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Stalag 8D Prisoner of War Camp
Stalag 8D (VIII-D, according to the German designation system) was located in Teschen (now called ÄŒeský TěšÃn), a town situated on the Czech-Polish border approximately 20 miles east of Ostrava. Teschen lies within the region known historically as Upper Silesia, which has been renowned for centuries for its rich coal deposits. Stalag 8D was originally established in 1941 as the administrative hub of a number of POW work-camps (Arbeitskommandos) in the area where prisoners were forced to labour in local coal mines and coal-related industries. In June 1943, Stalag 8D was placed under the administrative jurisdiction of Stalag 8B in Lamsdorf (a Polish town approximately 70 miles northwest of Teschen), while Stalag 8B itself was re-named Stalag 344. In November 1943, Stalag 8D was re-designated as Stalag 8B and would continue to be known as such until the end of the war. The camp was evacuated in early 1945 in the face of advancing Soviet forces.
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Want to know more about Stalag 8D Prisoner of War Camp? There are:2 items tagged Stalag 8D Prisoner of War Camp available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Pte. Benjamin Evans 1st Btn. Welch Regiment My late father Benjamin Evans joined the West Monmouthshire Regiment in 1939, aged 20. After basic training, he transferred to the 1st Battalion, Welch Regiment where he trained for desert warfare. Then he sailed from Plymouth around Africa to Egypt. In 1940, he saw action in the battles of Mersa Matruh and Bardia. In 1942, he was captured by Italian troops and was a POW in Italy until the Italians capitulated. He then became a POW of the Germans, who took him to a camp in Poland where he remained until early 1945, when the Russians were closing in from the east and the Germans marched all of the POWs to a camp at Lamsdorf in Germany. Along the way he had frostbite, which resulted in all of his toes being amputated. He was liberated from Lamsdorf by the Americans and flown back home where he spent a year in hospital, being discharged in 1946.
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Gnr. Bernard Shore 25th Field Artillery Regiment Royal Artillery Bernard Shore was captured at Cyrenaica, Tobruk on the 20th of June 1942 and sent to several Italian camps and ended up at Sulmona Campo 78. After the Italian Armistice in 1943 he was taken to Stalag 4b then to Stalag 8d at Teschen in Poland in 1943. In 1945 he was in the long march back to the west. At the end of the war he made it home to Grandma and his children but was never the same.
I've just started to learn about my Grandad's war. I only meet him a few times before his death in 1982 with serious illnesses and Grandma always said he never got over the war and would never talk about his ordeal at the hands of his captors.
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RSM. Albert Edward Townsend Royal Army Medical Corps RSM. A.E.Townsend was captured near Dunkirk. He was marched to Stalag 10A then to Stalag 8B. He was repatriated in 1944.
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Walter Sinclair 2/2 Field Regiment (d.25th Jan 1945) My uncle, Walter Sinclair, 2/2 Field Regiment, Australian Army was captured on Crete. I was very, very excited to see his name on the List of Prisoners & that the information that he died on 25th Jan 1945 correlates with my research. This is the first mention of him that I have found in over 12 months of searching on the net. However, his German POW cards show that he was transferred to Stalag V111B Teschen on 11.1.44 from Stalag 344 (V111B) Lamsdorf where he had been since 14.4.43, so he should have been on the Teschen march not Lamsdorf.
My mother can remember being told that he had severely frostbitten feet & couldn't march so was shot. I would appreciate any information that you can give me, as I am trying to trace his grave & the route taken from these 2 camps was entirely different. I have a postcard from 7A Moosburg & 2 from 8B Lamsdorf.
Update: The change of the designation V111B has tricked many family researchers, including myself. V111B (Lamsdorf) became 344 towards the end of 1943. It was an extremely large camp & was set up in 1939 using existing WW1 camp constructions. Initially it was a transit camp which then became permanent. Early in 1943, V111B (Britenlager) included 318/V111F Lamsdorf (200,000 Soviet POWs of whom around 40,000 died) & V111D Teschen, making it one of the largest POW complexes. Because of the large influx of POWs after the Normandy landings, the complex was reorganised & separated as 344 Lamsdorf & V111B Teschen. Teschen (now Cieszyn) is about 120km south from Lamsdorf (now Lambinowice) in Poland. By February 1944 V111B Teschen was the administrative base for many of the Silesian Arbeitskommandos (Work Camps), mainly mining, including 53 which contained 11,500 British POWs. (The designation 'British' also applied to all subjects of the British Empire e.g. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.) Most of these work camps were many kilometres from the main camp & the POWs lived, as well as worked, there. (Some in deplorable conditions). From the middle of January 1945, the POWs in the work camps were force-marched through Czechoslovakia away from the Russian advance. The last group left the main camp at V111B Teschen on about 20th Jan 1945. My uncle, Walter Sinclair,VX613,2/2nd Field Reg,AIF, POW 92192, died on that march & has no known grave. He was transferred to Teschen, 11/01/44 from 344 Lamsdorf. He wrote of the change from V111B to 344 on a postcard dated 26/12/43. He arrived V111B Lamsdorf, 14/4/43,from V11A Mooseburg,21/08/41,following his capture on Crete,31/05/41.
