Kriegie : an American POW in Germany /

"Kriegies" was an intentional corruption of Kriegsgefangene, the German term for prisoner of war. Richard was a USAAF bombardier shot down near Abbeville, France, during his second mission in January 1944; he was captured immediately. After intense questioning by German officers, he and his surviving comrades were assigned to Stalag Luft I camp near Barth on the Baltic Sea, where they shared the hardships, boredom, and confusion of captivity during the last 17 months of Nazi Germany. Upon the approach of the Soviet Army, German personnel disappeared on April 28, 1945, and the Russians liberated a camp that flew an improvised American flag. The negotiation skills of American Colonel Hubert Zemke enabled inmates of the Barth camp to avoid forced marches and on May 12, 1945, aerial evacuation began. The collective history of American POWs in Germany has been told before, but compared to Stalag Luft III (Sagan), the location of The Great Escape , the camp at Barth has received less attention. This book adds one man's clear perceptions of life before, during, and after captivity at Barth. Suitable and interesting for collections at all levels. G. H. Davis; emeritus, Georgia State University

Two World War II memoirs present an interesting and often valuable contrast. McKenzie joined the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, attached to the 82d Airborne Division, mostly to get out of the replacement pool. He then served to the end of 1946, seeing heavy action in the Arnhem operation, the Battle of the Bulge, and their aftermaths, when the paratroopers were kept on line far beyond their expectations and sometimes their endurance. He makes it abundantly clear that the experience of seeing friends drop away one by one from wounds or death leaves scars, and that he was an expert wheeler-dealer for the benefit of his comrades, on occasion providing them with genuine wine, women, and song. Richard, a B-24 bombardier, spent exactly one week in combat and then, as a POW in Stalag Luft I, a year and a half in greater danger from starvation and Allied bombs. He portrays plainly the perpetual privation, soul-destroying boredom, and real sense of helplessness that the POW suffered even under relatively benign conditions, and he pays high tribute to fighter ace Hubert Zemke for his negotiating skills with both the Germans and the Russians. --Roland Green

A Louisiana native who served in WWII as a B-17 bombardier in the 384th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force based in England, Richard was shot down in January 1944, on his third mission. He spent the remainder of the European war as a POW or kriegie, American slang for kriegsgefangener, prisoners of war. His account sketches his training, brief combat duty and capture, then describes life in the camp for captive aviation officers in northern Germany, liberation and the slow process of repatriation. Richard's chronology is based on notes he recorded in 1945, which he has related to the broader scenes by subsequent research and information from comrades. (Photos include some taken inside the camp by another prisoner using a contraband camera.) Richard depicts the complex camp sociology and remarks on how wartime comrades have sometimes crossed paths since then. His approach is unpretentious and solid, conveying in a relatively brief volume an eyewitness perspective that is valuable for the record. The book is peppered with war-related folklore, like the story of how the "bloody" 100th bomber group got its name: the crew of a crippled American bomber feigned surrender, then downed German pursuit fighters that had held off attacking. Afterwards, the Luftwaffe seemed to show special wrath for planes carrying that distinctive group insignia. There are contrasting anecdotes of chivalry in air combat, and even stories of adversaries who sought reunion in peacetime, making this a fine effort in a familiar mode. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved