Private Turner enlisted in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment in April 1939. Our research indicates that he was a member of the 6th or 7th Battalion of the QORWKR overrun at Doullens and Albert on 20th May, 1940. He was captured and sent to Stalag VIIIB at Lamsdorf (later to be re-numbered Stalag 344).
Stalag VIIIB had been opened in 1939 to house Polish PoWs. Later, approximately 100,000 prisoners from Australia, Belgium, British India, British Palestine, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the United States and Yugoslavia passed through this camp. In 1941, a separate camp, Stalag VIII-F was set up close by to house the Soviet prisoners.
In January 1945, as the Soviet armies resumed their offensive and advanced into Germany, many of the prisoners were marched westward in groups of 200 to 300 in the so-called Death March. Many of them died of the bitter cold and exhaustion. The lucky ones got far enough to the west to be liberated by the American army. The unlucky ones were "liberated" by the Soviets when they reached the camp on 17th March, 1945. Instead of being promptly repatriated to the western Allies, they were held as virtual hostages for several more months. Many of them were finally repatriated toward the end of 1945 through the port of Odessa on the Black Sea.
1939-45 Star, 1939-45 War Medal, PoW ID tag and photographs belonging to No. 6345653 Private L J S Turner
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