The Last Voyage of the Wilhelm Gustloff


I found this particular documentary account of the final days of World War II in East Prussia interesting because my father, Eden C, Burris, was in a German POW camp there until liberated by the Red Army. He and his crew mates were captured by the Germans and imprisoned for 18 months in three POW camps in East Prussia. They were Stalag Luft I, Stalag Luft IV, and Stalag Luft VI. They were held as POWs until liberated on May 1, 1945 by Soviet troops of the Red Army.

The USAAF Carpetbagger’s mission was that of delivering supplies and agents to resistance groups in the enemy occupied Western European nations. Created in late 1943, their operations first flew from Tempsford, then Alconbury and finally out of Station 179, Harrington. Flying at first as two squadrons, they were given Provisional status as a Bombardment Group (801st) in late March 1944 just before they moved to Harrington.

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12:44 pm on September 23, 2020