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Edgar Taff Garwood . Royal Air Force 980 Sqdn. My father, Edgar Taff Garwood, served in 980 and 33 Squadrons RAF. I am writing a history of 980 Sqdn. He was later transferred to 33 Sqdn. Any help with both Squadrons would be appreciated.
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Edgar Dwain Garwood . US Army 84th Infantry Divison HELL ON EARTH
A True Prisoner of War Story
As Told By
Edgar Dwain Garwood
This is the story of one of the many thousands of men who had the misfortune of being taken prisoner of war during the great and long remembered "Battle of the Belgium Bulge".
This battle, as we all know, started a great push to conquer the world. They almost did a job of it until those well known "Yanks" came through for the final blow and put them in the place where all warlords and maniacs should be.
During this battle the "84th Inf. Div." was called upon to help stop this great push. We were moved from the Ninth Army, under the direct command of General Simpson, to General Hodge's great First Army.
We landed in the small town of Roquefort, Belgium, about eight kilometers from Marcie and thirty five kilometers from Bastogue, where we immediately started setting a perimeter of defense.
This is the story of one of the many thousand men who had the misfortune of being taken prisoner of war during that great and long remembered Battle of the Belgium Bulge. This battle started, as we all remember, at Bastogne, December 16, 1944. The Germans started a great push to conquer the world and almost did a job of it until those well know Yanks came through for the final blow and put them in their place where all warlords and sick maniacs should be.
During this battle the 84th Inf. Div. was called upon to help stop this great push, the Germans were staging. We were moved from the Ninth Army under the direct command of General Simpson to General Hodge's great First Army. We landed in the small town of Roquefort, Belgium, about eight kilometers from Marcie and thirty five kilometers from Bastogue, where we immediately started setting up a perimeter of defense.
We completed this task in exceedingly short time, for we had no way of knowing the exact whereabouts of our enemy at that time. We sent patrols, I was a member of the Scouting Patrol, to cover our front. We started out in the early morning and found a few snipers and forward scouts upon interrogation, we learned the One Hundred and Sixteenth Panther Division and a large group of SS troops were coming at us and would reach us about eight o'clock in the evening. This didn't give us time to call for any further aid so we decided our best thing was to form a delaying action party and; after stopping them and thinning them out as much as possible do a strategic withdrawal-The Yanks never retreat. All went well. The enemy came almost on time and we did our best to thin them and they had ceased fire and were all ready to pull back and set up on the other side of the town when we learned the only means of our escape had been destroyed.
This caused a lot of thought and uneasiness and we decided we would fight it out as long as possible with the thought that maybe by some miracle we would get help. This miracle never came and the Germans knew we could not escape and so they surrounded us. We ran low on ammo and still they closed in like a cat closing in on a mouse ready to make the final leap for the kill.
We waited for the proper time and then we opened fire and exhausted our ammunition supply. A few of them will never seek their enemies any more but the remainder of them came in and took us prisoners. We were extremely surprised at the treatment we got from these men that first took us prisoners. We weren't treated in the least bit harshly and we thought this was good. This didn't last for long for we changed guards at dawn and started on a forced march that lasted four days and nights.
This in itself would not have been too hard had we been given food and water and a few hours of rest each day, but we received none of these. We finally reached a small town and were put in an old school building and were given about a bushel and one half of half-frozen potatoes and ten gallons of water. After this is divided between one hundred forty six men, the portions for each is extremely small and seems even smaller when you haven't eaten for so many days and walked so many miles.
We stayed in this building just long enough for the interrogators to give us the once over and then we were lined up in the road again and started marching again. This march only lasted one day and we ended up in an old two-story stone warehouse that had somehow stood the bombing. This was to be our home. We were given what they called food. It consisted of four small biscuits that looked about like five dog biscuits and tasted about the same and a small piece of cheese. After we had eaten we were given a speech by a German guard who told us we were prisoners and would be expected to function as such. This means, as we soon learned, that we had to work or be punished.
