MEDICAL FACILITIES
AT STALAG VIIIB / 344
and the working parties
contact: mail@lamsdorf.com
The photo above courtesy of Trevor Wiles, whose Great Uncle, Cyril Thomas Wiles, brought it back from Stalag VIIIB.
The hospital facilities at Stalag VIII-B were among the best in all Stalags. The so-called Lazarett was set up on separate site with eleven concrete buildings. Six of them were self-contained wards, each with space for about 100 patients. The others served as treatment blocks with operating theatres, X-ray and laboratory facilities, as well as kitchens, a morgue, as well as accommodations for the medical staff.
HOSPITALS
This link gives general information about hospital facilities for Prisoners of War held by Germany, with particular details about facilities for the Lamsdorf POWs:
Prisoner-of War Hospitals
This is from Dr Tom Atkins from Australia, the son of Dr W. T. G. Atkins who was at Lamsdorf and Cosel hospitals:
Information sought about Cosel Hospital
Dr John Borries book records him visiting the three existing hospitals at Cosel in May 1942.
1. St Carolusstift; on the banks of the Oder.
2. Garnison Lazarett; in the castle courtyard – medical headquarters for Kreis Cosel.
3. Abyssinian Lager; in parkland south of the town. 600 beds with 300 Russian patients and 28 English patients.
Later in March 1943, he visits a new military hospital being built at Neudorf, near Heydebreck adjacent to a Russian Arbeits Kommando 170 called Stalag VIIIF. This hospital was being built by Russians. My father’s prisoner identity tag has “Oflag VIIIF 1420”, so he could have been in this area.
His letters home record that he learnt some Russian language, from his patients.
I am unsure at which hospital he worked but it may have been the Abyssinian Lager or the Neudorf hospital due to the Russian connection.
He certainly was with Dr Norman Rose and probably Drs Kay-Webster and Bogdan Stojit et el.
I am wondering if anybody in the “network” would know where these hospitals were and if any doctor/patient records may have survived?
Any advice regarding this last piece of my puzzle would be appreciated. iatkins@bigpond.com
More information about Cosel Hospital from Irina Dimitric, daughter of Lt-Colonel Dr Bogdan Stojić (Yugoslav Army) HERE.
MEDICAL STAFF
This link give information about the work of captured medical personnel, with Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf taken as an example:
Work of Captured Medical Personnel
WORKING PARTIES
This link give information about medical facilities for POWs on working parties. A medical post on a working party was called a Revier.
Medical facilities for Working Parties
MEDICAL COMMISSION
A Mixed Medical Commission, sometimes called the repatriation commission, visited prisoner-of-war camps regularly for the purpose of deciding who among the sick and wounded should be repatriated.
Medical Commission
REPATRIATION OF SICK PRISONERS OF WAR
Here is an article that give a lot of detail about the various repatriation exchanges during the war. You will see that Lamsdorf is mentioned. (Grateful acknowledgement to Bill Rudd who put this together.)
http://www.anzacpow.com/Part-5-Other-European-Free-Men/chapter_10_-_red_cross_repatriations
MEDICAL SUPPLIES
These links gives information about medical supplies available for the treatment of POWs:
Medical Supplies
British Red Cross Medical Supplies
ARTIFICIAL LIMBS
With able guidance from Lieutenant-Colonel T. H. Wilson, RAMC,
an artificial limb workshop was established in Stalag VIIIB-344, Lamsdorf, where
remarkable work was done.
Artificial Limbs
BLIND PRISONERS
This link gives information about facilities for blind prisoners of war in Germany.
Blind POWs also: Blind POWs Word Doc.
REPATRIATION
This link gives information about the repatriation of sick and wounded POWs and medical protected personnel.
Repatriation
Most of the above links are provided with the kind permission of the
NZETC digitised Official History of New Zealand in the Second War
to whom many thanks.
Col. Thomas Henry Wilson was Senior British Medical Officer, Lamsdorf and Bevier (Stalag VIIIB/344), Germany, Mar 1943-Mar 1945.
This link has more information about him:
http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=4521&inst_id=21&nv1=search&nv2=
Dr John Borrie was serving as a doctor with the New Zealand army in Greece when he was captured by the Germans, and ended up at Lamsdorf. He wrote a book called Despite Captivity - a Doctor's Life as Prisoner of War. It is possible to get copies second-hand, but they are very expensive (around £80 or more).
Other New Zealand doctors there included Captain Stevenson-Wright Captain Foreman and Major S. G. de Clive Lowe.
Dental Treatment: Fortunately for the prisoners of war there were dentists among their number in captivity, and many hospitals had a dentist attached. In captivity there was considerable deterioration of teeth due probably to, first, lack of regular maintenance work, and, second, to a high carbohydrate diet. The volume of work offering was beyond the capacity of the few dentists available. From the point of view of the prisoners it was a blessing that the New Zealand Mobile Dental Unit was captured in Greece, as its officers did magnificent work throughout the length and breadth of Germany, and their training and efficiency was found to be of a much higher standard than that of dentists of other nationalities.
