History of Fallingbostel's Lagers
In 1934 the German army was expanding rapidly and additional land was required for training purposes. The area around Fallingbostel was ideal. 11 villages were evacuated between 1936 and 1938 much to the annoyance of the locals but Hitler did not care.

The future huge Truppenlager was begun in 1935 and the huts used to house the work force became the nucleus for Stalag XIB which was continuously occupied from 1939 to 1945 by thousands of Allied and Soviet Prisoners of war.

Lager XID was built in 1941 and was intended for prisoners from the Eastern Front. When the Russians arrived it was not ready and they were forced to dig trenches and live underground like the Ancient Britons. They had marched from the Eastern Front and were in a pretty poor state of health. With little or no food cases of cannabalism were reported. Disease and malnutrition were rife and thirty thousand of them died there. By 1943 there were not many Russians left and the Lagers filled up with Allied prisoners.

In 1944 a new Lager was added and became known as Stalag 357 merely because we were transferred en block from Camp 357 in Poland. Included were the 2500 RAF NCO POW's formerly held at Stalag Luft 6 at Heyderkrug in Lithuania.

Other Lagers and Barracks on a smaller scale were built, one of which was a Strafe Lager (for naughty boys who escaped). Stalag XIB and the other additions were a huge complex and probably formed the largest POW camp in Germany.

It was truly international in character. Combatants from virtually all nations who fought on the Allied side were inc a rcerated there to say nothing of the 30000 Russians and other foreign nationals buried in the Cemetery of the Un-Named which was built adjacent to the camps. All countries of the Commonwealth were certainly represented and all branches of the armed services were present as POWs, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.

Hence the proposal to establish an International Memorial to POWs the world over. This will be the first in Fallingbostel and probably the last great Memorial in Germany since the end of hostilities. The Stalag XIB Memorial is to take the form of a Visitor Centre to be built on the site of an existing hut foundation off the road from Fallingbostel to Oerbke. The sites of the old Lagers are overgrown but the foundations of huts and a washing trough can be clearly seen. The only complete building left there is the 357 delousing block. A large housing estate now occupies part of the site.

Stalag XIB housed two of the most respected and well-known Prisoners. The immaculate R.S.M. John Lord of Arnhem fame and RAF WO Dixie Dean who did such sterling work when we were on the march and particularly when we were strafed at Gresse. Dixie Dean was the late president of the RAF Ex POW Association. It is hoped to include some form of tribute to them at the entrance to the Visitor Centre including Dixie's bike.

Apart from John and Dixie it also housed Larry Slattery and Georgie Booth, both of whom were shot down on September 4th 1939, in other words POW numbers 1 and 2. Larry is remembered by a musical scholarship funded by the RAF Ex-POW Association.

The centre would contain a large collection of memorabilia and artefacts (at present located in the Mess) and an appeal was made to all former POW's to donate their own artefacts, photographs etc. for presentation there. Ken Brown asked for you to let him know if you had anything to donate and he would arrange for them to be transported to Germany.

This proposed International Memorial, the Visitor Centre, would be a lasting Memorial in that many visitors to the area - and they are numerous - could experience the past on an actual site and by reference to the visual and artefacts displays. Furthermore the centre would be manned.

The project was to be overseen by committee chaired by the Commanding Officer of the Second Battalion REME. An application for a lottery grant was to be made towards the setting up costs. The RAF Ex-POW Association and the National Ex-POW Association were giving their support to this application.

For more information on the current status of a Stalag XIB Memorial, please write to Ken Brown, 25 Beechcroft Road, IPSWICH, England IPI 6RA.