The Diary of a Prisoner
This Charlotte hoy, a prisoner for many
months in Germany, kept a day-by-day
record of events that transpireil during his
captivity, lie's now safely hack in iN'orth
Carolina again.
A DAY-BY-DAY diary, dra¬
matically telling his own
story of 21 months as a Ger¬
man prisoner of war, is the prized
possession of Staff Sgt. George Z.
Howard, 115 Gum Street, Char¬
lotte, N, C. Now a patient at Moore
General Hospital, Swannanoa, the
sergeant frequently thumbs
through the pages and remembers
how he hid the diary from “shake-
downs” by the Gestapo and man¬
aged to bring it back with him to
North Carolina.
The diary reminds him of weeks
of cold, sickness, loneliness, and
near-starvation; days broken only
by the arrival of Red Cross pack¬
ages and mail call, and hours when
the prisoners listened eagerly for
the roar of Allied bombers passing
overhead.
Shot Down During Air Raid
Sgt. Howard was shot down on
his 17th air raid over Germany in
August 1943. Captured, he was
taken to Dulag prison on the Frank¬
fort, then to Stalag 7A. Moosburg,
and later to Stalag 17B, Krems,
Austria. Final days as a POW were
spent on the march as the Nazis
attempted to move their prisoners
ahead of the advancing Allies in
the Vienna area.
The diary was carried, with other
small souvenirs, in a zipper case
the enterprising soldier made from
a Red Cross scarf and the zip¬
per of his flying jacket. Other
souvenirs include a scrap of the
white nylon parachute with which
he bailed out. a German newspa¬
per. showing German propaganda
cartoons, postcards of Paris scenes,
and autographs of men who
shared his prison experiences.
The story told in the penciled
pages is one of courage, and de¬
termination. The food was con¬
sistently bad. black bread, a few
potatoes, barley, and horse meat.
But there were, literally, the life¬
saving Red Cross packages contain-
ink K-rations, raisins, canned sal¬
mon, and a variety of other foods.
On Christmas came canned turkey.
The men took turns cooking over
their barracks stove, concocting
THE STATE. July 28. 1945
puddings from the K-rations, mak¬
ing stews and pies. Once they had
a strawberry cake! The soldiers
also supplemented their food with
small gardens. Sgt. Howard de¬
scribes his garden as "about the
size of a desk top." He raised a
fine crop of radishes and lettuce.
Plenty of Clothing
The American POWs had plenty
of clothing, thanks to Red Cross
and army shipments, but the way
they fit was another matter! How¬
ever, on cold nights when there
was not enough coal to keep the
barracks stove going, the prisoners
could go to bed in several suits of
clothes.
To pass the time behind the
barbed-wire fence, Sgt. Howard’s
diary tells of ball games between
the "North" and "South"; of clubs
organized, such as the airmen’s
"Legion of Broken Wings." and a
“North Carolina Club." of singing,
writing poetry, putting on skits,
and always discussing home, or
swapping rumors that were born of
news gathered from new prisoners.
They called the day Red Cross
packages arrived, "pay day." (Sgt.
Howard has accumulated $4,000
in back pay! I They called their
section of the compound "Little
America.” And biggest thrills
were the nights that they could
hear Allied bombings overhead and
the rumble of tanks passing on the
road, and could see the sky red
with the fire of bombed cities.
They knew that the war . . . and
liberation . . . were coming nearer.
Excerpts From Diary
Excerpts from Sgt. Howard’s
diary are as follows:
OCTOBER 3 (1943)— Early this
morning we were awakened by
bombs falling on Munich. We
were all up watching, but they
brought down the dogs and every¬
body made for a top bunk.
OCTOBER 5— At roll call we
looked at the new fellows to see if
any were our buddies coming in.
I met one lad we all thought was
dead. He had been in a hospital.
OCTOBER 10— We had church
services between the barracks to¬
day, and two buddies joined the
church.
OCTOBER 16— We are sweating
out our Red Cross parcels. Sure
wish they would get here. Sure
wish I could hear from home. We
had hot food for the first time.
NOVEMBER 5— Today is really
bad, snowing, and nothing to make
a fire with. We were allowed to
write home.
NOVEMBER 12 — Everyone is
guessing when the war will be
over, in a month or a year. My
guess is the first of 1944.
NOVEMBER 24 — Today was
Thanksgiving. Everyone is hoping
that something big will happen.
We had a chocolate pudding for
dinner. We have plenty to be
thankful for. when you think of
some of our buddies.
DECEMBER 24 — Today all
thoughts arc for home, but the
spirit in the barracks is high. Each
barracks has a Christmas tree with
decorations made out of soap and
cigarette cellophane wrappers. I
made a cake and wrote “Merry
Christmas" on top of it. We will
have a midnight service. The Jer¬
ries will let us have lights on all
day Xmas. Boyee, you should see
the poker games; cigarettes used
for money!
JANUARY 1 (1944)- We had
a football game in the snow, called
it the "Snow Bowl." At midnight
last night we were awake, wish¬
ing one another a happy new year,
and hoping it will mean the end
of the war. It’s leap year, but I’m
afraid we won’t have many chances
in here!
FEBRUARY 25 — Today was
pay day. Red Cross parcels. We
watched an air raid and saw a
fighter go down near camp.
MARCH 28— Today’s theme was
the funeral for a buddy. We went
out to the fence and watched it
go by. It was pretty for a place
( Continued on page 14)
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