Hello everyone,
i've just returned from the Stalag XVII-B reunion--what a wonderful time we had in Myrtle Beach. I will post a couple pictures and more when someone sends me good copies!  I had the pleasure of meeting Janet McIlwain (Spec5Mac)-or fondly known at the reunion as "The girl from Rome".  It was so nice to met somone from the forum.  we had a great time talking about the forum and the postings and ran into others who recognized our names from viewing the posts.  The first picture I am posting is of the former Kriegies--sorry it is not the greates but something.  Then next picture is one of me and Janet--two of the "Kriegie Kiddies" .  Next year the reunion will be in Tucson; i hope more of you will be interested in attending.

Attached Image(s)

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

2nd picture--by the way, 80 former pow's attended and appx 100 others.

Attached Image(s)

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

Hi Tracy,
 
Thanks for uploading the picture of you and Janet. I assume the caption "Tracey/Janet denotes the left to right identification. I often wonder about  people I have dealt with on the forum and what they might look like. Janet gave me a lot of help a couple of years ago when I was trying to get some information about a friend who was interned in Stalag 7B. She was really a dream to deal with and I appreciate the trouble she went through for me.
 
Vic

Vic,
Yes, that is the identification.  Janet surely knows her "stuff"; I would never doubt the accuracy of her information unless i had first hand knowledge otherwise. Everyone was very pleased that she made the long trip.
Tracey

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

Hello! My father, Lincoln T. (Timmy) O'Connell died when I was 13. I found some of his papers and am trying to find out something about his service to our country. His file was burned in St. Louis, so I hit a dead end, but did see that he was a POW also at Stalag 17B. Could anyone help me with finding out more info, perhaps pursuing his POW internment? All I know at this time is that he was with the 1010th AAF Base Unit, shot down over Germany. I think he was a tail gunner. And I think he was shot down 5/27/43.
 
Thanks so much for any assistance.
 
Regards,
Kim O'Connell-Patterson

Kim,
   Can't help with his POW time but he was indeed a tailgunner serving with the 303rd BG/360th BS.  He was flying in B-17# 41-24602 (Yardbird) piloted by Trojan on a mission to Nancy, shot down by fighters and crashed near Provine, Fr.  2KIA 8POW.  Some discrepancies:  You show May 27; Foreman shows May 25th and The Mighty Eighth Roll of honor shows May 29th.  Sorry no MACR
Hugh

"Swords Forever"

Kim,
I checked my Stalag XVIIB directory and cannot find your dad's name listed in the former pow's or in deceased members.  I will check with some of my contacts who were there and have lsits from the camp. I can tell you that 17B was not opened until Oct. 43 so you dad was probably in 7A prior to that and moved to 17B.  If you would like, i can post an inquiry in the newsletter and see if anyone remembers him.  then next newsletter will go out the beginning of December.
Tracey Jackson, Editor
Stalag XVIIB Newsletter

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

Just discovered the site and your post by a Google search.

I do the web site at http://www.IndianaMilitary.org which is for several WW2 and later bases and camps in Indiana.  Also contains a great deal of info on the 106th Infantry Division.  That section has info on several German POW camps that might be of interest to you and other forum readers.  I post the camps that the 106th members were held in, following the Battle of the Bulge.  The site is the largest private site in Indiana and is hosted by the U. S. Army.

I would be happy to post any photos of the camps, or of persons interred there.  Just drop me an email.

Jim West

Hi all,
just a reminder, the Stalag XVII-B reunion is coming up.  go to this link www.pownews.com and find more information.  it would be great to see some of you there.  I will be there (providing my by pass surgery goes as well as i expect!) unfortunately my "commrade" SpecMac won't make it this year.  It is truly a great reunion and you would enjoy it.
Tracey

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

I'm looking for information on my dad. His name was Richard Wallace Smith. He was a Staff Sergeant and was a side gunner on the Lucifer Junior B17. He was shot down, but I don't know what year or what time frames he spent imprisoned. I know he spent approximately 22 months in Stalag 17B. His serial number was 17071474. If you could steer me in the right direction as to where to locate information I can probably take it from there. Will go to the reunion if anyone is going that knew my dad, or was imprisoned with him. Thank you for your time.

I will check with some of the ex-pow's; they have lists of the barracks.  your dad's name is listed i nthe roster as deceased; I am assuming it was some time ago.  Try www.pownews.com roster by barracks is listed.

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

your dad was in barracks 34A

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

I found him in the pow list by barracks also. Thank you for your time. I read the short story about 17B. My dad told me about having to share a blanket with another prisoner, and how the Germans took their Red Cross packages for themselves. He never complained about being in the service. It was a duty he was proud to perform. He passed away in 1997 at 73, just 5 days short of his birthday. I can't tell you how much I miss his positive attitude and kindness. Where can I find the lists of POW's that tells whether they are still alive or deceased?