The work we had was as follows: filling bomb craters in roads and railroads and replacing rails and ties in railroads, cleaning streets and roads, and recovering bodies and equipment from bombed buildings and burying the dead. We worked in shifts, ten hours a day. If you didn't work during the day it meant going out at night and working until morning. When we weren't working we were confined to the building and were only allowed out for latrine privileges. The so called latrine was an old manure pile that was about ten feet from our kitchen. This was the cause of so much dysentery and diarrhea in the camps.
We slept on the bare board floors with no blankets or covering. The temperature stayed at about 10 º above zero and the only way we could get warm was by curling around each other like animals. We had no means of heating the building other than body heat; the windows were knocked out and the roof leaked so that body heat was very little aid to our chilled bodies.
Our food consisted of a small piece of black bread, about one inch square and three inches long, in the morning and a small container of flour and water soup in the evening. This container was about the size of a tea cup or slightly larger.
Due to malnutrition, poor living conditions and improper clothing, many of the men became sick with pneumonia and died. Others suffered from frozen feet and from lack of medical attention, gangrene set in and killed them. The death rate was about five a day out of a total of thirteen hundred encamped there at this Geroldstein Labor Camp.
We left this camp 1st of February 1945 because the Yanks were about twenty kilometers away and we could already feel the blasts of our own artillery. We were marched two days and then pushed into boxcars. Eighty-five men were placed in each car and the doors were locked. We were forced to stand and received no food or water for three days. The cars had no ventilation other than small holes that had been caused from bombing.
Many of the men lost their minds and many more died from thirst, starvation and suffocation. In the boxcar I was in, there were about three inches of horse manure on the floor. This plus the waste of prisoners on the floor was almost unbearable for we weren't even allowed out of the cars to relieve ourselves. We finally reached our destination with several less men and most of us were almost too weak to walk the distance to our new camp.
This camp was Stalag 12A at Limburg, Germany. The food situation here was slightly better and we were not forced to work. We were given blankets and allowed straw for beds. The camp had been a training station and we had latrines and even water where we could wash and shave. They gave us our first cigarettes and soap from the Red Cross packages about two weeks after we arrived. This was a real treat for most of us had not seen either since we were taken prisoner. We were interrogated again and then placed where we could not come in contact with other prisoners. We did very little work here other than try making our barracks livable and waiting for our food. Then came the work, the Yanks had crossed the Rhine and should be there in about ten days so the Germans got us out again and loaded us on boxcars again and started out. The next day the Airforce came over and blew up the railroad and strafed our train. The guard became scared and let us out. We shed our shirts and turned our backs to the sky forming the letters POW hoping upon their return they might recognize us as Americans and spare us. The plan worked. They came over and flipped their wings and flew away.
The Germans decided we would start walking on another forced march so at one a.m. we started out. We walked through a few towns and had not stopped for rest so we were almost exhausted. The night was dark and foggy and very cold. Having lost about ninety pounds I became weak and decided I should either take a chance now or never and I could hear American machine gun fire so I took a long shot, worked over to the edge of the road, jumped, and rolled into the deep ditch and lay their motionless until the column passed.
Thank God they had not seen me; I was on my own. I headed for where I heard the gunfire. I had not gone far when I came onto another escapee by the name of Bigley. He had the same idea so we ventured on together. At seven a.m. we decided to try for some food and coffee at a farm house. We had God with us for we found a friendly woman who gave us food and coffee and warmed us behind the stove and told us the Yanks were close by. We stayed there until eight p.m. then we heard vehicles approaching. It was the 7th Armored Division. We signaled them and was taken back to Regiment Headquarters. Once again we were among friends and had immerged from the Hell on Earth. We were given food and treated like kings.
If anyone ever says things are bad in the States, let me remind then that we are living in a Utopia and not a Hell on Earth as many have witnessed during the war. So thank God you are an American and live in Heaven on Earth.
