Cpl. Acel E. Thompson
United States Army
from:Tremonton, Utah
My grandfather, Acel E. Thompson, was a POW in WW2 in the Hammerstein Stalag 2B, and was in work kommando 1530. I have his journal he kept while he was a POW and there are tons of fellow soldier's names. I have seen Elmer Shaner's name on this website, but can't seem to get in contact with his grandson. It has outlines of dog tags and some of those soldiers and their hometown and address written inside each outlined tag that he was imprisoned with. Acel was there for a year and was in the death march as the Russians got closer.
I lived next door to him until his death. I learned a lot from my grandfather even though he was quiet, he always complained of those (!* damn cobblestone roads that he was marched on in the winter of early 1945 as the Russian front moved in his POW camp).
Acel was captured in Italy then taken to Stalag 7A then Stalag 2B Hammerstien and worked in the work Kommando 1530 when they learned he was a farmer. He said the Germans would have them make airplane fuel out of the potato peelings they dug up on the farm.
He was recaptured by the US military as he says on 13th of April 1945 and was living the good life after that he stated many times in the journal, only after marching over 600 miles in the coldest winter of the war and only a loaf of bread for 6 to 8 men a day of they were lucky. He carried his friend Rudolph Blecha while he was sick to make sure he didn't get left for dead or killed, they would call each other every year on the day they were found by our military.
I will post all the names I have as time permits. Any more information or stories that relate to this Stalag would help me so much.