You'll have to join the Stalag XVIIB former Prironers of War association as Next of Kin an you will receive a roster.  However, the new ones will not be printed until April.  If there are names you would like me to check, send them to me and i will check my copy.  If you send me your email address, I will forward a pdf copy of the last newsletter(I am the editor); a membership form is on the back.  You can e-mail me directly at bnkmimi@comcast.net  Also, please send soon as I will be entering the Hospital Wednesday and will not be checking emails for a few weeks after that.
Tracey

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

My dad, Pops Varner, was also a POW at Stalag 17B baracks 32B, i think. I used to go to reunions with him in Phoenix. He passed away in 1992. Here are some very interesting photos and a story of what they are and how I got them, I hope you all will enjoy. I enjoyed meeting many of you back in the 80's and 90's. Thank you so very much for serving.
MACR#3932
1st/Lt Thomas Gardner Pilot
2nd/Lt Carl West co/pilot
2nd/Lt jacob Brown Nav.
2nd/Lt Jack Bohman Bombardier
T/Sgt Lee Varner Engineer (My dad, the guy with cowboy boots and his elbows covering his face)
T/Sgt Lucius Birbeck Radio
Sgt Raymond Stewart BT Gunner
Sgt Henderson Head LW Gunner
Sgt Alex Shewchuck RW Gunner
Sgt Raymond Cutchall Tail Gunner

Those 2 pictures have a long story and I want to share it with the world. That picture is of my dad's crew shot down 4-11-44 on Rostock mission. They set the plane down basically on a mud flat or beach. My dad is the guy near the back of the line, wearing cowboy boots and has his elbows up to cover the blood on his face. He was in the top turret when a second or third Flak shell exploded and blasted the left side of his face. He never saw out of his left eye after that. You can see a little blood on his forehead. My dad paid the german photographer $5.00 and a pack of smokes to mail a copy of those pictures to his mother to show he was OK. The guy did it. My grandmother knew my dad was alive before the government notified her he was MIA.
Yes the entire crew lived. My dad went to stalag 17B and did the 250 kilometer forced march.
Getting back to the pictures. Before my dad died he was quite active in the POW scene and went all over America for reunions. He had the pictures with him everywhere as well as his mission log showing he flew 56 missions. He was a member of the 452ng BG Club or brotherhood. After he died in 1992 we could no longer find those pictures. I have been thinking alot about my dad lately and a couple of weeks ago I started looking for what group he flew for and so on. So I just typed his name and POW on google and up pops Missing planes of the 452nd BG by Ed Hinrich and tells about my dads flight, mission, crew and crash. And one of the paragraphs mention this Phil Irwin who claims to have a picture of the crew and plane. So I looked up Ed Hinrich and called him and ask him about this guy Phil Irwin and if he has any contact information on Phil. He tells me the street he lives on Torquay Shiphay Devon UK. I find this guy via a photoposting site and ask them to please give him my email address so I can ask him about the photos. He contacts me Monday and sends me the JPG images via email Tuesday and is sending me the originals next week. It turns out he collected plane crash photos of German Plane crashes and has written a book about them. Anyway during one of his collecting trips to Germany he found my dad's photo in a LOT of original German government photos and buys the entire lot. It is unbeleivable that 63 years later some guy in england gives me a photo of my dad and plane crew all the way from England and he does not want a dime. He is a great man. Thats the story they all lived most went to Stalag 17B and others Luft 4 (I think)or whatever the spelling. Plane went down just west of shillig Germany. I have been checking almost every photo collecttion on the web to find pictures of my dad or his planes and I have never seen any prisoner photos yet. This could be the only one left in the world.
Jim

Kim:
Checkout the 303rd Bomb Group site....

29 May 1943, 303BG, A/C # 41-24602 “Yardbird”

Name, Rank, SN, Position, Status

Trojan, Joseph E., O-661899, 1Lt, Pilot, POW Stalag Luft 3
Vaughan, Thomas S., Lt, Co-Pilot, KIA
Stewart, Jack W., O-727131, Lt, Bombardier, POW Stalag Luft 3
Madsen Jr., Parley W., SN O-434671, Lt, Navigator, POW Stalag Luft 3
Craft, Cecil E., SN-16052774, S/Sgt, Radio Operator, POW Stalag 17B
Bartlett, Frank W., SN-15068650, S/Sgt, Right Wing Gunner, POW ?
O'Connell, Lincoln T., SN-12030885, S/Sgt, Tail Gunner, POW Stalag 17B
Prescott, Paul H. SN-6146540, S/Sgt, Top Turret, POW (died 4 Jun 43)
Semonick, Martin A., SN-17035019, S/Sgt, Left Wing Gunner, POW Stalag 17B
Sunderlin, Joseph R. SN-13047686, S/Sgt Bottom Turret, POW Stalag 2A

Cheers

Hi Tracy,
My name is Tom Hart. My Grandfather was George Bragdon, Ssgt. USAAC. He was shot down on 1/11/44 and interned in Stalag-17B for 16 months.His Stalag tag # is 105851, and serial # is 11043328.

Any help around what barracks he was in would be so appreciated. Gramp passed two years ago, and I thought I had gone over every thing with him, with a fine tooth comb. Now it seems, all I have is more questions.

Thanks,
Tom

Grandson of George Bragdon
94thBG, 331st
Stalag 17B

Tom,
Your grandfather was in barracks 19A; I do know someone that was also in 19A.  I will check to see if he knew your grandfater and let you know. 
Tracey

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

Thanks Tracey,
I believe there was a friend he had in the camp, named Robson, from Nebraska.

Grandson of George Bragdon
94thBG, 331st
Stalag 17B

I am having trouble posting this reply--I hope it doesn't show up 3 times!
Paul Robison still lives in NE; I do not know him but he is a member of the Stalag XVIIB former POW association.
Tracey

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B