Finden March
My Grandad didn't speak too much about the war. All we ever knew was that he fought in North Africa and that he was captured there. Then from there, he was taken to Italian POW camps and as the Italians retreated, he was sent to a POW camp on the border of Poland and Germany.
Now as
you may be aware, this isn't much to go on, but luckily for us we
live in an age where things have been and are heavily noted, and then
put on the world wide web.
This is
Corporal William Finden's Of the 5th Battalion (128th
Infantry) Service Number: 5500323 and POW number: 227588 story.
On
January 6th 1943 the Royal Hampshire Regiment (128th
infantry brigade) left Britain. They were a part of the 46th
infantry division for North Africa which was a part of “Operation
Torch”. On the 17th January they left Algiers moving on
to Bone, where they would remain for the rest of January, when the
battle moved to Hunts Gap.
On the
26th
February the 5th
Battalion which were stationed at Sidi Nsir (between Mateur and Beja)
were overwhelmingly attacked by German troops as they started
“Operation Ox Head”, a
Corps
level assault by German Paratroopers, elements of 10th
Panzer Division and 501st
Heavy Tank brigade. The battle wiped out most of the soldiers and the
ones that survived were taken captive, and I'm pretty sure this is
where my Grandad was also captured.
The
troops that had been captured by the Germans had been sent to POW
camps in Italy. This was mainly due to the fact that it was
the closest point of Nazi control. They were transported from the
Tunisian port at Bizerte to Naples, Italy. On the 4th
March, the POWs were put into pitch black cargo holds with no food,
water or a toilet and were at sea for four days.
Once
my Grandad had reached Naples he was marched to Campo P.G 66 which is
located at Capua 31.2 km
north of Naples. He stayed at Campo P.G. 66 for a couple months to
rest. Although Campo P.G 66 was a POW camp, it was used as a holding
camp before the POWS were moved to a more permanent camp.
He
was then moved to Campo P.G. 82 in August (the camp had several sub
camps or worker camps). They marched from Campo P.G. 66 at Capua to
Campo P.G. 82 which is located at Laterina; the distance between the
two is 419km. This march would have taken them through the heart of
Italy. On September of the same year, the Italian government lost
power so the troops that were guarding the POW camps left. The Nazis
came and took over, then made plans to move all POWs out of Italy,
moving them to Germany or Poland.
Once
the Germans had control of the POWs in Italy, they placed them on
Cattle trucks and drove them for three days, yet again without food
or water and a rare toilet break until they reached Germany. My
Grandad was then placed in the POW camp Stalag – IVB where he would
stay until the end of the war. In April 1945 the Russians took
control of the camp.
If
my Grandad was younger he would have been placed in the camp Stalag
-VIIIA which was a German workers camp. These POWs were involved in
“The March” where camps located in Poland and the outskirts of
Germany, were ordered to march to central camps in Germany due to the
advance of Russia, Briton and America. The marches were at least 500
miles long!
My
original plan was to walk from Siri Nsir in Tunisia to the port at
Tunisia to Naples. Then walk from POW camp to POW camp in Italy
trying to recreate the steps my Grandad took during the war. Then I
would finish my journey by travelling to Germany to Stalag – IVB.
From
the very beginning I wanted to show my respects to the soldiers that
fought alongside my Grandad, especially the soldiers that were
captured with him and marched in Tunisia and Italy, and then marched
into Germany in “The March”.
So
here is my revised plan.
I
will start off in Italy and march to and from the POW camps my
Grandad had stayed in. Then I will head to Stalag – IVB in Germany.
I will then walk to Stalag – VIIIA which is approx 86 miles. Then I
will start my walk into the heart of Berlin. This will cover 130
miles. This walk will pay tribute to the soldiers that fought and
marched along side my Grandad.
Italy:
Campo
P.G. 66: Capua
Campo
P.G. 82: Laterina
Total
Walked: 260 Miles
Germany:
Stalag
– IVB: Muhlberg
Stalag
– VIIIA: Gorlitz
Berlin
Total
Walked: 216
Overall
walk: 476 Miles Approx
I
will then end my journey by going to the war memorial in Beja Tunisia and pay
my respects to the fallen soldiers of the Royal Hampshire Regiment.
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