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Jock Hamilton-Baillie
John Robert Edward Hamilton-Baillie Military Cross, MC (1 March 1919 – 16 April 2003), was a British Royal Engineers officer famed for numerous escapes from German prisoner of war camps during World War II. During his later life he was a founder of the Fortress Study Group, a prominent member of the Concrete Society, and a dedicated fund raiser for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Red Cross. Early life John Robert Edward Hamilton-Baillie was born at Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumberland, on 1 March 1919. A scion of the noble Clan Hamilton, Hamilton family, he was descended from the Thomas Hamilton, 6th Earl of Haddington, sixth Earl of Haddington. He was educated at Clifton College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, following which he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and posted to the 26th Field Company. Second World War Hamilton-Baillie's company was mobilised with the History of the British 1st Division during the World Wars, 1st Division a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carlisle, Cumbria
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City of Carlisle district which, (along with Cumbria County Council) will be replaced by Cumberland Council in April 2023. The city became an established settlement during the Roman Empire to serve forts on Hadrian's Wall. During the Middle Ages, the city was an important military stronghold due to its proximity to the Kingdom of Scotland. Carlisle Castle, still relatively intact, was built in 1092 by William Rufus, served as a prison for Mary, Queen of Scots in 1568 and now houses the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment and the Border Regiment Museum. In the early 12th century, Henry I allowed a priory to be built. The priory gained cathedral status with a diocese in 1133, the city status rules at the time meant the settlement became a city. Fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
51st (Highland) Infantry Division
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as the Highland Division and later 51st (Highland) Division from 1915. The division's insignia was a stylised 'HD' inside a red circle. Early doubts about the division's performance earned it the nickname of "Harper's Duds" after the name of its commander, Major-General George Harper. The division was renamed the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division and fought during the Second World War as part of the Territorial Army after the Territorial Force was disbanded in 1920. In June 1940, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was attached to French 10th Army and after a fighting retreat from the Somme the greater part of the division was forced to surrender, having been cut off at St Valery-en-Caux on the Channel coast. In North Africa, the reconsti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oflag IV-C
Oflag IV-C, often referred to by its location at Colditz Castle, overlooking Colditz, Saxony, was one of the most noted German Army prisoner-of-war camps for captured enemy officers during World War II; ''Oflag'' is a shortening of ''Offizierslager'', meaning "officers' camp". Colditz Castle This thousand-year-old fortress was in the heart of Hitler's Reich, from any frontier not under Nazi control. Its outer walls were seven feet (two metres) thick and the cliff on which it was built had a sheer drop of two hundred and fifty feet (75metres) to the River Mulde below. Timeline The first prisoners arrived in November 1939; they were 140 Polish officers from the September Campaign who were regarded as escape risks. Most of them were later transferred to other Oflags. In October 1940, Donald Middleton, Keith Milne, and Howard Wardle (a Canadian who joined the RAF just before the war) became the first British prisoners at Colditz. On 7November, six British officers, the " Laufen Si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eichstätt
Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Eichstätt. Geography Location Eichstätt lies on both sides of the river Altmühl in the district of Eichstätt of the Oberbayern region of Bavaria, in the heart of Altmühl Valley Nature Park. Geology Eichstätt is located in a valley of the Franconian Jura and is famous for the quarries of Solnhofen Plattenkalk (Jurassic limestone). On the Blumenberg the Berlin specimen of Archaeopteryx was found by Jakob Niemeyer. History St. Willibald founded the Diocese of Eichstätt on the site of an old Roman station ( or ) in 741. The city was given walls and chartered in 908. It was ruled by a prince-bishop, and in the Holy Roman Empire was the seat of the Bishopric of Eichstätt until secularization in 1802. In 1806, it became a part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oflag VII-B
Oflag VII-B was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers (''Offizierlager''), located in Eichstätt, Bavaria, about north of Munich. Camp history The camp was built in September 1939 to house Polish prisoners from the German invasion of Poland. The first prisoners arrived there on 18 October 1939. On 22 May 1940 all 1,336 Polish prisoners were transferred to Oflag VII-A Murnau, and were replaced with British, French and Belgian officers taken prisoner during the battle of France and Belgium. In the summer of 1941 Australians and New Zealanders captured in Greece and Crete during the Balkans Campaign arrived in the camp. In Rommel's second offensive on Tobruk in June 1942, most of the South African 2nd Division was captured. Many of these soldiers were interned at Oflag VII-B. On 31 August 1942 Canadian officers captured during the Dieppe Raid arrived. Soon after their arrival the senior Canadian officer, Brigadier W.W. Southam, convened a conference which co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warburg
