Q — Did all these deaths occur while the men were directly under the control of Stalag Luft #4?

A — No. As I mentioned before, our sick men were left at various places and I never saw them again. Some of these men died after we were out of the jurisdiction of Stalag Luft #4.

Q — What were the circumstances which led to the deaths of these men?

A — At 0200 on 9 April 1945 at a barn in Wohlen, Germany, Sgt. George W. Briggs was suddenly overcome by violent shaking of the entire body and soon after went into a coma. This patient was sent to a German hospital. This is in marked contrast to the treatment received when we were under the jurisdiction of Stalag Luft #4 when every hospitalization was either refused or granted after a long series of waiting for guards, waiting for permission to see Capt. Weinert, and waiting his decision. In spite of the prompt hospitalization, this patient died on 11 April 1945. No doubt the death was largely caused by being weakened on the first part of the march while under the jurisdiction of Stalag Luft #4.

On 9 March 1945 while on the march in Germany, Capt. Sonners who was the German doctor for Stalag Luft #4, personally notified me that John C. Clark had died the previous night of pneumonia. He had not been hospitalized and had received very little medical care. I never saw this patient, but he was seen in a barn in the terminal stages of his illness by Capt. Pollack of the Royal Medical Corps who told me about it later on. On 13 April 1945, while on the march in Germany. Edward B. Coleman collapsed from severe abdominal pain and weakness. I made a diagnosis of an acute abdominal emergency superimposed on a previously weakened condition which was the result of malnutrition and dysentery. He was hospitalized but, according to the records of the Adjutant General, he died 15 April 1945.

On 13 April 1935, while on the road in Germany, William Lloyd collapsed and died within a half hour. My diagnosis was exhaustion, dysentery and malnutrition incurred while under the jurisdiction of Stalag Luft #4.

On 14 April 1945, George F. Grover was seriously ill and an officer from Stalag 11B authorized him to be sent to a German hospital. He was suffering from intestinal obstruction, exhaustion, malnutrition and dysentery, mostly the result of mistreatment while under the jurisdiction of Stalag Luft #4. The records of the Adjutant General show that this patient died on 18 April 1945.

About 8 March 1945, while on the march in Germany under the jurisdiction of Stalag Luft #4, I set up a resting place for the sick at a barn in Beckendorf. Harold W. Mack was carried into this bar suffering from dysentery, malnutrition, exhaustion, frostbite and impending gangrene of both feet. Permission to send him to a hospital was denied by Capt. Weinert. On March 9th, our column was ordered to march about 6 kilometers. Sgt. Mack and many others were too weak to march so he was placed on a wagon and taken along. He was so weak at the time that he had to be spoon fed and had to be carried to the latrine. On March 10th, after another appeal to Capt. Weinert, Sgt. Mac was sent back to Beckendorf to await shipment to a German hospital. Sgt. Mac had both feet amputated. According to the records of the Adjutant General, Sgt. Mack died in Germany on 1 April 1945. Sgt. King had all of his toes amputated at the same German hospital but Sgt. King recovered.

On February 24, 1945, I was operating a barn hospital at Bradenfield, Germany under the jurisdiction of Stalag Luft #4 on the march. Sgt. Trapnell was a patient at this hospital suffering from dysentery and exhaustion. In addition he developed symptoms of acute appendicitis which required surgery. Capt. Weinert authorized me to transport this patient by wagon to what he called a hospital at a nearby village of Bryge (or Brige). He must have known that a village of only a few people would not have a hospital. When I arrived at Bryge, I found that the so-called hospital was a barn with no medical facilities. Capt. Hay of the Royal Medical Corps was in charge of the sick there. He agreed with me that Sgt. Trapnell was seriously ill and that his acute appendicitis warranted immediate surgery. We had no anesthetics or other supplies, not even a knife. We were both covered with filth. Capt. Hay hoped that he would be allowed to send Sgt. Trapnell to a German hospital the next day. I do not know how long it took to send Sgt. Trapnell to a hospital for I had to rejoin my column at once. The records of the Adjutant General state that Sgt. Trapnell died on 5 March 1945.

Q — Do you know of any other men who were seriously harmed by this march from Stalag Luft #4?

A — Yes. There must be hundreds of men still suffering as a result of the rigors of that march. I personally tended to hundreds of such men on the march. I still hear from many of them and there are numerous complaints about their health. I will cite a few instances. I know of three men who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis after the march. No doubt there were many others that I never knew about. I was evacuated from the ETO on the hospital ship “ACADIA” and on that one boat there were over 20 men from Stalag Luft #4. One of these was S/Sgt Norman C. Edwards, ASN 33 558 570 of Baltimore, Maryland. He was one of the men left behind during the march f rom Stalag Luft #4. Sometime in March or April 1945 he had had both legs amputated because of gangrene secondary to frostbite. He told me that S/Sgt Vincent Soddaro ASN 32 804 649 of Brooklyn, New York had also had both legs amputated because of gangrene and frostbite. Sgt. Edwards and Sgt. Soddaro had been in the same German hospital