Sick and injured, Smith enters German prison camp

Part 4

“I was again examined by the German medics and fresh bandages applied,” Lloyd Smith Sr. said. “We were then herded to a train station nearby to await a train to carry us north. At this point I became very, very sick and remember lying down and did not care what happened.”

When Lloyd awakened he was in a stock pen with the crew. He was very thirsty. It was raining outside and he drank water from the floor, which was covered with manure.

“The train arrived shortly after nightfall. We were taken onboard under the watchful eye of two guards. We had gotten up at 3 a.m. in the morning, so fatigue was beginning to overcome all of us,” he recalled. “The train was very crowded and we managed to nap sitting up. Sometime during the night we were taken off the train into a large station that was swarming with people. The guards managed to get each of us a beer. They then took us to the men’s room, which was very open. It was somewhat of a shock to see women cleaning the urinals and toilets while the place was being used by dozens of men.

“We arrived in Wurtzburg (Poland) and were taken to the Duolag Luft. This was a temporary holding point for all POWs. There we were fed from Red Cross parcels. We were lectured as to our rights (we had no rights) and a list of things for which they would shoot us. We were given our kriegsgefangenen (prisoner) dog tags. My number (gefangenennummer) was 2339. We were also assigned a permanent Stalag Luft.”

At this point the crew informed the Germans that wherever Sgt. Sidney Benjamin, a Jew, was taken, they were also going. He was not to be separated from them. They decided that they would give their lives in his defense. The Americans had heard rumors about what was happening to the Jewish people in Germany and Poland. Sgt. Benjamin was very concerned.

“We were held in solitary confinement in the Duolag for three days,” Lloyd Sr. said. “During that time I received no medical treatment and no food. After three days I was interrogated by a German officer.”

The crew was then marched to a nearby train station. Along the route, the men passed a strawberry patch with large, red strawberries. They had been given nothing to eat while at the interrogation camp. The berries looked so good to all of them. Even Lloyd, as sick as he was, eyed the ripe berries.

“This time they filled a railway coach with POWs,” he said. “It had iron bars over the windows and there were two guards at either end, armed with submachine guns. It was a short ride. We passed a huge junkyard piled high with crashed B-24s and B-17s.”

The aircraft wreckage left a lasting impression.

“Our destination was Frankfort,” he said. “There we saw some of our handiwork firsthand. The huge station was a wreck with no roof or windows, but it was functional and crowded.”

With his arms on the shoulders of two of his crewmembers, Lloyd was dragged through the barbed wire gates as they entered Stalag Luft 4. The crew was made to stand at attention. They laid Lloyd down in the dirt.

The highest-ranking American officer in the camp, a U.S. Army Air Force colonel, marched up to the commanding officer of the new prisoners and asked several questions. He then did a sharp about face and marched up to the Stalag commandant and requested immediate medical help for the injured man lying on the ground.

Within minutes, two German medics appeared and removed the dirty, blood stained bandages. Lloyd’s wounds were cleaned and fresh bandages applied.

The officer who had demanded medical aid for Lloyd was a West Point graduate. From that day on, Lloyd had the greatest respect for West Point officers.

The next month was rough for Lloyd. His left eye was swollen shut and he could hardly see out of his right eye. What he could see was in double vision. He constantly had a migraine headache. He often fainted and the men were always picking him up off the ground. He felt sick and weak all of the time.

Back in America, Lloyd’s wife and mother received telegrams from the Secretary of War of the United States. He was reported as “missing in action.” His young wife in New Jersey started crying in uncontrollable sobs. His mother, in Indiana, passed out by the mailbox and was found by neighbors. It was the only time in her life she ever fainted. She had three sons in the Air Force and one in the Navy.

The boredom in the Stalag was hard on all the men. Lloyd could not participate in the sporting events or read the few books in camp. Meals were almost always potato soup. Several potatoes would flavor the soup for hundreds of men. Sometimes barley or turnips were added to the soup. They were given a piece of “black bread” with each bowl.

Lloyd’s health slowly began to improve, but he still suffered from headaches and hunger. He was allowed to write two letters and four postcards per month. His first letters went to his wife, Margaret, and his mother to tell them he was fine. He was also allowed to receive packages.

Lloyd T. Smith lives in the Mat-Su Borough. Contact him at news@frontiersman.com.