Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
8:24 | It was on a Sunday morning that Fred Scheer heard the sound of American planes overhead. They smashed the rail yard where the Allied POW's had been working and set off a chain of events that would allow Scheer to attempt an escape. Part 1 of 3.
Keywords : Fred Scheer Prisoner Of War (POW) prison camp North American P-51 Mustang Hitler Youth German Germany forced march French doctor civilian Russian captured escape
Fred Scheer was a go-getter in high school, running his own dairy operation. He volunteered for the Army in 1943 and, after infantry training, made the Atlantic crossing. The forces were amassing for the upcoming invasion.
When Fred Scheer arrived in England, his infantry unit was sent to Northern Ireland for nine months. There was training, but there was also food from local farmers and one particular pretty girl.
The fighting had moved inland to Saint-Lo when Fred Scheer went down the cargo net to a landing craft. While waiting to go to the front, some of the men amused themselves by looking for French brandy. Finally, the day came and the unit was put on the line.
His unit had just got to the front when Fred Scheer's squad was sent back on ammo detail. When they returned, everyone was gone, and as they searched through the hedgerows, they began to take German mortar fire. Then they heard, "Hands up, my boys!"
Fred Scheer had a big problem. He was captured by the Germans as soon as he arrived at the front and he was Jewish. He was determined to conceal this as he was moved deeper behind their lines. Both he and his captors were very young, and some of them were almost friendly. At Reims, he was put on a train headed to Germany.
The prisoners were loaded into boxcars and sent from Reims into Germany. Fred Scheer recalls the two transit camps through which he passed, each divided with a Russian side to the camp. The Russians were treated very badly and Scheer knew that if they discovered he was Jewish, an even worse fate awaited him.
The POW camp where Fred Scheer ended up was near the Czech border. He was part of a group sent to work on the railroad and the camp was attached to a large rail yard.
The guards at the POW camp were mostly old men, too old for the front. Fred Scheer details the daily life and struggles at the small camp where he was interred. Food was a big concern. Red Cross parcels were a Godsend, but you could also utilize some outside sources, if you were willing to take the risk.
There were two things uppermost in the mind of any POW, the supply of food and the freezing cold of winter. Fred Scheer remembers how the food supplied at the camp dwindled away to almost nothing as the war wore on.
Fred Scheer, who was a POW in Germany, collected and published the stories of other POW's and this is one from Lester Schrenk, who was held in a Luftwaffe camp. One day, the men were given two Red Cross parcels each. This was unheard of, but there was a catch.
Fred Scheer describes the men in his work gang, who walked every day from the prison camp to the rail yard where they repaired the tracks. Most distinctive were the three paratroopers, who were kind of aloof. The POW's were paid for their work, though there was little they could buy.
From Fred Scheer's collection of POW stories, this one from Bill Watson describes how some bridge players used their card game to play a trick on the German guards.
POW Fred Scheer was frequently around German civilians while working on rail lines. They could be nice people, as he describes in the stories of the lady who gave him soup and the disabled veteran who wanted his watch.
The four Allied POW's had attempted to escape, but were captured by Germans. Back at the prison camp infirmary, Fred Scheer and two others were determined to try again. They made it further the second time, but again they were captured. This time, the impending end of the war led to such slack security that it was possible for them to slip away and continue towards the west. Part 2 of 3.
The escaping POW's were walking westward toward the Allied lines when they began to notice white flags on the houses. It was over. Picked up by advancing GI's, Fred Scheer made his way to Reims and then Camp Lucky Strike. Soon, he was on a ship home. Part 3 of 3.
Shortly after he was captured by the Germans, Fred Scheer filled out a card to mail home. He describes the reaction in his home town when that card got there.
Former POW Fred Scheer has written two books, one about his own experiences and another which collects the stories of other POW's.
