When we came to the village of Neumarket, the first thing we saw was a long section of railroad track balanced on the roof peak of a two story house as the result of a bombing. The next two days of rainy weather left everything in mud and we were miserable. We were caught along the open road with no buildings so we spent the night in the open in the cold rain. 1 just stepped off the road and lay down under a pine tree, covered up with my overcoat and tried to sleep. In the morning my overcoat and blankets were soaked and weighed a ton, but I had to wear them because I would need them again. I never even got a cold and was thankful for all the shots we got in the service, thinking they must have helped.
One sunny day after a night's march we stopped at a farm house to spend the day and rest. Bruce and I were in an apple orchard just behind the barns. Within minutes there were little fires going everywhere and we could smell strange odors of food. Eggs and chicken, and whatever else could be found around the barns, were cooking. Bruce got some eggs and potatoes while I got a little fire started. We cooked in rusty old tin cans we found in junk piles as we had no other utensils. We must have cleaned out some of these farms but it was either that or starve. Sometimes along the march the Red Cross trucks would catch up with us with some parcels that we divided among us. We also discovered that the mounds of dirt in fields near the road covered stacks of potatoes or rutabagas to keep them from freezing. We would dig out the rutabagas and eat them raw.
When we stopped in the small villages we took over all the empty churches and buildings for sleeping and guys would immediately start out to trade cigarettes and anything else we had for food. I was never any good at this so Bruce used to scrounge for us. In friendly places we did quite well at this as the people were desperate for American cigarettes. This type of marching and spreading out in farms and villages kept us mixed up with different guys all the time. We were all in the same situation so it didn't matter, but Bruce and I were still together. I don't know where Ullo was by this time.
One day we crossed the Danube River and there was a large unexploded bomb sticking up out of the pavement in the center of the bridge. We walked a little faster until we were by it. Towards the end of this march I remember being in a large open area near some buildings when a heavy rainstorm started and we all ran for cover inside them. One lone figure was laying out there under his coat in the rain and nobody helped him inside. He must have been separated from the friends who had been helping him. I found out later that he was John Bradey from Victor, N.Y. and when I got back to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey he was there and still sick. We became acquainted and he borrowed a clean shirt from me to wear home. He promised to return the shirt and about four weeks after getting home his wife sent it to me. There was enclosed a letter telling me that he was it the Buffalo VA hospital very ill from having a ruptured appendix. It had happened when we left the first prison camp, so he had suffered with that through two marches, two camps and all the way home. The will to survive was so great that it had kept him going all that way.
All the pilots in England must have been briefed on our location because during the remainder of the last march and at the last camp we were never again bombed or strafed while cities all around us were bombed. Our fighter Planes were flying over in increasing numbers as the time went on. We were fortunate to have been shot at only the one time when marching in open country. After ten days and marching 91 miles we arrived at the last camp in fairly good condition due to the frequent rest stops and warmer weather.
Chapter 11 Stallag VII-A at Moosburg Stallag VII-A at Moosburg was a very large camp as prisoners were moved here from al1 the other prison camps to keep them from being liberated. We found some of the men here who had dropped out from that first march from Sagan. All the barracks were full, and large tents were put up between the buildings and that is where Bruce and I found ourselves a place. They were large tents and we slept in rows down each side on the ground. We were on an incline and when it rained the water ran right through the tent sometimes in a real river when the rain was heavy. We finally gathered rocks and piled them up about three inches high and slept on top of them. One night I woke up during a downpour and found that my shoes were floating away down the small trench we had dug around our beds. I decided that between that and the water coming through the bullet holes in the tent I had better find a dry place for the rest of the night. I felt my way around in the darkness until I found a barracks building, then crawled around on my hands and knees in the pitch black among the bodies on the floor. I found a place and squeezed in between two bodies and fell asleep. When woke up I was back to back with someone and we both sat up at the same time. He was a big guy from India with all the robes and turban on his head, a big black beard on his face. He smiled (half his teeth were missing), I smiled, said "good morning" and got out as fast as I could.
There were prisoners of all nationalities here: Scots, Turks and Indians as well as English and American. There were about 27,000 of us so it was a large camp. Some of the Scots had their kilts and bagpipes and they would march around the open area we had for a softball diamond, playing the bagpipes. We played softball again here and I got a baseball uniform which I carried all the way home with me for a souvenir. I played third base because it was next to the latrine, which I needed again as I was once again suffering from diarrhea and dysentery. When I wasn't batting or playing third, I sat in the latrine and came out only when they needed me. My problems were probably caused by the bad water gotten on the last march and it was so bad that I had to run for the latrine every time I started to eat. During the worst times I gave my food away to Bruce or someone else who needed it.
I can't remember who was still with Bruce and I from our squadron in England or the camp at Sagan. It is possible that Ullo and Barlow were there with us, but it is only Bruce that I remember clearly. At the corner of the camp by our location the guard was a red headed German from Brooklyn who spoke with the Brooklyn accent. He was brought up in Brooklyn and had been drafted into the German army while visiting Germany. There was only one fence around this camp so we could go over and talk to him, sometimes giving him one of our chocolate bars as he had little to eat. One of the guys traded with him for a camera and film which he used to take pictures. I signed up for copies and received them several months after returning home. Those pictures are included in this chapter.
Moosburg had been a center for Red Cross parcel distribution and therefore food parcels were issued again one per week to each of us, thus providing adequate food again. We had no provisions for cooking so the art of making stoves from tin cans began In earnest. Some were simple and others very elaborate with wheels that turned by a handle to force air through the fire to increase the heat and help when burning green or wet wood. Bruce and made a simple one with two tin cans with the fire in the bottom one. It was a good enough setup for the little we cooked. The open areas between the barracks were filled with those little stoves at mealtimes. We were getting German ersatz coffee which was bitter and resembled coffee only by its color. We drank it because we needed something hot. There were also all kinds of cigarettes in camp when American cigarettes were not available. I tried some of the Turkish cigarettes and they were so strong it would knock your socks off. British and Italian cigarettes were also quite plentiful so I had plenty as I didn't smoke much.
We were only thirty miles from the concentration camp at Dachau, but we knew nothing about it at this time. After we had been here two weeks we began to hear the big guns to the west of us and knew that the American front was-getting closer and that we would soon be free. The rumors began again that we might be moved again to the east, but the Germans must have realized that there were too many of us to move and that the war would soon be over anyway. To the west of us was a hill with trees on the top and open fields on the slopes facing us. We began watching those fields waiting for the American troops to come. On Sunday morning April 29 the guns were a lot closer and we were very excited. The German guards had about all disappeared so we knew it wouldn't be long.