Seeking informationa about american POW’s in romanian camps

Question

Hello! My name is Laura and I am an officer cadet in the Romanian Air Force Academy. I am writing my Master &#8217;s thesis based on Romanian WWII POW camps (treatement, accomodation, food, etc.) and I was wondering if you could help me with some information. I am looking for american POW &#8217;s stories, how they have been captured, released and their treatement here. If you need a clue for that, I can tell you that it all happened after the operation &#8222;Tidal Wave&#8221; and Bucharest bombings. Thank you in advance!

Shane Bell · Answer

Dear Ms. Ion, &#160; T hank you for posting your question on History Hub! &#160; We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Subject Files, 1942 - 1946 in the Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General (Record Group 389) that include lists of American POWs held by Germany which may include listings for those held in Romanian camps. You can search the catalog for &ldquo;american pows held by germany&#8221; via this link: https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=american%20pows%20held%20by%20germany .&#160; For more information about the non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov . &#160; Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from National Archives. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Edward Clendenin · Answer

I am the historian and webmaster for the 376th Bomb Group Veterans Association ( https://www.armyaircorps-376bg.com ) The 376th participated in nearly raid on the Ploesti Oilfields.&#160; And posted on our site are many of the diaries of the men who participated in those raids, as well as a list of the planes and men shot down. According to many of the men who became POWs, the Romanians never turned over their POWs to the Germans, since Romania remained a separate country during the war.&#160; in fact, Princess Catherine Olympia Caradja is held in very high esteem by our veterans for her efforts.

David Offutt · Answer

Hello, The Fold3 Website found at https://www.fold3.com may be able to provide some information, but it may be very tricky to identify anyone who was held in Romania. I found a few missing aircrew reports after a short search that were from the Ploesti raid of June 6, 1944. Some of the status for missing/returned crewmen mention that they were seen in a prison in Bucharest. They do not identify the prison any further then that. This was in reference to the loss of B-24G serial number 42-78223, which was lost due to enemy action. The aircraft according to survivor reports went down near either Ptiesti or Targovista (The spelling of these is based on the report 2ndLt. Harry Filkorn. Another report from the same crashed aircraft by Lt. Mills states the plane went down near the village of More ni (That is how it is written in the report, after doing a Google search I believe that it was supposed to read Moreni. It also states that local residents buried at three of the crew in Moreni, a Sgt. Carl Gilbreth, SSgt. Ray Henderson and a Sgt. Kenneth Culp. Of the crew that survived, Sgt. John K. Williams, SSgt. Ralph W. Austin, and 2nd. Lt. Harry F. Filkorn if not others were held in Bucharest. I've been doing some searches in US newspapers, and found https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78056620/ I would be willing to try and help more if you want. Dave O.

Seeking informationa about american POW’s in romanian camps

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