The Interrogators

Almost all allied airmen who were captured in the second world war were sent to Dulag Luft Oberursel, north west of Frankfurt for interrogation and processing into the German prisoner of war system. 

Prisoners were kept in isolation in a small cell. They were interviewed first by psychiatrists to learn their basic personality traits, habits, likes, dislikes, virtues, fears  and powers of resistance. Interrogators would then decide on the best approach to use based on the reports of the psychiatrists. He may use mental or physical torture on a prisoner to break him or a softer, more humane approach.   Other prisoners would be rewarded with better food, cigarettes and living conditions for co-operating. Those who could not be swayed to co-operate by any method were made to endure long miserable hours of solitary confinement in total darkness. 

Stalag Luft VII Camp Leaders and Fellow Prisoners

Oberstleutnant Behr  was the German commandant of Stalag Luft VII,  a tall, slim man with a black mustache in his mid-forties. He was said to be inexperienced and unsure of how to treat the prisoners, but reasonable. 

"Fun and games" at Luft VII

• The tunnel

One evening prisoners of one hut decided to pull a prank on the guards. They took turns walking to the latrine carrying an empty Red Cross box under their coats. While at the latrine they would remove the carton, shake it and walk back with it to their hut in full view of the guard tower. 

After an hour or so the guard started blowing his whistle and shouting and in rushed six guards with dogs screaming "tunnel, tunnel". They were convinced that the prisoners were  emptying sand into the latrine so they searched for a tunnel under the prisoners' hut. Not finding one, they sent two unfortunate guards down into the latrine with hip-waders to search for the nonexistent tunnel. 

The prisoners' sense of humour was not appreciated by the German officers and those involved in the ruse were given no rations for the next few days. 

• Roll call

Every morning the prisoners were lined up in three rows to be counted and they would make the lines as ragged as possible. Often a prisoner would slip from one line to another making the count fewer or more than expected.  It would always take the guards several counts before being satisfied that we were all present, and they never seemed to catch on to the ruse. 

Oberstleutnant Behr was replaced as the camp commandant in September, 1944 by Major Peschel. He was described by the POW camp leader, Peter A. Thomson as a difficult man in his mid-fifties, about 5 feet 9 inches in height with thinning grey hair and blue eyes. Peschel was universally hated, and relations between the prisoners and guards quickly soured. *

(* Story recounted in the book "The Long Road: Trials and Tribulations of Airmen Prisoners from Bankau to Berlin, June 1944-May 1945" by Oliver Clutton-Brock and Raymond Compton, Grub Street Publishing, 2014.)

F/O Peter A. Thomson, Camp Leader   

The Stalag Luft VII Camp Leaders pictured above, circa August 1944 are left to right: Ken Lane DFC (Deputy Camp Leader), Dick Greene RCAF (Man of Confidence), Peter A. Thomson RAAF (Camp Leader), Joe Walkty RCAF (Adjutant and Quartermaster).

Above photograph (via Pat Batt) from the book "The Long Road", by Oliver Clutton-Brock and Raymond Crompton, published by Grub Street Publishing Ltd. used with permission.

Richard Charles Marler Collard  (DSO, DFC) from England was assigned the role of Senior Allied Officer at Stalag 3A. 

Wing Commander Collard wrote a letter on May 7, 1945 to the local Russian authorities, shown opposite, protesting the continued detention and poor treatment of allied prisoners by the Russian 'liberators' at Stalag III-A. 

This letter, copy in Toomey's collection, was read to the entire camp. 

The photograph of Jim Umscheid at right, aged 22, is from the cover of "Sixty Years Later", a book about his recollections from the Second World War.

In Robert Toomey's diary Umscheid is recorded as being in his combine at Stalag Luft VII and he signed one of Robert's "name cards" while in camp. See "A Record of Friends in Camp" and "Name Cards Signed by the Prisoners".

