Yesterday I wrote about finding the Missing Crew Reports of the U.S. Army Air Forces at Footnote. These are evidently called MACRs in the lingo of the day. My great-uncle Lloyd Crabtree was a prisoner at Stalag I at Barth from the time of his plane going down on 11 Jan 1944 until liberation 1 May 1945 when it was liberated by the Russians. Uncle Lloyd suffered damage to one of his ears from frostbite he received while in the camp.
In doing my research for that post, I also found a terrific website entitled World War – II Prisoners of War – Stalag Luft I, created and maintained by Mary Smith and Barbara Freer, daughters of Dick Williams, Jr., also a former POW. I found it by googling on Uncle Lloyd’s name.
This site has maps, sketches of the layout of the camp, lists of who was there and where they were located in the camp, some of the stories and poems and diaries from the prisoners, and photographs. There is information on the guards and interrogators as well as copies of letters. There are links to other POW stories and websites. I found Uncle Lloyd’s name listed in two different rooms in the “Roommates” section, and then when I consulted his book, I saw that he had indeed lived in two different rooms. One of his roommates was also named Crabtree, which he acknowledged, and referred to him as “Bugle,” his nickname while he was there. He talked about there being more space in the North Compound, so he and Bugle moved to the North 1 Compound, Barrack 8, Room 7 from the crowded South Compound about May 1944. He lists some of his roommates which match those listed on the website’s “Roommates” section.
Uncle Lloyd was the bombardier in his crew. That means he was the guy whose position was right up in the nose of the plane, in a plexiglass nose cone. Here’s a picture. It gives me the willies just to look at that person in the nose-cone. This site is just one example of what’s available online about the B-17s.
Another online site that proved helpful is the good ol’ Wikipedia. Reading through the entry for B-17 Flying Fortress, I found that 11 January 1944, the day Uncle Lloyd’s plane went down, was not a good day for the USAAF. They lost 60B-17s that day. The planes flying this mission were actually called back because of worsening weather, but several had already entered hostile air space and did not turn back. Uncle Lloyd’s crew was evidently among these.
I never cease to be amazed at what the Internet has enabled us to do in sharing our information. The World War – II Prisoners of War – Stalag Luft I website is wonderful, with excellent instructions for conducting this type of research as well as a real wealth of information that until the Internet, was difficult to locate, much less obtain.
Take a look and say one more prayer of gratitude for those who served. And one for those whose efforts make this sort of information available. 