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This section illustrates Sgt. Robert Toomey's journey from RAF Middleton St. George Airfield to captivity and finally to freedom.
CONTENTS
RAF Middleton St. George Airfield
RAF Middleton St. George Airfield
These RCAF squadrons were based at Middleton St. George:
420 Snowy Owl: Oct. 16, 1942 to May 15, 1943
419 Moose: Nov. 10, 1943 to May 31, 1945
428 Ghost: June 4 , 1943 to May 30, 1945
Timeline of a Typical Raid
Bomber Command Museum of Canada gives a summary of what was required on the day of a "typical raid" here on their website.
Left: S/L W.A. Bentley briefs crews of Canadian 431 and 434 Squadrons at RAF Croft in October 1944 before a night mission to Essen, Germany. (Photo: Dept. of National Defence PL-33941)
WW2 R.A.F. Squadrons generally consisted of around 12 aircraft. Depending on role, the squadron would be made up of 'A' Flight and 'B' Flight, each of 6 operational aircraft.
The airmen of Bomber Command were all volunteers and their average age was just 22 years. They were mainly from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,and New Zealand, although there were many volunteers from occupied European countries.
A crew was tasked with flying an "operational tour" of 30 operations, although many were killed in their first few weeks. In spite of devastating losses throughout the war the airmen of RAF Bomber Command continued to perform their assigned duties with courage and dedication and the flow of new volunteers never faltered.
Operation summaries of No. 6 (RCAF) Group of RAF Bomber Command:
Middleton St. George Operations Record Book, June 1944-June 1945 is available here.
See official summaries of Robert Toomey's five missions here in the Addendum section.
Photo via Bomber Command Museum of Canada Collection
A Crew of 428 (Ghost) Squadron, August 18, 1944
This photo of a crew posing in front of Lancaster KB760 / NA-P at Middleton St. George Airfield was taken on August 18, 1944 after the squadron's 2,000th sortie.
This is the day following the loss of Toomey's crew in Lancaster KB751 / NA-Q.
Robert Toomey's crew flew in the aircraft shown above (KB760) on their second last mission, August 15, 1944, just two days before being shot down over Denmark in a different Lancaster bomber. Wikipedia - 428 Sqdrn.
This Nissan hut at Middletion St. George airfield provided sleeping quarters for airmen during the war. The huts were described as cold and drafty in the winter and very hot in the summer.
The Astra Cinema at RAF Middleton St.-George (photo 1981)
The Oak Tree Inn was a favourite watering hole for RCAF airmen, such as Robert Toomey, while stationed at Middleton St. George. Affectionately known as "The Twig", the pub was just a five-minute walk from the airfield.
Approximate crash site of Lancaster X KB751, coded NA-Q : Latitude 55°50'59.56"N Longitude 11° 6'25.84"E.
Sgt. Toomey swam in the direction of the lighthouse and came ashore at Lydebjerg, Sejero Island about 7.0 km from crash site.
Photos from the Scrapbook
Christensen Ferry
While visiting Sejerø in 1973, Robert Toomey took the same ferry that transported him as a prisoner from the Danish island Sejerø to mainland Denmark on August 20th, 1944.
The Christensen ferry pilot took Toomey to the site where the aircraft had crashed, still visible on the bottom, and stayed there for a moment of silence.
Photo via Jørgen Helme, copy in Toomey's collection.
On August 20th, 1944 Toomey was transported to a jail in Copenhagen. On August 23rd he was transported by boat to the port of Rostock, then by train to Dulag Luft Oberursel for interrogation and processing, arriving August 24th, 1944. After a few days of interrogation he was sent by train to Stalag Luft VII, Bankau (now the village of Bąków, Kluczbork County in Poland, located about here), arriving August 29, 1944 with 39 other prisoners.
Karl Jørgensen home on Sejerø, from Robert E. Toomey's collection.