P/O Denis Budd was the tail-gunner of the crew with Durfee and Umscheid. Budd managed to evade capture in Denmark when the aircraft was shot down returning from the raid on the Stettin harbour on the same night as Robert Toomey. He recounts the story of his escape here, on the Telus Planet website.  

 He produced dozens of drawings while in camp capturing the daily battle for survival as a prisoner of war. Milligan would sketch a prisoner's portrait for a few cigarettes with charcoal that he made by burning wood, and would purchase paper and drawing materials from guards with those cigarettes.   POW photo via Vimeo.com

See:

An Interview with Ted Milligan - drawings from Stalag Luft VII

Edward Milligan - Bomb Aimer and Artist

Flt. Sgt. Henry Jones 

Fellow prisoner Flt. Sgt. Henry Jones (2210970) gives an excellent account by of life at Stalag VII (see link below). If it wasn’t for regular parcels from the Red Cross many prisoners would have died from starvation. Lack of water for washing and lice were also serious problems, and there were many cases of dysentery. In spite of this, airmen kept themselves entertained. They attended productions put on by their own theatre group and there were occasional films. The camps had a chapel and there was a small library. They also participated in various sports, and the Canadians made a hockey rink on December 22nd, 1944.

Source: BBC WW2 People's War

The Canadian Red Cross

The contents gave prisoners a welcomed relief from the usual rations of potato soup and ersatz black bread, which had very limited nutritional value. The German recipe for black bread for prisoners, as outlined in a document labeled Top Secret Berlin 24X1-1941 from the Food Providing Ministry, was 50% bruised rye grain, 20% sliced sugar beets, 20% sawdust and 10% minced leaves and straw. 

Red Cross images from The Canadian Red Cross website: http://www.redcross.ca/ used with permission. 

Sadly, the letters did not always contain good news. Already suffering the trauma of being shot down, captured and imprisoned, many were shocked to find themselves abandoned by wives and fiancées and powerless to do anything about it. "Dear John" letters were not uncommon and many prisoners pinned them up for all to see, along with a few choice words of their own. A sort of “dark humour” evolved regarding such letters in POW comic strips and theatre.

It is commonly believed that the term ‘Dear John letters’ was coined by P.O.W.s in WWII. Letters from loved ones would normally begin more affectionately with ‘Dear Johnny’ or ‘Darling’ and one starting with ‘Dear John’ would immediately warn the prisoner of the letter’s intent. 

A Happy Ending

Ottawa VE Day Celebration Photos

These photos were taken May 8, 1945 on Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario.

Gallery: Victory in Europe Vignettes - Ottawa Citizen

Visiting Bill Lamb's Parents

Robert Toomey borrowed the watch at the start of their final mission because his was broken on August 14, 1944 while helping ground crew with repairs on one of the engines and a watch is a necessary tool for a flight engineer. They worked on the aircraft right up to the afternoon of August 16, 1944, the day of his final operation. 

Sejerø Revisited

In the autumn of 1973 Robert Toomey revisited the site near Lydebjerg on the Danish island Sejerø where he swam ashore after his aircraft was shot down. While there he visited Aksel and Karen Jensen, whose door he knocked on in the early morning of August 17, 1944 to thank them for their kind hospitality. He also visited Karl Jørgensen, the parish executive officer who took care of him in his home in Sejerby later that morning.

Robert passed away nine months after this visit, on June 18th, 1974 at the age of fifty-five.

Above photos: Robert Toomey on Sejerø, September 1973.

[In August, 2011 I travelled to Sejerø with Robert's daughter in search of more information from the residents on the island and to visit the grave site of F/O William Fairgrieve, the church, lighthouse and the homes of Aksel Jensen and Karl Jørgensen, who helped Robert in August, 1944.  C. Lafleur]

The Avro Lancaster Mk. X

There were several variations in design of the Lancaster bomber during the war. The Mk. X model was built in Malton, Ontario by the Victory Aircraft Limited. Four hundred and thirty of these bombers were built and delivered during WWII. 

