# Oflag XXI-B

Oflag XXI-B and Stalag XXI-B were World War II German prisoner-of-war camps for officers and enlisted men, located at Szubin a few miles southwest of Bydgoszcz, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany.

## Timeline

* September 1939 – The Germans established a camp for arrested Polish civilians, mostly the intelligentsia, arrested as part of the Intelligenzaktion.
* October 1939 – First Polish soldiers captured during the German Invasion of Poland (1939) brought to Szubin, Kriegsgefangenenlager Schubin prisoner-of-war camp for Poles established. The camp was built around a Polish boys' school by adding barracks. Polish POWs were used for the expansion of the camp.
* December 1939 - The Germans formally established the Stalag XXI-B2 POW camp in Szubin, and the Stalag XXI-B1 POW camp in Antoniewo near Skoki, both for Polish POWs.
* March-May 1940 - Polish POWs were transferred to other camps, located in Germany.
* June 1940 - French officers were brought here from the Battle of France.
* August 1940 - Stalag XXI-B2 was renamed to Stalag XXI-B; Stalag XXI-B1 in Antoniewo was renamed to Stalag XXI-B/Z, and made a branch camp of the Stalag XXI-B in Szubin.
* September 1940 - Oflag XXI-B for Allied officers established. Its first prisoners were the French. Stalag XXI-B and Oflag XXI-B co-existed next to each other for three months.
* December 1940 – Stalag XXI-B was relocated to the nearby village of Tur. Polish officers, previously held together with enlisted men in other camps, were moved to Oflag XXI-B.
* 1941/1942 – All French officers had been transferred elsewhere prior to the arrival of British officer POWs.
* September 1942 – British and Commonwealth officers of the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm were transferred from Oflag VI-B at Warburg following its temporary closure. These included airmen from Poland, Czechoslovakia and other occupied countries serving in the RAF, as well as airmen from the Allied Air Forces - RAAF, RNZAF, RCAF, SAAF, USAAF.
* October 1942 – More British RAF officers and NCOs arrive from Stalag Luft III to help relieve overcrowding there.
* November 1942 – A second batch of British RAF officers arrive from Stalag Luft III
* October to March 1943 - Newly captured British, American and Allied Air Force officers arrive in batches transferred from Dulag luft.
* March 1943 – A mass escape through a tunnel occurs - 35 men escape, albeit none are successful in reaching neutral territory.
* April 1943 – The camp is cleared of all POWs - all being sent to the enlarged Stalag Luft III.
* The camp was later re-opened and re-numbered Oflag 64 for American officers only.
British prisoners-of-war who died in the camp were later buried at a cemetery of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Poznań.

## Notable prisoners

* William Ash – American serving in RCAF, escapee and future author
* Anthony Barber – RAF pilot and future Chancellor of the Exchequer
* Per Bergsland – Norwegian pilot serving in RAF and Great Escape
* Josef Bryks – Czechoslovak RAFVR fighter pilot and serial escaper (1942 – March 1943).
* Jimmy Buckley RN – Fleet Air Arm Pilot and escapee
* Flight Lieutenant CC Cheshire – RAF Pilot and brother of Leonard Cheshire VC
* Aidan Crawley – RAF Officer and future author, journalist and MP
* Wing Commander Harry Day, Great Escape survivor, who was Senior British Officer November 1942 – March 1943
* Johnnie Dodge – British Army officer and Great Escape survivor
* Flight Lieutenant Bertram James – RAF Pilot and Great Escape survivor
* Robert Kee – RAF Pilot and future author and journalist
* Oliver Philpot – RAF Pilot and escapee
* Peter Stevens – RAF pilot of German-Jewish birth and serial escapee
* Jorgen Thalbitzer – Danish pilot serving in RAF
* Eric Williams – RAF Officer and escapee
* Albert W Harris - Private. The Buffs Royal East Kent Regiment.