October 1944
Stalag Weather:
The average high temperature is 55 degrees F; the low, 43. About 10 days of rain in October are normal. The average rainfall is 1.42 inches.
On the War Front:
- Soviet troops enter Yugoslavia
- Canadian troops cross the border into the Netherlands
- The Moscow Conference (1944) begins: Churchill and Stalin discuss spheres of influence in the postwar Balkans
- Field Marshal Rommel, under suspicion as one of the “bomb plotters” voluntarily commits suicide to save his family. He is later buried with full military honors
- Hitler orders a call-up of all men from 16 to 60 for Home Guard duties
- The Battle of Leyte: U.S. forces land on Leyte, Philippines. Upon landing, MacArthur states: “I have returned”. Private William Nance of the 37th Division was part of the landing force. Shortly after the war, Abe would be one of William’s best men in a small civil wedding service between William and Abe’s younger sister, Ruth
Allied bombing of Germany occurred frequently. A common target was Berlin, some 50 miles to the west of the camp.
“The allied bombers after bombing Berlin would circle almost over our camp”
-Abe
Life Behind Barbed Wire:*
Nathaniel G Raley:
“…We used to enjoy watching air raids. That was a great morale booster to see American B-17s or whatever flying overhead. And we could go outside and watch, and that was fine… But eventually, the rules got changed, and you’re supposed to stay inside the barracks when an air raid siren went off. …I was being curious. I was leaning out… looking out the window, and a shot rang out… It missed me by about three feet,… [the guard] could have killed me. He was about 15 yards away, perhaps. And he looked at me, you know {wagging finger}. I got my head back in. I learned fast.”
*Interviews of American soldiers who spent time in WWII German POW camps by the Library of Congress: Veterans History Project: http://www.loc.gov/vets/
October 29, 1944 Abe (probably through the International Red Cross) was able to send a card home to his mother.
Dear Mother & All
This is the first card I have written so far because we only get one a week. Tell everyone I am feeling OK and there isn’t anything to worry about. Will be home before long. So long till later.
Love Abe
Tomorrow: Days 81 – 112
*banner photo courtesy of https://wallyswar.wordpress.com/pow2/
ww2letterproject 
Thank you for sharing my grandpas story. We loved him so much and he was such a wonderful man.
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Thank you for sharing I love reading about my Grandfather!❤️
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Rebecca and I decided to change the timing of the blog releases. we were doing a Monday morning release. When we got to the POW part of the story I thought it might be better to split it into several short parts. There aren’t a lot of direct quotes from Al about his life as a POW. I spent a lot of time reading interviews by POWs (available through the Veterans History Project). Each section of Al’s POW story represents a month spent by him in the POW camp. The days must have passed so slowly. Al likely was always hungry, infected with lice, probably had dysentery and there was so little to do. As winter approached he likely was always cold, especially at night. I expect the meals, even being terrible, were a welcome break from the tedium. I wanted to slow down the story so that in some very small way the reader would have the opportunity to pause and try to get a sense of what Al was experiencing. I think I failed.
To live the life of a POW day after day after day, confirms that my Uncle Al was a strong and courageous man.
next week we will return to posting a section once a week (Monday morning).
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Thank you so much for sharing. “Abe” was my grandfather and my father was his oldest son Everett William “Bill” Banis.
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