The hospital facilities at Stalag VIII-B were among the best in all Stalags. The so-called Lazarett was set up on separate site with eleven concrete buildings. Six of them were self-contained wards, each with space for about 100 patients. The others served as treatment blocks with operating theatres, X-ray and laboratory facilities, as well as kitchens, a morgue, as well as accommodations for the medical staff.
HOSPITALS
This link gives general information about hospital facilities for Prisoners of War held by Germany, with particular details about facilities for the Lamsdorf POWs:
Prisoner-of War Hospitals
This is from Dr Tom Atkins from Australia, the son of Dr W. T. G. Atkins who was at Lamsdorf and Cosel hospitals:
Information sought about Cosel Hospital
Dr John Borries book records him visiting the three existing hospitals at Cosel in May 1942.
1. St Carolusstift; on the banks of the Oder.
2. Garnison Lazarett; in the castle courtyard – medical headquarters for Kreis Cosel.
3. Abyssinian Lager; in parkland south of the town. 600 beds with 300 Russian patients and 28 English patients.
Later in March 1943, he visits a new military hospital being built at Neudorf, near Heydebreck adjacent to a Russian Arbeits Kommando 170 called Stalag VIIIF. This hospital was being built by Russians. My father’s prisoner identity tag has “Oflag VIIIF 1420”, so he could have been in this area.
His letters home record that he learnt some Russian language, from his patients.
I am unsure at which hospital he worked but it may have been the Abyssinian Lager or the Neudorf hospital due to the Russian connection.
He certainly was with Dr Norman Rose and probably Drs Kay-Webster and Bogdan Stojit et el.
I am wondering if anybody in the “network” would know where these hospitals were and if any doctor/patient records may have survived?
Any advice regarding this last piece of my puzzle would be appreciated. iatkins@bigpond.com
More information about Cosel Hospital from Irina Dimitric, daughter of Lt-Colonel Dr Bogdan Stojić (Yugoslav Army) HERE.
MEDICAL STAFF
This link give information about the work of captured medical personnel, with Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf taken as an example:
Work of Captured Medical Personnel
WORKING PARTIES
This link give information about medical facilities for POWs on working parties. A medical post on a working party was called a Revier.
Medical facilities for Working Parties
MEDICAL COMMISSION
A Mixed Medical Commission, sometimes called the repatriation commission, visited prisoner-of-war camps regularly for the purpose of deciding who among the sick and wounded should be repatriated.
Medical Commission
REPATRIATION OF SICK PRISONERS OF WAR
Here is an article that give a lot of detail about the various repatriation exchanges during the war. You will see that Lamsdorf is mentioned. (Grateful acknowledgement to Bill Rudd who put this together.)
http://www.anzacpow.com/Part-5-Other-European-Free-Men/chapter_10_-_red_cross_repatriations
MEDICAL SUPPLIES
These links gives information about medical supplies available for the treatment of POWs:
Medical Supplies
British Red Cross Medical Supplies
ARTIFICIAL LIMBS
With able guidance from Lieutenant-Colonel T. H. Wilson, RAMC,
an artificial limb workshop was established in Stalag VIIIB-344, Lamsdorf, where
remarkable work was done.
Artificial Limbs
BLIND PRISONERS
This link gives information about facilities for blind prisoners of war in Germany.
Blind POWs also: Blind POWs Word Doc.
REPATRIATION
This link gives information about the repatriation of sick and wounded POWs and medical protected personnel.
Repatriation
Most of the above links are provided with the kind permission of the
NZETC digitised Official History of New Zealand in the Second War
to whom many thanks.
Col. Thomas Henry Wilson was Senior British Medical Officer, Lamsdorf and Bevier (Stalag VIIIB/344), Germany, Mar 1943-Mar 1945.
This link has more information about him:
http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=4521&inst_id=21&nv1=search&nv2=
Dr John Borrie was serving as a doctor with the New Zealand army in Greece when he was captured by the Germans, and ended up at Lamsdorf. He wrote a book called Despite Captivity - a Doctor's Life as Prisoner of War. It is possible to get copies second-hand, but they are very expensive (around £80 or more).
Other New Zealand doctors there included Captain Stevenson-Wright Captain Foreman and Major S. G. de Clive Lowe.
Dental Treatment: Fortunately for the prisoners of war there were dentists among their number in captivity, and many hospitals had a dentist attached. In captivity there was considerable deterioration of teeth due probably to, first, lack of regular maintenance work, and, second, to a high carbohydrate diet. The volume of work offering was beyond the capacity of the few dentists available. From the point of view of the prisoners it was a blessing that the New Zealand Mobile Dental Unit was captured in Greece, as its officers did magnificent work throughout the length and breadth of Germany, and their training and efficiency was found to be of a much higher standard than that of dentists of other nationalities.
