Deranleau, Leonard. Memories of an Aerial Gunner and Former P.O.W. #2272. 1997.
                                                                                     

• Five crew mates immediately hanged 74
• Crew mates were put into the same cell as him (already dead) 74
• Bombed by U.S. bombers the first day at the holding cell 75
• The U.S. guys didn’t even care, they still wanted the bombings to continue 76
• Crowds hated the airmen because they bombed the cities in which they lived 77
• British bombed at night 78
• Dulag Luft – place for U.S. airmen who are shot down and taken prisoner 80
• 50,000 shot down over the course of the war 80
• Germans disregarded the Geneva Convention 82
• 40 people to a room 84
• “Honey bucket” = large metal pot that held “night waste” 84
• They were assembled for a body count twice a day 85
• Mail was controlled  86
• Ergot – hot liquid that was brewed from burnet ground up barley 86
• One loaf of bread per six men each day 90
• Cigarettes were used for bartering 90
• Men would play music for entertainment and softball 91

Blacker, Joan. Personal Interview. 19 April 2006.

• Jack was in the 96th bomb group of the 8th Air Force
• He didn’t want to be in the infantry cause he saw what they had to go through
• Was shot down on his 25th of 25 missions, Feb.23
• Plane = “Ball of Fire”
• Had a broken leg, which they made him walk on
• Solitary confinement in a cramped closet
• He was 19
• They knew his mother’s address and where his father worked
• Camp 13564, Poland
• A guard killed a number of passengers during a boat trip to make room for more
• Imprisoned for one year and two months
• The Russians freed them
• Originally 165, when freed 65
• The Russians kept the doctors and the engineers
• Ball turret gunner because he was small
• They played music to calm people down because everyone was so tense

 

Asch, Alfred. "Air Force and World War II Memorials." Ball of Fire Quarterly Express 2003: 2-5.

• Guys receive Prisoner of War Medals 1
• “These are our veterans.  America’s true heroes.  They exemplify our best traditions and have secured America’s place as a great nation.” U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, R-PA. 1
• Guys like going to reunions 2
• There is an association of Americans Interned in Sweden 3
• Their parents were very worried during the war time 3
• Pictures 4
• They all ask each other if they knew this or that person 5
• The guys cut each others hair 3
• They want to make sure people remember them 7
• They do stuff at schools all the time 7
• Some had part in Doolittle’s Raid 9
• They discuss the different types of equipment they used 9
• Strategies they used to survive 9

 

"The Luftwaffe Interrogators." World War II - Prisoners of War - Stalag Luft I . 20 April 2006 http://www.merkki.com/new_page_2.htm .

• It was located at Oberursel (13 km north-west of Frankfurt-am-Main with a population of about 20,000). S-T
• Nearly all captured Allied airmen were sent there to be interrogated before being assigned to a permanent prison camp. S-T
• While at Dulag Luft - Oberursel  the prisoners were kept in solitary confinement
• The average stay in solitary was one or two weeks. S-T
• According to the Geneva convention a prisoner could not be kept in solitary  S-T confinement for interrogation purposes for more than 28 days. S-T
• Nothing was overlooked by the German interrogators.  They studied the results  of each interview, and devised new methods to gain the desired information. S-T
• Patriotism and loyalty were stressed, and American airmen were shown the results of information the Germans had secured from prisoners at Dulag. S-T

• Number of prisoners passing through the camp:1942  -  3,000 1943  -   8,000 1944  -  29,000 S-T

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• After the war ended the British convened a war crimes trial. The Trial was knows as the "Dulag Luft Trial". S-B
• It was held in Wuppertal, Germany, beginning on November 26, 1945. The hearing was convened due to the allegations of ill treatment of British Prisoners of War S-B

 

Maurer , Maurer . Overview of Air Force Combat Units of World War II .USAF, 1986.

• At the peak of its strength in World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (AAF) had more than 2,400,000 men and women in uniform
• There were pilots, navigators, bombardiers, gunners, and radio operators, clerks and typists, artists and flautists, teachers, mechanics, statisticians, and engineers
• combat the men were formed into squadrons, and squadrons into groups
• The air arm grew even more rapidly in the months following Pearl Harbor, and by the end of 1943 there were 269 groups
• By 7 December 1941 more emphasis was being placed on bombardment. Of the 67 groups active at that time, 26 were bombardment organizations; half of the 26 were heavy and the other half were medium and light bombardment groups, the light groups having replaced the attack organizations of an earlier time.
• During the war, pursuit units were redesignated fighter, observation became reconnaissance, and transport became troop carrier
• the development of B-29 aircraft, very heavy bombardment organizations were added to the combat force
• In the spring of 1945, when America's air strength in the overseas theaters of operations reached its peak, the 243 combat groups of the AAF were divided as follows: 25 very heavy, 72 heavy, 20 medium, and 8 light bombardment groups; 71 fighter groups; 29 troop carrier groups; 13 reconnaissance groups; and 5 composite groups.

 

"The Geneva Protocols." University of North Carolina. 25 April 2006. http://www.unc.edu/~boydcl/wp3protocols.htm .
Members of other militias, volunteer corps, and organized resistance movements. These groups must
(1)        have a commander responsible for subordinates;
(2)        have a fixed, distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance;
(3)        carry arms openly;
conduct operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.

The following category covers irregular forces that still have to meet the four requirements above.
Members of regular armed forces of governments not recognized by the detaining power. Even if the country capturing a person does not recognize the prisoner's government, the person still gets PW treatment.
“Prisoners of War.” Wikipedia.org. 15 April 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_of_war.org
The treatment of prisoners of war can depend on the resources, social attitudes and policies of the governments and militaries in question
Soviet prisoners of Nazi Germany and German prisoners of the Soviet Union were often treated with neglect and brutality
An official justification used by the Germans for this policy was the fact that the Soviet Union had not signed the Geneva convention
“Women Prisoners of War.” Userpages.aug.org. 2 May 2006. http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/prisoners.html
In Europe Lt Reba Whittle, (later Tobiason), Army Nurse Corps, was flying on an air evac mission when the plane was shot down by the Germans in September 1944. . She and her crew were captured and imprisoned. Lt Whittle was wounded yet performed nursing duties for the prisoners in the camp.
In Europe U.S.-born Mildred Harnack-Fish, a German Resistance fighter was captured, interned, and executed in Berlin's Plotzense Prison in 1943.
The true story of the women who were the wives and daughters of British, Dutch and Australian colonialists and who formed a vocal orchestra while prisoners of the Japanese in Sumatra was portrayed in the film "Paradise Road" with Glenn Close.
“American Prisoners of War.” Udata.com. 1 May 2006. http://www.udata.com/users/hsbaker/halifax3.htm

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• “Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.” University of Minnesota.  6 May 2006.  http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/y3gctpw.htm

In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peace time, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.
Every prisoner of war, when questioned on the subject, is bound to give only his surname, first names and rank, date of birth, and army, regimental, personal or serial number, or failing this, equivalent information.
If he wilfully infringes this rule, he may render himself liable to a restriction of the privileges accorded to his rank or status.
Each Party to a conflict is required to furnish the persons under its jurisdiction who are liable to become prisoners of war, with an identity card showing the owner's surname, first names, rank, army, regimental, personal or serial number or equivalent information, and date of birth. The identity card may, furthermore, bear the signature or the fingerprints, or both, of the owner, and may bear, as well, any other information the Party to the conflict may wish to add concerning persons belonging to its armed forces. AS far as possible the card shall measure 6.5 x 10 cm. and shall be issued in duplicate. The identity card shall be shown by the prisoner of war upon demand, but may in no case be taken away from him.

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