Prisoner of War Questionnaires

The following information has been taken from questionnaires completed by liberated Prisoners of War. The collection is held by the National Archives, catalogue reference WO 344, and it can be viewed on the Ancestry website, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62114/

16183 Lieutenant-Colonel Donovan Guy Adams

        Unit: 2/6th Battalion The East Surrey Regiment.

        What position did you hold in the camp: Parcels Officer, Oflag IX A/H. From: 26th February 1942. Till: 1st June 1943.

        Give names of members of Escape Committee(s) in the Camp(s) in which you were imprisoned with dates when they were on the Committee. Camp: IX A/H. Members: Lt Col WTH Peppe has complete information.

        How was the work of the Committee organised and carried out? See above. I was only concerned with the branch of activities over the question of handling food and smuggling contraband articles through the German control.

        Parcels (Receipt).

                (a) When did special parcels begin to arrive in the camp? Early in 1942.

                (b) What measures did the German adopt to detect special parcels? (e.g., was X-ray used?) I am not aware that X ray was used. The Germans were suspicious of certain types of parcels which arrived in batches and, after some time in control, they removed all such parcels for a time and opened them away from the presence of British officers, breaking up any they suspected.

                (c) What measures did the Escape Committee(s) adopt to obtain marked parcels from the postal department without the knowledge of the Germans? The method at IX A/H was to mix the marked parcels with innocent ones so that they were lost sight of by the German staff. Then they were either carried out whole or the contents of value [?]. It was a fairly simple matter to do this smuggling as the Parcel Staff at IX A/H was never searched.

                (d) What ruses did P/W employ to obtain special articles from parcels before the articles could be examined by the Germans? See above. Sometimes it was necessary to stage a show for the Germans (i.e. a big issue) so that the smuggling could proceed quickly under cover of the diversion.

                (e) Which methods of packing gadgets were most successful? Tobacco.

                (f) Which methods of packing gadgets became well-known to the Germans? Games parcels & gramophone records.

                (g) Can you suggest any new means of concealing gadgets? No. (I believe sealed tins of food have been used?)

                (h) Did the Germans take action against addresses of special parcels which were detected? (State nature of such action). Not to my knowledge beyond submitting these parcels to more rigorous searches.

                (i) Was it best to send special parcels to individuals, to the S.B.O., S.A.O. or to fictitious persons? Individuals, provided that they knew the parcel was coming. As the mail system often p[?] this SBO parcels which could be handled at leisure by the parcel staff were probably safest. Fictitious persons would not work at all as no parcels were ever delivered except addressed to officers in the camp.

        Censorship

                (a) Was censorship done in the camp, in a nearby town or village, or by the main censorship for several camps? Done in SPANGENBURG (for a while removed to Camp IX A/Z at ROTTENBURG)

                (b) Was censorship controlled and executed by civilians? No.

                (c) Was mail divided into groups, the same censor consistently looking after the mail of the same group? I believe so. Mine was always censored by the same man.

                (d) Was censorship efficient? Did it deteriorate towards the end of the War? Labourious rather than efficient. It did deteriorate by some extent.

        Messages.

                (a) How was the receipt and despatch of messages organised in the camp(s)? Colonel EK PAGE under whom I acted in the matter of messages will answer this.

                (b) Which of the letter-writers had been taught before capture? See above.

                (c) Did the Germans suspect anything? If so, what counter-measures did they take? I believe not.

                (d) To what extent did the messages receive facilitate escapes? See Colonel Page & Peppe.

                (e) What information did you feel was lacking which would have facilitated escapes? See above.

        To what extent did the Escape Committee(s) and individual escapers obtain assistance from German (or Polish) guards, civilians or other persons? Practically none, I believe.

        To what extent did escaping cause the enemy to increase guard or use up manpower in other ways? The guard was presumably increased after the escape of Major Dundas and his comrades.

        Were there wireless sets in the camp(s)? How were the sets obtained? Were special messages received by wireless? Yes. Through the Parcels organisation. The W.O. Code messages were all [?] were in possession of a set.

        Did you know of the receipt of News Letters in the early days? If so, were these of value in maintaining morale? Yes. I think these were of value in the absence of British [?]

        To what extent was it generally known in your camp(s) that secret means of communication existed with the War Office? Did the fact of its existence bolster morale? The information was not broadcast for security reasons. Certain orders such which affected all ranks were passed on, however, and I think the knowledge that as close touch as possible was maintained with the WO was good for morale.

        Describe briefly the sources from which information was obtained and how it was sifted and despatched to U.K. Colonel Page will answer. I wrote several letters as [?] by him.

        Did recaptured escapers prove a fruitful source of Intelligence? Yes.