Hi all! I am hoping you can tell me about any labor camps you liberated that contained American GI's held as POWs. The attached document describes the camps where my father was held but I am unable to confirm where he was liberated from and by whom.
My father didn't talk much about his captivity. I was born 10 years after my father was liberated, so the only reason I am here is because of my father's will to survive. My Dad, Walter Blair Brinegar, was in A Company of the 27th AIB/9th Armored Division. I have been researching his captivity in the hope of finding out where he was liberated from. I have been in contact with some WWII historians in Germany that suggested he may have been held in Ammunition Factory in Siegburg, or in the bordering town of Troisdorf. I believe your corp liberated that area on or around April 8, 1945 (that is the day my father said he was liberated).
My Dad passed 30 years ago, when I was much younger and didn't realize the significance of his experience. Now, that I am older and wiser, I want to commerate his life and his will to survive by finding the places where he was held and taking my children and grandchildren to those places. I want to make sure they never forget why they are here and to also make sure they tell their children and grandchildren.
If you have any information you believe may be relevant, please contact me. Thank you in advance for any assistance you provide. This is a quest and labor of love andhonor for my Dad.
Mary,
Your father was liberated by Combat Command A, 13th Armored Division, the "Black Cats." On 8 April 1945 CCA captured Siegberg and nearby Troisdorf after CCB had by-passed that latter. It is fitting that your father, an armored infantryman, was liberated by his comrades of the Armored Force. At the time the 13th AD was attached to XVIII Corps, First Army, and operating on the left flank of the 97th Infantry Division.
Your father was probably on the roles of Stalag VIG as a POW although it appears from your comments he may have been one of those men who was out on a labor detail. Stalag VIG was closed out and moved several times during the war, and as near as I can tell was set up in or near the town of Bergeneustadt some miles to the east. You might want to follow up on the various locations of this POW camp, but it appears that at one time it was quite near Bonn, Germany.
Hope this helps.