Pye, R J

,

Reginald James Pye

Family/Last name:
Pye
Forename(s) and initial(s):
Reginald James
Nationality:
British
Service number:
1444745
Military Unit:
British Army, Royal Artillery
Place of capture:
Crete
Date of capture:
1941
POW number:
91881
Camp
Stalag VIIA Moosburg, Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf / Stalag 344
Data sources
Other Sources (Relative's report)
View a commemorative certificate for this prisoner

From: ROBERT PETERS

Reginald James Pye, Royal Artillery, Service number 1444745, POW number 91881, from Clitheroe, Lancashire.

He was captured in Crete in 1941 and initially taken to Stalag VIIA at Moosburg, then from there to Stalag VIIIB, from where he was transferred to a working party in a mine. The working party was billeted in a school, somewhere in Silesia. Their usual working day was from 5am until 10pm / 11pm, and they were rarely allowed to wash. At first, they refused to work. The Germans then threatened to shoot 30 men if they did not begin to work, then another 30 men if they continued to refuse. On an occasion during his time here, Reginald and his pals caught a German guard dog and ate it.

They set out on the Long March on 20th January 1945 and along the route of the march they were used on various work details. One time when working on repairing railway lines, Reginald estimated that they lost between 600 and 700 men during a heavy Allied bombing raid, as the Germans forced them to continue working during the raid.

He was liberated by American forces on 24th April.

 

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