Sgt. Edgar D. Garwood
Lest we forget, this happened to many thousand and will long be remembered by them, but many thousands will forget and let our enemies try again to accomplish what they failed. So, let's all remember "Meet they enemy and destroy them".
Sgt. Garwood was my grandfather and never talked much about the war. This is the only information he ever shared. It was a handwritten story in a small notebook. He use to give talks to the boy scouts and such about the war in the 50s. Grandpa died in March of 1985 from cancer. I have recently been searching for information about his time in the US army, but can't seem to find much. I thought I would send his story if you would like to post it, hopefully more people will submit info so those of us searching will be able to find more material. Thanks, for the best WW2 website I have found.
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FE Garwood . British Army Royal Berkshire Regiment FE Garwood served with the Royal Berkshire Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Able Sea. Frank William Benjamin Garwood . Royal Navy from Colchester Frank Garwood served in the Royal Navy in WW2.
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C. E. Gascoigne . British Army C E Gascoigne served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Stok.1/c Richard Frank Gascoigne . US Navy
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William Ullric Gascoigne . British Army York and Lancaster Regiment
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Flt.Sgt. Clifford James Gascoyne . Royal Air Force 70 Squadron from Harold Wood, Essex (d.30th January 1943) Clifford Gascoyne was my my mother's sister's fiance.
My first recollection of Cliff Gascoyne was that, at a very young age, my mother, Peggy Easter, made me aware of him. She told me that Cliff had been engaged to my mothers sister (my Auntie Vera - Vera Kathleen Walker) and had been killed during the 2nd World War. He had been one of the crew of 6 including the pilot Flt Lt B H McMichael in a Wellington bomber. The aircraft had taken off from Egypt on a mission to Catania in Italy
Auntie Vera had kept in contact with Cliff's parents James and Dorothy after the war and I recall that every time we passed their property by car on the A127 borders of Harold Wood and Gidea Park Essex Mum would mention them.
I decided to carry out some research into Cliff and his wartime record and the following information has come to light:
It is alleged that the German Ace Fighter pilot, Hptm Horst Patuschka, was responsible for shooting the aircraft down. He died two months later in an aircraft crash in Tunis.
Cliff was buried in a cemetery in El Alamein.
I found a reference book with a mention of Cliff and the plane being shot down. The Wellingtons reference number was 1C DV484 Q according to
"A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945" by Christopher Shores, Giovanni Massimello.
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Bmbdr. James Albert Gaskarth . British Army 58th Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery from Cartmel, Cumbria (d.13th Oct 1944)
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A/L/Sea. Charles Arthur Gaskell . Royal Navy HMS Curlew from Liverpool Charles Gaskell is listed as Acting Leading seaman between 10/10/1943 and 4/12/1943 and 9/12/1943 to 23/12/1943- HMS Curlew and from
24th of Dec 1943 to 24/1/1944 in HMS Curlew as Leading Seaman.
Other bases/ships he served in are,
HMS Trelawney,
HMS Duisdale on the Isle of Skye,
HMS Osprey,
HMS Benbow,
HMS Staubles and
HMS Baldur.
Charles seems to have been between Scotland and Iceland also in Trinidad and Tobago.
He may have been sonar or cable laying for U Boat detection. Unsure really? I have a few photo's of poor quality and they do not enlarge well.