In October 1973, Danish author Jørgen Helme invited Toomey to Copenhagen to discuss his experiences in Denmark during the war.
Helme also brought Robert Toomey to revisit the home of Karl Jørgensen on Sejerø. Mr. Jørgensen was the parish executive officer of Sejerø who took care of Toomey in his home, shown opposite, after he swam ashore on August 17th, 1944. Robert was very grateful to the people of Sejerø for their great kindness and hospitality.
Sejerø Kirke (Catholic Church)
Pilot William Fairgrieve's body was placed on a lorry to be transported one kilometre to the Catholic church for funeral service and burial. The lorry was driven in first gear by Robert Sørensen so that the citizens could walk alongside. This annoyed the Germans, who ordered Sørensen to drive faster, but he falsely claimed that only first gear was working.
The guards were angry with the attention paid by the citizens on Sejerø to the burial ceremony and would not allow flowers to be placed on the grave, but citizens continued to place flowers there throughout the war.
Sejero Kirke photo via Jørgen Helme, copy in Toomey's Collection
The photo at right shows the body of the pilot F/O William Fairgrieve being carried from the shore by citizens of the island Sejerø on August 17th, 1944.
Fairgrieve was retrieved from the sea south west of Sejerø lighthouse by Johannes Pedersen of the ship “Helgoland”. He found the crash site easily, as oil from the aircraft showed the way. The large aircraft could be seen on the seafloor.
Over 1,160 allied airmen were buried with dignity on Danish soil during the Second World War. Above photo via Jørgen Helme. Original photo provided by Ester Kirstine Jacobsen, the woman at right carrying flowers.
The following sections describe Robert Toomey's experience following the crash of his aircraft and his capture on the Danish island Sejero on August 17, 1944.
Sgt. Toomey arrived here on August 24th, 1944 for interrogation following his capture on the Island of Sejerø, Denmark. He spent three days in solitary confinement, let out only for interrogations, while suffering from what he thought was a case of tonsillitis.
The Addendum section of this website introduces 2nd Lt. Ulrich Haussmann and Major Waldschmidt, two interrogators at Dulag Luft Oberursel who were responsible for interviewing bomber aircrew. (See Addendum for more on Dulag Luft Oberursel).
Click to expand .
Photos of Dulag Luft Oberursel
The following three photos of Oberursel Railway Station, Cooler and Interrogation Center are from the book "The Interrogator" by Raymond F. Toliver
Oberursel Railway Station.
Prisoners were transported to Oberursel to be interrogated then by train to Dulag Luft Wetzlar to be distributed to various POW camps.
Oberursel Interrogation Centre
Sgt Toomey was brought here from Copenhagen for interrogation after his capture on Sejerø island.
This interrogation centre was intended only for fighter pilots and bomber crews of the allied air forces.
The Cooler
The cooler at Oberursel was a jail where nearly every flyer shot down and captured spent at least a few days in solitary confinement while being interrogated.
"World War II - Prisoners of War - Stalag Luft I" www.merkki.com
The Cooler
Solitary Confinement Cell
Arriving PoW Form
Arriving allied prisoners were given a form to identify themselves.
There were many variations of the following form.
Sources:
"After The Battle" ( www.afterthebattle.com ) magazine, November 1999.
"World War II - Prisoners of War - Stalag Luft I" www.merkki.com
After interrogation at Dulag Luft Oberursel, prisoners were transferred to Dulag Luft Wetzlar, a transit camp.
In most cases, prisoners were sent to a permanent P.O.W. camp by train within a week after arriving at Wetzlar.
Photos below, merkki.com, via Judy Kaester, daughter of Cpl. Walter S. Seleski.
Entrance to Dulag Luft transit camp at Wetzlar and POW holding cells.
This photo from Claudio Michael Becker depicts the arrival of new P.O.W.s in August or September, 1944 at Dulag Luft Wetzlar. Robert Toomey arrived here after interrogation at Oberursel in August 1944.
