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Quentin suffered frostbite and didn't have much to eat during his ordeal. When they were to leave the camp, the Germans put Quentin and his friend on a truck to go to the next camp. He said, "They were nice enough to put us with the injured British, even though we weren't hurt." The next camp was in the southern part of Germany. During the night the British were dropping flares and lit up the area like it was daylight. It seeemed like they were dropping bombs in areas closeby! "We were shaking!" That was the last camp. "What happened after that, I'm not sure how long, the American tanks broke through the barbed wire and rolled into the camp. The guards must've known the Americans were coming, because they were gone when we got up. They must've left during the night. That was the end of our captivity!" The POWs were kept at the camp until transportation could be arrainged for their transfer to allied territory. Quentin was flown aboard a C-47 to France where we stayed in tents until we could board ships for home. LT Ingerson was eventually liberated. As a result of his starvation, he was quite ill and very jaundiced. He spent the entire trip home asleep and recovering. On 6 February 1945, STALAG LUFT IV was also evacuated due to the advancement of the Russians on the camp. The POWs were led by men in their 50s and 60s during their three month forced march in the harshest of European Winters. The men slept in barns along the way if they could be found; otherwise, they bedded down in a field for the night. Each man only had one blanket and a lot of bad nights. When the troops found a farm to stay in, the Germans would cook up a stew or soup in the big kettles used to feed the farmer's hogs. Everybody would try to steal any kind of grain the farmer migt have. During one break in the march, Kazmer went into an old abandoned farm house and found a real prize: A coffee grinder. The bottom was missing but it still worked. Kazmer put the grinder over an empty can and one man would hold it while another ground the stolen grain. Everyone wanted to use it. Cooking whole grains didn't work well, which gave Kazmer and his buddy, Leon, a business opportunity. No one could use the grinder unless either Leon or Kazmer were present. The price was 25% of the grain. Leon and Kazmer had to look for wheat after that. Everyone benefitted. The worst part of the march was the snow and the rain. There were many soldiers who were too ill to walk and had to be carried in crude wagons. Dysentery was rampant and toilet paper wasn't available. It was hard to keep track of the deaths. Additionally, the men did not bathe during their ordeal and became infected with lice and began to smell badly. As long as the column stayed far enough ahead of the Russians, the troops enjoyed brief breaks, which became more frequent. Eventually, the weather warmed making life a little easier on the road. |