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Able Sea. Ernest Gaskell . Royal Navy HMS Abercrombie I joined HMS Abercrombie in June 1944 in Italy. My first view of her was a huge hole being repaired on her side. We left for Malta after being repaired and started knocking a pretty green crew, myself included, into shape. My memory of 21st of August 1944, a Sunday I think, is that sometime mid morning we were at gun stations when there was a violent explosion which shook us followed by a second explosion. I wasn't sure what had happened, torpedo came to mind. An old hand near by said "blow up your lifebelt scouse", something I had not thought of. We had stopped dead in the water and it didn't look good, an order came to get all ammunition up on deck. We were getting low in the water when a couple of mines bobbed up on the port side where I was working. A couple of 20mms opened up, I think they sank one with no explosion. One started bobbing close and an order came for a boat crew to stand by, but it cleared the bow. Sometime in the afternoon a tug appeared. It was a hard day, I cannot remember eating or resting all day. We made it back to Malta. I was back at sea a few days later aboard HMS Colombo. found myself on board a very efficient ship on route to Alexandre from where started to operate in the Aegean sea our job was to support the operation to re-occupy islands in the Eastern Mediterranean held by German troops. It was a busy time, I can't remember all the names of the island's we bombarded once to cover a commando landing. In the build up to the re-occupation of Greece we bombarded shore targets at Heraklion, Crete and Aegina Island in the Gulf of Athens. We were then transferred to the Adriatic to provide AA defence in support of military operations deployed at Zarder we accepted surrender of German forces. We set out for the UK in early May 1945 via Malta. The war in Europe finished on the way. I have been asked how we celebrated the wars end. I remember that when the news came through I was on the mess deck.There was hardly a sound. Some of my shipmates had been abroad two years and four months,I had been a year. I still remember that I walked aft, Cape Bonn was on the port side I remember that, I sat down and said Thank God.
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Ord.Sea. Ernest Gaskell . Royal Navy HMS Abercrombie I joined HMS Abercrombie in June 1944 at Tarranto, Italy. She was under repair after being mined at Salerno. After repairs we sailed to Malta and began exercises we were told before joining the the fleet which was then assembled at Tarranto for the South of France landings.
Sunday August 21st, I think, whilst at gunnery stations there was a huge explosion which shook the ship followed by another. We stopped dead in the water and things became a bit hectic. I remember that we were getting lower in the water and started bringing ammunition up on deck. I cannot remember having anything to eat that day. There was a shout and I could see two mines bobbing about on our port side. A 20mm opened up I think one sank no explosion. One was getting close to the port bow. Word came for the boat's crew to stand by and push it clear. However, it drifted clear. Late afternoon we were glad to see a tugboat appear and were towed to Malta.
I was back at sea a few days later on HMS Colombo.
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H Gaskell . British Army H Gaskell served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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P.O. J. Gaskell . Royal Navy HMS Forfar P.O. Gaskill was amongst those who survived the sinking of the Forfar.
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P/O P. Gaskell . 102 Squadron
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T Gaskell . British Army Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Royal Armoured Corps T Gaskell served with the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Royal Armoured Corps British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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BD Gaskin . British Army BD Gaskin served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Delmar D Gaskin . US Army I am trying to find any information, pictures, documents, etc. on my grandfather (deceased now) who was a POW during WWII. His name is Delmar D. Gaskin, a member of the US Army ground forces and captured in Germany in an attempt to defend Kassarina Pass, along with others. Any help will be appreciated.
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Delmar D Gaskin . US Army I am trying to find any information, pictures, documents, etc. on my grandfather (deceased now) who was a POW during WWII. His name is Delmar D. Gaskin, a member of the US Army ground forces and captured in Germany in an attempt to defend Kassarina Pass, along with others. Any help will be appreciated.
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Pte. Delmar "Doty" Gaskin . US Army from Garrard County, Kentucky "Doty" Delmar Gaskin is my ex-father-in-law. A finer man I have never met. I am glad my son Joseph Bryan Gaskin has his genes.
Doty was captured at the Kassarine Pass by Rommel's forces and was interned at Buchenwald Prison Camp, Stalag 3b. He survived after 27 months there.
"Doty" was known as the strongest (physically) man in Garrard County, Kentucky.
"Doty" was a brave, compassionate, caring, respectful, hard working man who did everything he could for his family. I know you are in heaven Doty and your ex-daughter-in-law gives you love and respect.
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Cpl. Samuel Henry Seth "Jack" Gaskin . British Army Royal Tank Regiment
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W Gaskin . British Army West Yorkshire Regiment W Gaskin served with the West Yorkshire Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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F/O. V M Gaskin. . 428 Sqd.