Source: merkki.com
Sgt. Robert E. Toomey was sent here after interrogation and processing at Dulag Luft Oberursel and Wetzler in August 1944. Toomey was prisoner number 683 of Stalag Luft VII (often shortened to "Luft 7"), which is now in Bąków, Poland.
This was the newest German camp, opened on June 6, 1944 for Allied NCO flying crews. By January 1, 1945 the camp held 1,578 prisoners, including 1,075 British, 252 Canadian, 134 Australian, 26 New Zealand, 24 French, 15 Polish, 14 South African, 11 Irish, and 10 American airmen, plus a few from Rhodesia, Malta, Netherlands, Belgium and Czechoslovakia.
* Upon arrival, each prisoner was given a fork, knife, spoon, mug, bowl and three woolen blankets. They were assigned a POW number and hut. Prisoners were dismayed to see the tiny huts they were to occupy, six men to a hut, which they called "dog kennels" or "chicken coops". Incredibly, the walls of the huts were constructed of stiff cardboard covered with tarred cloth. Each hut had two windows and only some had wooden floors. Each measured 18 feet long by 7 feet six inches wide. One wall was 5 feet 3 inches high and the other was 6 feet 3 inches. There were 6 stools, one small table and a wash basin in each hut. Latrines were outdoor trenches. The camp had 190 of these huts. Six of them were sick quarters, two for the library, and one each for the Camp Leader, Man of Confidence, padré, barber, post office, and sports equipment.
(* Source: The Long Road: Trials and Tribulations of Airmen Prisoners from Bankau to Berlin, June 1944 - May 1945, by Oliver Clutton-Brock and Raymond Crompton, published by Grub Street Publishing Ltd., 2013. Images of two drawings below used with permission from Grub Street Publishing.)
Map of Stalag Luft VII
Map of Stalag Luft VII
This map was drawn by prisoner F/S Don Gray, RAF in December 1944.
The top right section shows the POW huts, a pump and sports field at the center, toilets and watch towers around the outside and cookhouse near the gate.
The bottom right section shows the location of the buildings for administration, ablutions (washing and toilets), cookhouse, theatre, hospital, a sports field and other buildings numbered 1 through 8.
The drawings by Don Gray (above) and Eddie Finlay (left) are from the book "The Long Road", by Oliver Clutton-Brock and Raymond Crompton, published by Grub Street Publishing Ltd, 2013. Used with permission.
The Long Road gives a detailed account of the experiences of airmen imprisoned at Stalag Luft VII, and lists virtually all prisoners from that camp.
Preparing a meal
This photo in Toomey's collection.
Two rows of barbed wire fencing and guard towers prohibited escape from Stalag Luft 7. Flt. Sgt. Leslie Howard Stevenson (R/171883), a Canadian who was in Toomey's combine, was shot and killed attempting to escape here on December 27, 1944. (Photo via John Knifton).
January 1945 at Luft 7
January 1945 at Luft 7
Accommodations at Luft 7 were one-star at best. January of 1945 saw some of the coldest temperatures on record in Europe. The huts lacked sufficient insulation and the thin blankets provided little comfort. Coal for heating was in short supply so many of the airmen used their bed boards for fuel. Heavy snow continued to fall for several days through the month.
On January 2, 1945 the Canadians built two rinks and many enjoyed hours of ice skating. Red Cross parcels arrived that day, along with 500 pairs of gloves.
Before roll call on January 4, 1945 the prisoners prepared thousands of snowballs. When the commandant came out and staff took their place in the square they were bombarded with them. Everyone had a good laugh, including the German guards and the Commandant.
On January 5, 1945 some POWs were late "on parade" and the men waited in the bitter cold while their huts were searched. The entire camp was punished by three additional roll calls.
January 19th, 1945, the camp was abandoned during a bitterly cold snowstorm as the Russian army was closing in. This was the first day of a march of over 227 kilometres to Stalag III-A, near Luckenwalde. Some diaries give the distance as 256 kilometres, and the stopping places also vary because of the need to find sufficient shelter for the large number of prisoners.
