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Free at Last - Warren Wilkes, CBC Radio, April 1945
H. B. "Red" HayesPOW 361
Fellow Prisoners at Stalag Luft VII and Stalag III-A
Fellow Prisoners at Stalag Luft VII and Stalag III-A
Among items in the scrapbook were P.O.W. photos that we presume were given to Sgt. Toomey by prisoners after the Germans fled Stalag III-A in April 1945. Opposite each photograph Toomey entered the prisoner's name, rank, duty, squadron, home town and the date and location where the airman was shot down. The records helped Robert keep in touch with some of the prisoners in the years following the war.
The following pages are dedicated to Toomey's fellow prisoners of war.
All notes outside of the page images are mine. C. Lafleur
F/Sgt. Harold B. “Red” Hayes (R204430), an air gunner with 419 Squadron, RCAF became one of Robert Toomey's life-long friends. He was POW 361 at Stalag Luft 7.
Red Hayes’ Lancaster X bomber, serial number KB718 was shot down during a 287-aircraft raid on the rail yards at Villeneuve St. Georges on July 4/5, 1944. The aircraft was hit by flak, the port engine was put out of action and the fuel set ablaze. The crew bailed out. Pilot F/O L.W.A.Frame was killed. F/O W.Reynolds, Sgt D.High, FS H.Hayes were captured. F/O W.Watson, FS J.Morris, Sgt P.Barclay evaded capture.
Hayes was sent to Stalag Luft VII and was marched to Stalag III-A with Robert Toomey in January 1945. They were liberated by the Russians on April 22, 1945.
Arthur Seller's POW Card
Arthur Seller's POW Card
The following record was found in Robert Toomey’s scrapbook. Spitfire pilot W/O Arthur Seller (R143073) was shot down on a raid at Caen, France on July 28, 1944.
I traced the family of Art Seller and mailed this POW card to his son on July 17, 2009.
Arthur Sellers went on to form Skyway Air Services Ltd. in Langley B.C. following the war in 1947. The company did pilot training , charter, banner towing, rental and purchase and sale of aircraft. See: Art Seller and Skyway Air Services
Pages from Toomey's Diary
Pages from Toomey's Diary
Many of the airmen pictured below signed Robert Toomey's "name cards" or his drawings of allied air force insignia while at Stalag Luft VII.
The POW photos and details below were added to his diary that was purchased from a German guard at Stalag III-A for 12 cigarettes the first week of April, 1945.
The image below lists all of the prisoners of war mentioned in Toomey's notes and in this website.
Fellow Prisoners from Stalag Luft VII and Stalag 3A
Fellow Prisoners from Stalag Luft VII and Stalag 3A
Click to enlarge.
Images of pages from Robert Toomey's diary © Claude Lafleur
Jim L. Umscheid, (R149240) R.C.A.F.
P/O Jim Umscheid, aged 22, a Flight Engineer from Milo, Alberta was shot down only minutes before Robert Toomey following the raid on the port areas of Stettin, Germany. His Lancaster bomber, coded PA988, crashed on the Danish Island of Sjælland.
Umscheid’s parachute got caught up in a cluster of tall trees on a farm. He was not able to get down from the tree until morning, when the farm owner helped him down using rope and a ladder.
Toomey also met Jim Umscheid's fellow crew member F/O A. Bruce Durfee at a train station in Copenhagen on August 23rd, 1944, while they were awaiting transfer to Oberursel for questioning. Durfee was sent to Stalag Luft III in Sagan (now Żagań, Poland).
Umschied became POW 684 at Stalag Luft VII. Robert Toomey was POW 683. In 2010 James Leo Umscheid authored a book titled "Sixty Years Later". He passed away on April 12, 2005.
Umscheid and crewmate A. Bruce Durfee are mentioned here:
Airwar Over Denmark website, Vulcan Advocate / Jim Umscheid,
SGT. Ken Lowe, R.C.A.F. - F/S E.F. Garland, R.C.A.F. - Sgt. Bryan Pring, RAF
Sgt.Thomas Davidson (R202589), R.C.A.F.
Sgt. D. B. Cassell (1473875), R.A.F.
Signed by Kenneth Lowe (R204449).
Signed by Earl Garland (R15344).
Signed by Bryan R. J. Pring (1853987)
Signed by Thomas Davidson (R202589)
W/O Don Guest (R134604), R.C.A.F.
F/Sgt. Gilbert "Gib" F. J. McElroy (R169230) from Ottawa, Ontario was a tail gunner with 625 Squadron. He walked away from three bomber crashes before capture. Below: Photo 1960's, His POW photo and notes in Toomey's diary. At right: A "Name card" in Toomey's diary signed ay Stalag III-A.
Sgt. Russell Margerison (2204613), shown at left with "Gib" McElroy, was the mid-upper gunner in McElroy's crew in 625 Squadron. Their Lancaster bomber serial LM513 was shot down over Belgium following a raid on Duisburg on the night of their 21st mission. McElroy and Margerison both parachuted to safety. After four days on the run Gib McElroy was captured, but Russ Margerison was sheltered by the Belgian underground for several weeks before being captured and sent to Stalag Luft VII.