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Pte. Benjamin Evans 1st Btn. Welch Regiment My late father Benjamin Evans joined the West Monmouthshire Regiment in 1939, aged 20. After basic training, he transferred to the 1st Battalion, Welch Regiment where he trained for desert warfare. Then he sailed from Plymouth around Africa to Egypt. In 1940, he saw action in the battles of Mersa Matruh and Bardia. In 1942, he was captured by Italian troops and was a POW in Italy until the Italians capitulated. He then became a POW of the Germans, who took him to a camp in Poland where he remained until early 1945, when the Russians were closing in from the east and the Germans marched all of the POWs to a camp at Lamsdorf in Germany. Along the way he had frostbite, which resulted in all of his toes being amputated. He was liberated from Lamsdorf by the Americans and flown back home where he spent a year in hospital, being discharged in 1946.
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Gnr. Bernard Shore 25th Field Artillery Regiment Royal Artillery Bernard Shore was captured at Cyrenaica, Tobruk on the 20th of June 1942 and sent to several Italian camps and ended up at Sulmona Campo 78. After the Italian Armistice in 1943 he was taken to Stalag 4b then to Stalag 8d at Teschen in Poland in 1943. In 1945 he was in the long march back to the west. At the end of the war he made it home to Grandma and his children but was never the same.
I've just started to learn about my Grandad's war. I only meet him a few times before his death in 1982 with serious illnesses and Grandma always said he never got over the war and would never talk about his ordeal at the hands of his captors.
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RSM. Albert Edward Townsend Royal Army Medical Corps RSM. A.E.Townsend was captured near Dunkirk. He was marched to Stalag 10A then to Stalag 8B. He was repatriated in 1944.
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Walter Sinclair 2/2 Field Regiment (d.25th Jan 1945) My uncle, Walter Sinclair, 2/2 Field Regiment, Australian Army was captured on Crete. I was very, very excited to see his name on the List of Prisoners & that the information that he died on 25th Jan 1945 correlates with my research. This is the first mention of him that I have found in over 12 months of searching on the net. However, his German POW cards show that he was transferred to Stalag V111B Teschen on 11.1.44 from Stalag 344 (V111B) Lamsdorf where he had been since 14.4.43, so he should have been on the Teschen march not Lamsdorf.
My mother can remember being told that he had severely frostbitten feet & couldn't march so was shot. I would appreciate any information that you can give me, as I am trying to trace his grave & the route taken from these 2 camps was entirely different. I have a postcard from 7A Moosburg & 2 from 8B Lamsdorf.
Update: The change of the designation V111B has tricked many family researchers, including myself. V111B (Lamsdorf) became 344 towards the end of 1943. It was an extremely large camp & was set up in 1939 using existing WW1 camp constructions. Initially it was a transit camp which then became permanent. Early in 1943, V111B (Britenlager) included 318/V111F Lamsdorf (200,000 Soviet POWs of whom around 40,000 died) & V111D Teschen, making it one of the largest POW complexes. Because of the large influx of POWs after the Normandy landings, the complex was reorganised & separated as 344 Lamsdorf & V111B Teschen. Teschen (now Cieszyn) is about 120km south from Lamsdorf (now Lambinowice) in Poland. By February 1944 V111B Teschen was the administrative base for many of the Silesian Arbeitskommandos (Work Camps), mainly mining, including 53 which contained 11,500 British POWs. (The designation 'British' also applied to all subjects of the British Empire e.g. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.) Most of these work camps were many kilometres from the main camp & the POWs lived, as well as worked, there. (Some in deplorable conditions). From the middle of January 1945, the POWs in the work camps were force-marched through Czechoslovakia away from the Russian advance. The last group left the main camp at V111B Teschen on about 20th Jan 1945. My uncle, Walter Sinclair,VX613,2/2nd Field Reg,AIF, POW 92192, died on that march & has no known grave. He was transferred to Teschen, 11/01/44 from 344 Lamsdorf. He wrote of the change from V111B to 344 on a postcard dated 26/12/43. He arrived V111B Lamsdorf, 14/4/43,from V11A Mooseburg,21/08/41,following his capture on Crete,31/05/41.
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