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RR Gasnier . British Army Royal Armoured Corps RR Gasnier served with the Royal Armoured Corps British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Eileen Agnes Gasson . Land Army We are trying to track down a lady named Eileen Agnes Gasson who was a member of the Women's Land Army in Tonbridge, Kent in 1945. The reason for this search is that this lady would be the biological mother of my father who was given up for adoption at only six weeks old. My father is going to be 60 this year and any information you may have will be greatly appreciated.
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Mjr-Gen. Alexander Hugh Gatehouse DSO & Bar MC. British Army 10th Arm. Div. My dad is very interested in what happened to Major General Alec Gatehouse after the war. Dad is nearing 78 now and as you can imagine, spends time looking back.
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L/Sgt Leonard Charles Gatehouse . British Army 5th Btn Dorset Regiment (d.30th July 1944) Charlie Gatehouse as he was known to his family was my uncle, my mother's brother. He is buried in Bayeux War Cemetery. I am lucky enough to still have the last letter he wrote to his mother and the photograph of the wooden cross placed on his grave which was sent to her. I am just looking up the history of his short fighting career in Normandy.
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Pte. Francis James Gates . British Army 7th Btn. Royal Hampshire Regiment from Jersey (d.22nd Nov 1944)
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Sergeant G S Gates . RAF 59 Squadron
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2nd Lt. Herbert Bruce Gates . United States Army Air Force 571st Bomb Squadron from Huntington, TX Herbert Gates, called Bruce by family and friends, was a 2nd Lieutenant Bombardier/Togglier. He flew 13 missions with crew 87 before being shot down by flak on the 14th mission, to Merseburg on 30th of November 1944.
Four crew members were killed that day, Pilot Edwin C. Booth, Co-Pilot Quentin L. Davidson, Ball Turret Gunner Joseph D. Jackson, and Top Turret Gunner John E. Walsh. Navigator Abraham Elhai evaded according to American Air Museum in Britain, but is listed as a POW by 390th Generations as well. Remaining crew became POWs, Waist Gunner Bruce J. Greeno, Radio Operator William P Long, Tail Gunner Anthony J. Morreale,
The aircraft, a B-17G, De Joker, was flying at about 27,000 feet at time of explosion. Bruce Gates recalled the last thing he remembered was pulling the ripcord before passing out, then he regained consciousness a few seconds before hitting the ground. Many parachutes were seen and small arms fire was prevalent. Upon hitting the ground, he ditched his parachute, saw scattered German ground forces, and ran into a ravine where he hid under brush. 3 armed German soldiers appeared at the top of the ravine, looked as though they would fire into the brush, but turned and ran away. Bruce thought they may have considered he was armed and would have shot 1 or 2 of them before they killed him. In actuality, crews had been told not to carry their .45 automatics at that time of the war, believing they would be shot on site if they were armed. He carried no weapon.
After attempting to make his way to the Allied Forces for about 10 days, sick and with no food or water, he was captured. He was held for several days in a barn, awaiting transport. He was awakened one morning by something that hit him on his cot, it was a piece of hard bread, thrown through a high window by a small boy. When he stood on the cot to see out the window, he saw the boy, and about 50 yards away, a woman, likely the boy's mother, standing on the porch of the house, looking out for visitors. The boy signalled, asking Bruce if he wanted something to drink. The boy ran to the house, retrieved a jar of what may have been peach brandy, which Bruce said was the best thing he ever drank and tasted in his life. A few days later he was taken by German soldiers to a troop train, and interrogation in Frankfurt, after which he was assigned to Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany for the remainder of the war. Upon liberation by Russian forces in May of 1945, he was one of about 8500 POWs sent from Stalag Luft I to Camp Lucky Strike in the Le Havre, France area before transporting by ship back to the United States.
His family in Texas had been notified soon after he was shot down that he was Killed in Action.
His return was a joyous occasion, and he resided in Texas until his death at age 73.
Married for almost 50 years, he had 2 boys, 5 grandchildren, and as of this writing, 2 great-grandchildren.
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