Stalag Luft III, Poland

A fascinating afternoon with a personal tour of the interesting museum and historical collection of a Nazi PoW Camp near Zagen. Sagen - its German name - was formerly a part of Germany, given over to Poland in a treaty following the end of WWII.  We visited this camp today as it was here that John's father spent much of the war having been shot down over the North Sea.  He was a bomber pilot and had to ditch his plane in the sea off the coast of Netherlands returning from a raid in Germany.  He and the rest of the crew, spent two days in a lifeboat before being picked up by a fishing vessel. John's father was sent to the camp here in Sagen in 1942 - he was shot down a year earlier and it's not known where he spent that year although definitely in the hands of the Nazis.  Little remains of the camp now - a newly built museum and a few remnants of structures in the surrounding woods (part of the camp hospital in extras).  John will be able to send over a copy of his father's diary for part of the war to add to the museum's archive.  It is so interesting to hear about the personal side of war involving real people, including the Chantler involvement in the Wooden Horse escape attempt.

The Red Cross parcels were a vital part of the prisoners' lives and the old Granary, in the main blip, was used to store the parcels before they were handed out providing a touch of luxury in their awful diets.  This is the original structure unchanged, although bits have been added to create the modern day functional grain store.  Life goes on.

Tonight we are wild camping in a part of the forest not that far from where the camp huts were sited - it's rather a nice thought that Jack Chantler has been very close to this location.