The Lancaster Mk. X is 69ft 6in long, 19ft 7in high, has a wingspan of 102ft and was powered by four Merlin 1,280hp engines. She had a top speed of 287mph, carried a crew of seven and could drop up to 22,000lb of bombs.

The crew comprised a bomb aimer, who lay in the nose of the plane, the pilot, who sat behind and above him, with a flight engineer on a collapsible "dicky" seat to his right. Behind were a navigator, wireless radio operator, rear gunner and mid-upper gunner.

During WW2 Avro Lancaster bombers dropped over 608,612 tons of high explosives and more than 51 million incendiary bombs. The average combat life expectancy was approximately 21 sorties, or about 160 mission flight hours.

Robert Toomey's aircraft was shot down on August 17th, 1944 at 2:16 AM while returning from a raid on the ports of Stettin, Germany. The aircraft, with code KB751-NQ painted on the fuselage, crashed 2 miles south west of the Danish island Sejerø. It was the 6th sortie for William Fairgrieve and the 5th sortie for each other member of the crew.

The Courage of Bomber Command Aircrew

Airmen of the R.C.A.F. in Bomber Command were assigned to No. 6 Group (RCAF). At its peak strength, there were fourteen squadrons in No. 6 Group (RCAF). A squadron was typically 12 to 16 bombers with crews of seven. One third of all Bomber Command aircrew were Canadians, and virtually all aircrew members were volunteers. Their average age is stated to be just twenty-one years.

Lancaster bombers were unpressurized and unheated, requiring the crews to wear several layers of clothing to ward off the effects of the freezing temperatures, as low as -50 degrees Celsius at 26,000 feet of altitude. Oxygen masks would often freeze up. The air gunners, separated  from the rest of the crew, had the loneliest and most uncomfortable job and often suffered frostbite during operations lasting as long as 7 hours.

Adding to their discomfort, the designers of the Lancaster didn't pay much attention to human waste disposal, providing only a simple can with a lid called an 'Elsan' chemical toilet. The airman would need to use a portable oxygen bottle while using it and it was a dangerous place to be if the pilot had to take evasive action. All air crew hated using them and all ground crew hated cleaning them.

According to many sources, the life expectancy of tail gunner in Bomber Command was just two weeks or five sorties. The average life expectancy of other crew members was just six weeks. Of every 100 aircrew of all nationalities serving in Bomber Command, 59 would be killed, seriously injured or captured. This rate of loss is far worse than that of any other Allied military branch in the Second World War, and only surpassed by German U-boat crews. 

The squadron that Robert Toomey joined in 1944 was named "Ghost" Squadron because of their extremely high casualty rate and because their operations were always at night.  For many months after it was created no crew survived a full tour of operations, which was 30 sorties. Robert was assigned to a crew on July 13th, 1944 and was shot down 35 days later on August 17th, 1944 on his fifth operation. 

In spite of the extreme danger and dismal odds of survival, the flow of aircrew volunteers to Bomber Command never faltered throughout the war and men from many allied nations answered the call and followed their orders with unquestioning courage. While trying to maintain an appearance of calm and good spirits they lived in a state of constant tension and fear, widely felt but rarely expressed. When a crew failed to return, it was the ground crew that grieved the hardest.

 Many attribute this long delay to moral unease regarding the magnitude of the bombing of German cities and the heavy loss of civilian lives. Historians argue that such bombing was cruel and unnecessary in the later stages of the war. Some believe it was done in retaliation for the bombing of London for 56 straight days beginning September 7, 1940 resulting in 28,556 civilians killed and 25,578 wounded. Others argue that it was necessary to force an end to a brutal war that Germany refused to surrender. 

Nonetheless, most of the airmen in Bomber Command felt some degree of guilt and remorse in the performance of their duties.  These young men, most barely out of their teens, did what they were told had to be done. They followed orders and many who survived were haunted for decades by thoughts of the damage and lives lost by their raids. 

