bartering with the German sentries through the wire. I suddenly realised that the low clouds over the camp was going to be our method of escape.

Some weeks before October we had stolen from a FRENCH working party, a large pair of wire cutters, these we had hidden under the floor of our hut, wrapped in grease in a sandbag. I dashed into the hut and said to Jimmy “Get the wire cutters quick” tonight we are going!

I realise that if I could enlist the help of some of the lads on the wire, to puff away at cigarettes, while talking to and also following these two German sentries on their beats, Jimmy and I could cut through the inner and outer wire, when no cigarettes could be seen. The wire would not be observed by the sentries, and we would only have the inner Rolled 'DANERT' wire to press down. We would also cut the wire near the large wooden fence posts, which threw a shadow from the perimeter lights across a track and part of the approach to dead ground that led to a small hill a quarter of a mile from the camp, our first target.

This plan succeeded and we cut through the wire at right angles Ex

THEN pulled it back into place after to avoid detection. Both inner and outer fences. (We beat fences and A.R.C and roving searchlights).

We wore old overalls over our army and RAF tunics plus Sgt stripes and identification discs. We got clean away and sat near breathless but full of success on the small wooded hills and watched and heard the German troops, military dogs, and motor transport & lights round the area of our escape.

We then headed for our next important target, which was the railway and station at Paarsburge [Parsburge?] around 15 km across very hilly terrain, and across the river Regen [not sure about this name/location] (We crossed this river around dawn among a herd of cattle, unobserved, along with the cattle bells, and the young cow herder, also German sentry on the bridge).

At Paarsberge station we slept for an hour or so under the hedge lining the rail track soaked in the morning dew and was woken by an empty Horse Transport Troop Train that pulled in. The destination tickets or it's carriages mentioned Belgium, we decided this one was for us so we cancelled all other thoughts of Switzerland or Russia or every other possible borders, and climbed into an empty horse stall carriage, left the doors ajar and retired to its darkest corner. Shortly after this rail workers were tapping on the wheels with hammers, a good sign that this train was going somewhere. Lo and behold in about 10 minutes, we were off on our way.

First Nuremberg next Amsbach, here at night we stopped for a couple of hours on the next line and watched a whole German regiment of troops and equipment entraining for possibly France, a few feet away. We stayed on the train the whole of our journey through the whole Siegfried line, airfields and defence lines, manned by troops at all roads and railway junctions and bridges, even waving at the troops as we passed through looking like, we hoped German railway workers.

Our unfortunate downfall however was (WATER). We had at the camp, hidden away 3 haversacks of concentrated rations and one of water bottles. Sadly in our hast to get through the wire Jimmy grabbed 2 haversacks of rations, none of water, our last good drink had been from the River Regan and our rations were only biscuits, raisins, prunes, tin of spam, old bread, emergency Choc army.

We crossed the R.Rhine at Heidelberg to the Kaiserslautern, then Saarbrücken, here I wanted to cross the E. Saar and try for METZ in France but Jimmy had frostbitten feet from when he had been shot down in the N. Sea on Coastal Command and was not up to possible long marches. However, we got back into our wagon, the next stop TRIER. Here whilst searching for water on the main Station we were taken at gunpoint, by a German guard into the main station for water, we believed he was not aware of our identities however after going a short distance through the corridors and blackout curtains, we were confronted with a brilliantly lit waiting room full of German troops sleeping and awake waiting for a troop train. I believe the way we drank our water, the game was up. One young officer spotted the one RAF button on Jimmy's tunic and shouted “those men are Fallschirmspringers (“parachutists”). We were arrested at bayonet point and 'Schmeissers'.

Eventually taken to a German H.Q. Chateau near KOBLENZ, interrogation, then to a number of prisons at Kaiserslautern, FORBACH and LIMBURG. Escorted by German troops and eventually by a German (Feldwebel) to whom we refused our parole then without our feet in French Sabot (wooden shoes) no socks. Taken through numerous adventures back to Hohenfels.

3 weeks (bunker arrest)

(Made another ATTEMPT by cutting a small tunnel under the floorboards of the cell (at Hohenfels) BUT CAUGHT) HARDLINES) (AGAIN)