Transfer from Stalag Luft VII to Stalag III-A.
Transfer from Stalag Luft VII to Stalag III-A.
"The March", Central Route
In January 1945, prisoners were forced to march long distances in sub-zero temperatures. The central route of The March was from Stalag Luft VII near the village of Bąków, Kluczbork County in Poland (formerly Bankau) to Złotoryja (formerly Goldberg), walking about 227 kilometers. Prisoners were put on a train in cattle cars at "Goldberg" that took them to Stalag III-A near Luckenwalde, Germany.
Below: Google Maps route of the march for Luft 7 POWs.
The current Polish names of the towns on the route are shown below.
A. Bąków, Kluczbork county, Poland
B. Kluczbork
C. Zawiść
D. Jankowice Wielkie
E. Gmina Wiązów
F. Łagiewniki
G. Jażwina
H. Świdnica
I. Stanowice
J. Jawor
K. Złotoryja (formerly Goldberg)
L. Luckenwalde, Germany (by train)
A column of prisoners of war passing through a town on "The March" in January, 1945.
After the long march in January 1945, many prisoners arrived at Stalag III-A suffering from fatigue, frost bite, malnutrition, dysentery and other illnesses. This camp, located about 52 kilometers south of Berlin, already held more than 20,000 prisoners at that time.
Over two hundred thousand allied prisoners spent time at Stalag III-A during the Second World War until the camp was finally liberated by the Russians in April 1945. Approximately 5,000 men died from disease, starvation, cold, exhaustion and neglect.
The following images depict life at Stalag III-A, also called Stalag 3A.
Photos from www.stalag3a.com website used with permission of Leo Finegold.
Click links and images to expand.
Prisoners washing up at Stalag III-A.
Prisoners digging a latrine
The watch tower at Stalag III-A
Exercise period for prisoners under solitary confinement punishment at Stalag III-A.
Prisoners carrying a cauldron of soup
Photo from Eleanor O'Rourke, http://www.stalag3a.com/BritishPOW.htm
Via David Berry, POW at Stalag III-A.
Copy in Toomey's collection.
Stalag-IIIA, 1945
A football game at Stalag 3A.
Prisoners slept in tents on straw after arriving at Stalag III-A.
Each tent held as many as 400 men.
Above: Two photos from Eleanor O'Rourke, http://www.stalag3a.com/TheCamp.htm.
Via David Berry, POW at Stalag III-A.
Right: Prisoners being advised by American camp leaders following liberation by the Russians in April, 1945. Photo from www.stalag3a.com
Letter of protest from Wing Commander R. C. M. Collard
Letter of protest from Wing Commander R. C. M. Collard
Below: From Toomey's collection, a letter of protest to the Russian authorities at Stalag III-A. This letter from Wing Commander Richard Charles Marler Collard was read to POWs.
Click to expand "Letter of protest", below.
R. C. M. Collard, DSO, DFC
Other scenes from Stalag III-A
The Russian liberators take over at Stalag III-A
Sgt. Toomey was attending mass in the chapel at Stalag III-A when the Russians arrived April 22nd, 1945.
Excerpt from Robert Toomey's diary:
"On April 22-1945 after a week of heavy bombing and shelling in the area, the Gerry’s pulled out and the Russian tanks came into our camp on Sunday morning while I was at mass.
The shouting by all the nationalities was the welcome as each tank rolled by. "
Stalag III-A Chapel
Free at Last!
Robert Toomey left the camp that day at 12:30 with other prisoners and was fired at. They walked 50 kilometres over two days and came across an American truck near Wittenberg, Germany that transported them to the American lines. The following day they were taken to a Canadian repatriation camp at Halle, Germany. The remaining prisoners were not evacuated from Stalag III-A until May 27th, 1945.
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