Picture from Dresden

Dresden 22.12.1944 prisoners of war.jpg

I have a photograph of my father taken in a prison of war camp in Dresden. On the back is a red stamp which says, "Gepruft
24
Stalag IVA" .
In my father's handwriting is, "22-12-44
H Gubbels
Arb. Kmo. 1326
Shafenbergerstrasse
Dresden
Germany
Does any one have any knowledge of what was happening here. There are four other people in the photo. I know my father was taken prisoner of war at Arnhem.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 11/05/2014 23:36:55

Hi and welcome to the CVA website. I have sent you a pm with instructions on how to register on the gallery which will allow you to place a comment against any phto. All comments are closely monitored by the moderators of the site. Should you have any difficulty just let me know by pm or email shown here: Contact Us

As regards one of the photos you mentioned HERE in a different message, that picture was taken whilst they were in The Princess Irene Brigade prior to joining the Commandos. You may wish to send a private message to Jack Bakker who is a member of the Association and helps us with all detail relating to the 'Dutch' troop of No 10 Inter Allied Commando in WW2. His details are here: Jack Bakker

Regards

Pete

Hello!

My name is Jack Bakker and I am a retired captain of the Dutch Commandos and the curator of the Dutch Commando Museum. I was very interrested to read that your father was H. Gubbels of No 2 Dutch Troop. It was very good to see that you put his name on several photos. We have those in our archive but is always good to know who are on those photos. The last photo you posted is very unique and one I have never seen before!! It is certainly not in our archive. I was surprised to see that he is still wearing his green beret.

As you say your father was taken prisoner during the battle of Arnhem, together with three other Dutch Commandos: De Waard, Gobetz and Beekmeijer. De Waard was wounded in his foot and was sent to a hospital. Your father and the other two were sent to a POW camp near Dresden. We now know which one! During a bombing raid on Dresden they managed to escape but were caught again. Being Commandos they didn't give up so they escaped for a second time. This time they managed to stay out of the hands of the Germans and walked into the American lines near a place called Chemnitz on the Chech border. I am not sure how long it took them to reach those lines, but they escaped during the very cold winter of 1944/1945. In an interview Gobetz told that he was interrogated by the Gestapo and tought that he would be executed because of the fact that he was a Commando. No doubt your father was also interroagted by the Gestapo.

I am very interrested in any photos or other information you have on your father. We also have papers of him so it might be good to get in contact with each other. Feel free to contact me on: [email protected]

Kind regards,

Jack

You beat me to it in replying Pete!

I knew you'd find it Jack

Thats a very nice Photo.

regards

john M