Sources:

No. 6 Group and the Canadian Squadrons

Bomber Command Museum: Losses

WWII RCAF Lancaster Aircrew Chest Patches

Air Gunner (Mid and Tail Gunners), Navigator, Pilot, Bomb Aimer, Wireless/Air Gunner, Flight Engineer

428 Squadron Battle Honours

English Channel and North Sea 1943-44, Baltic 1944, Fortress Europe 1943-1944, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1943-44, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-1944, Normandy 1944, German Ports 1943-45, Biscay 1943-44 Rhine

Robert Toomey’s aircraft, serial KB751 was delivered to 428 squadron on July 11, 1944 and had flown only 138 hours of operations before it was destroyed by a German night fighter, claimed by Klaus Möller, on August 17, 1944.

Robert Toomey's Five Missions

Robert Toomey was involved in the following five missions in August of 1944 after being assigned to 428 Squadron on July 13, 1944 along with his other crew members. His first sortie was on August 8th, 1944 and he was shot down on his fifth sortie on August 17th, 1944. All five of his missions were with Slater, Brown, Boyce, Fairgrieve and Lamb. Rear gunner F/O  J.R.G. Srigley  was replaced by F/L C. Patten on August 12, 1944 for an unknow reason, according to the Operations Record Book for the R.C.A.F. at Middleton St. George. 

See Operations Record Book  for July, 1944 "postings in" and reporting for duty on July 4, 1944.  

August 8, 1944 - Hit By Flak

Toomey's first mission: Fuel and oil storage depot at Chantilly in Lancaster KB764.

43 Lancasters from 408, 419, and 428 Squadrons were joined by 148 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 425, 426, 427, 429, 431, 432, 433, and 434 Squadrons on an attack of a fuel and oil storage site at Foret De Chantilly. The crews were over the target at between 15,000 and 17,000 feet, releasing 1,616,000 lbs of high explosives. According to reports, bombing was accurate and it was left burning.

On this raid, F/O Fairgrieve was hit by flak; there were holes in the starboard wing and fuselage and damage to the starboard outer engine and the bomb aimer's perspex (clear acrylic dome).

Source: R.C.A.F. Operations Record Book - Details of Work Carried Out - Reel C12301

Klaus Möller - The Pilot Who Shot Down Toomey's Aircraft

The book Nachtjagd War Diaries Volume 2 by Dr. Theo Boiten credits German pilot Klaus Möller of 12/NJG 3, flying a Junkers Ju 88 aircraft, as the most probable pilot who attacked Lancaster bomber serial KB751-NQ, Toomey’s aircraft. Klaus Möller also claimed responsibility for destroying Lancaster bomber serial PA988 at 01:55 that crashed at Allindemagle on the Danish island Sjaeland.

 In August 1944 Fw. Klaus Möller is believed to assigned to the Westerland base at Sylt with 12./NJG 3. ("NJG 3" is short for Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, the Luftwaffe night fighter wing. Klaus Möller's rank "Fw." is an abbreviation of Feldwebel, equivalent to Staff Sergeant).

Robert Toomey met two of the survivors from that aircraft, Jim Umscheid and Bruce Durfee. This was within 55 kilometers from the crash site of Toomey’s aircraft that was attacked 20 minutes later at 02:15.

Klaus Möller and Unteroffizier Josef Allram escaped at the end of the war by flying a Junkers Ju 88 from Leck, Germany to Portugal.

According to Groupe Aeronefs website, the Junkers Ju 88G with fuselage code GR+LR, serial N° 621800 landed on an unfinished track at the airfield in Pedras Rubras, Portugal on May 2nd, 1945. Little is known of Möller following this.  See photograph of Möller's aircraft at Portuagal's Pedras Rubras airfield below.

* Sources:

•  Nachtjagd War Diaries Volume 2. Claimed by Fw. Klaus Möller (12/NJG3). This was the ninth of fourteen aircraft he destroyed.

• Luftwaffe Nightfighter Victory Claims, by John Foreman, Page 210. 

• Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1944 Page 386.