Warburg (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Warberich'' or ''Warborg'') is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in Höxter (district), Höxter district and Detmold (region), Detmold region. Warburg is the midpoint in the ''Warburger Börde''. Since March 2012 the city is allowed to call itself 'Hanseatic City of Warburg'. Geography The main town, consisting of the Old Town (''Altstadt'') and the New Town (''Neustadt'') and bearing the same name as the whole town, is a hill town. While the Old Town lies in the Diemel Valley, the New Town rises on the heights above the Diemel. The Warburg municipal area borders in the west on the Sauerland and in the northwest on the Eggegebirge foothills, while in the north and northeast the ''Warburger Börde'' abuts the town and in the south stretches the Diemel Valley. Constituent communities Warburg con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oflag VI-B
Oflag VI-B was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers (''Offizerlager''), southwest of the village of Dössel (now part of Warburg) in Germany. Camp history In 1939, before it was a POW camp, the area was originally planned to be an airfield. The POW camp was opened in September 1940. At first French, and then British officers were housed there. The serial escaper Eric Foster in his autobiography explained that upon arrival he chatted to a guard to ask about the conditions of the camp. Foster explained the guard confided, “the camp was a very, very bad camp indeed.” Foster stressed that this guard desperately wanted the prisoners to complain about the conditions, with the guard believing that if they harassed the camp command about the conditions, the camp would be closed down. The guard, who wanted an easier posting also stated to Foster, “We are prisoners as much as you are.” Foster explained the prisoners were housed in huts which held 50 to 60 men. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south; it covers an area of , with a population of almost 84 million within its 16 constituent states. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany. With over 13 million inhabitants, it is second in population only to North Rhine-Westphalia, but due to its large size its population density is below the German average. Bavaria's main cities are Munich (its capital and largest city and also the third largest city in Germany), Nuremberg, and Augsburg. The history of Bavaria includes its earliest settlement by Iron Age Celtic tribes, followed by the conquests of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, when the territory was incorporated into the provinces of Raetia and Noricum. It became the Duchy of Bavaria (a stem duchy) in the 6th century AD following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire, became an ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tittmoning
Tittmoning () is a town in the district of Traunstein, in Bavaria, Germany. Geography It is situated in the historic Rupertiwinkel region, on the left bank of the river Salzach, which forms the border with the municipality of Ostermiething in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The two communes are linked by a bridge. Tittmoning is located about northwest of the Salzburg city centre. History The settlement of ''Titamanninga'' was first mentioned about 790 AD, then a possession of St Peter's Abbey, Salzburg. After the Archbishops of Salzbug had achieved immediate status in the late 13th century, Tittmoning Castle was built as a border fortress against the incursions by the Dukes of Bavaria. The episcopal administrator of the castle and its environs was called burgrave (''Burggraf''), as was Ulrich von Wispeck in 1282. Tittmoning was occupied by the forces of the German king Louis the Bavarian during his conflict with the papacy in 1324; nevertheless, he restored it to the Salzb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oflag VII-D
Oflag VII-D was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers (''Offizierlager'') located in Tittmoning Castle in south-eastern Bavaria. Camp history The camp was opened as Oflag VII-D in February 1941, but in November 1941 became a sub-camp of Oflag VII-C, and was redesignated Oflag VII-C/Z. During their internment the activities of the prisoners included putting on performances of plays and sketches, including a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet. In February 1942 the prisoners were transferred to Oflag VII-B in Eichstätt, and the castle then became an internment camp (''Internierungslager'') for men from the British Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. As a sub-camp of Ilag VII, it was designated Ilag VII/Z. The camp was liberated in May 1945. See also * List of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany *Oflag VII-C in Laufen *Oflag *Ilag Ilag is an abbreviation of the German word ''Internierungslager''. They were internment camps established by the German Army in World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oflag VII-C
Oflag VII-C was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located in Laufen Castle, in Laufen in south-eastern Bavaria from 1940 to 1942. Most of the prisoners were British officers captured during the Battle of France in 1940. To relieve overcrowding, some of the officers were transferred to Oflag VII-C/Z in Tittmoning Castle. The Oflag existed only for a short time. In early 1942 all the officers were transferred to Oflag VII-B in Eichstätt. The castle was then used as an Internment Camp Ilag VII for men from the British Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey until the camp was liberated in May 1945. Previously, in September 1944, after lengthy negotiations, 125 elderly and sick prisoners were repatriated to Great Britain via Sweden. In April 1944 the count of internees in Laufen included 459 British internees (417 Channel Islanders) and 120 American civilians who had been trapped in Europe when war was suddenly declared in December 1941. Even though the camp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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