Stalag Luft 7

Stalag Luft 7 was a World War II Luftwaffe prisoner-of-war camp located in Bankau, Silesia, Germany (now Bąków, Opole Voivodeship, Poland.

Stalag Luft 7
Bankau, Silesia
Stalag Luft 7
Coordinates50.966667°N 18.316667°E / 50.966667; 18.316667
TypePrisoner-of-war camp
Site information
Controlled by Nazi Germany
Site history
In use1944–1945
Garrison information
OccupantsAllied air crews

Camp history

The camp was opened on 6 June 1944, for RAF NCO flying crews and by July held 230 prisoners. They were joined by members of the Glider Pilot Regiment captured at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. By 1 January 1945, the camp held 1,578 prisoners. This was made up of 1,075 British, 252 Canadian, 134 Australian, 26 New Zealand, 24 French, 15 Polish, 14 South African, 11 Irish and 10 US. Others were Rhodesian, Maltese, Dutch, Belgian and Czech.[1]

On 19 January 1945, 1,500 prisoners marched out of camp in bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oder on 21 January, reached Goldberg on 5 February, and were loaded onto a train. On 8 February they reached Stalag III-A located about 52 km (32 mi) south of Berlin near Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the U.S. and Russia.[2]

See also
  • List of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany

References
  1. P.286-347 The Long Road O.Clutton-Brock and R.Crompton Grub Street London 2013.
  2. "The Evacuation of Stalag Luft VII in Silesia - January 1945". RAF Ex-POW Association. 2005. Retrieved 25 April 2012.



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