Russ Margerison's book entitled "Boys at War" describes his wartime experiences, including life as a POW and the "Long March" of 18 days beginning January 19th, 1945. The photo of Margerison and McElroy is from the Aircrew Remembered website.
W/O Charles Joseph Kelly (R54380), R.C.A.F.
Charlie Kelly was a life-long friend of Gilbert ("Gib") McElroy. Having both grown up in Ottawa they attended the same high school, and eventually both ended up in Stalag Luft VII. After the war they renewed their friendship that lasted throughout their lives.
F/S Dave Hardy (R218193), R.C.A.F. - F/S Peter D. Jack (1821450), R.A.F. - Sgt. Irwin Wall (R213532), RC.A.F.
"Name card" signed by Peter Jack (1821450) at Stalag III-A.
Reportedly was punched in the face by 3 German civilians.
Sgt. H. "John" Branch (R194624), R.C.A.F.
C.Q.M.S. A.G. Clark (2884663), RAF
F/Sgt. Ron L. Van Beers (1814965), R.A.F.
Sgt Herbert V. Scully (1681512), R.A.F.
Sgt. Jim Starr, R.C.A.F.
Sgt. Jack P. Dockerty (637870), R.A.F.
Corrections: James Mervin Starr ("Jim"), RCAF (R196174 / J92649) of 101 Squadron was shot down on June 21/22, 1944. Lancaster ME613 crashed at Drunen, Holland.
Toomey's details for Jim Starr appear incorrect. Source: RCAF service records.
F/S Harold Knott (1895617), R.A.F.
F/Sgt. E. H. "Red" Hyde (R217237), R.C.A.F.
F/Sgt. Frank Andrews (1078392), R.A.F.
Stalag Luft VII, Bankau.
F/Sgt. C. J. Collingwood (1115393), R.A.F. (*1 See note below)
Sgt. Harold Duncan La Pointe (R187666), R.C.A.F.
Sgt. Frank G. D. Norris (573714), R.A.F.
Sgt. La Pointe was one of the first prisoners to enter Stalag Luft 7 in when it opened in June 1944.
Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde.Digging a latrine.
*1 F/Sgt "Bert" Collingwood (1115393). His Lancaster coded LM310 of squadron 61 was shot from below on a raid to Schweinfurt on February 23/24, 1944. Shrapnel struck him in the face and he needed medical attention before being sent to Luft 7.
He was the only prisoner on the train in mid-September, 1944 and was guarded by only one soldier. The train stopped in Breslau on route to Stalag Luft VII. Breslau happened to be the guard's hometown and he wanted to visit with his wife, so he invited Collingwood to stay overnight at his home.
He slept on the sofa, and they continued to the prison camp the following morning.
Source: The Long Road: Trials and Tribulations of Airmen Prisoners from Stalag Luft VII (Bankau) by Oliver Clutton-Brock, Raymond Crompton.
W/O Mervyn John Muirhead (427136),RAF (*2)
Sgt. Allan MacNaught (R181619), R.C.A.F. (*3 )
Sgt. Harvey, R.C.A.F. (R150730) (*4)
(See notes below)
Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde.Guard tower and tents..
*2 Warrant Officer Mervyn John Muirhead (service number 427136) , escaped from a brick factory where they were staying during the Long March, along with eight others, by hiding on top of large ovens on the top floor of the factory. They were discovered the following day by Polish workers who supplied them with blankets and food. He was with 467 Squadron and became POW 752 at Stalag Luft VII.
*3 Sgt. Allan R. MacNaught (incorrectly spelled "McNaught" in diary) tried to escape with F/O Percy Crosswell and F/S G. R. Johnson from Stalag III-A on April 13, 1945. Sgt. MacNaught (R181619) made it back to his billet undetected, but Johnson was killed instantly and Crosswell died the following day from his wounds.
*4 Sgt. Harvey, R.C.A.F. is presumed to be E. G. Harvey (R150730), a Flight Engineer from Edmonton Alberta who was in Robert Toomey's combine, and is listed as a prisoner of Stalag Luft VII in the book "The Long Road : Trials and Tribulations of Airmen Prisoners from Bankau to Berlin, June 1944-May 1945" by Oliver Clutton-Brock. He is also mentioned in Robert Toomey's diary here in the section titled "A Record of Friends in Camp".
F/Sgt. Reinout van der Heijden (12623), R.A.F. (* 5 , below)
W.O. G. Johnston (R108304), R.C.A.F.
*5 van der Heyden is a variant spelling for the Dutch name van der Heijden.
F/Sgt. Thomas E. Hayes (R204051), R.C.A.F.
W/O. Frank Balloch (776173), R.A.F.
Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde.
W.O. Frank Balloch from Rhodesia was hit by flak south west of Carhaix, France. He crash landed into trees and suffered a fractured right knee and burns to his face. He was sent to Stalag XIIA, then to Stalag IIIA.
Sgt. William K. Clarke (R252617), R.C.A.F.
A list of Robert's fellow prisoners from the Ottawa area, as well as those fom his "combine" can be found in the section "A Record of Friends in Camp".
See drawings of name cards and allied insignia signed by fellow prisoners.
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