tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407086824445019785.post8986372022943873913..comments2023-07-25T20:49:55.094-07:00Comments on Australians in Stalag Luft III: POW movie-club-for-one: The Wooden HorseKristen Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17997660059407727051noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407086824445019785.post-10665411535232024352016-09-25T13:02:54.371-07:002016-09-25T13:02:54.371-07:00Hallo Marc, I know that there were many different ...Hallo Marc, I know that there were many different treatments of airmen NCOs and indeed officers (as well as army and naval personnel) throughout the German system. However, for many reasons - including acknowledgement of greater trauma suffered by those who experienced captivity under the Japanese, and considerable underplaying by both the men themselves and the Red Cross as they attempted to alleviate the stress suffered by families - this created a distinct perception that captivity in Germany was relatively easy. Mackenzie rebuts this 'myth' in his The Colditz Myth. Films such as The Great Escape and The Wooden Horse reinforce the impression. Kristen Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17997660059407727051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407086824445019785.post-12234823442806313542016-09-25T04:52:19.814-07:002016-09-25T04:52:19.814-07:00Sorry, Kristen, that last comment was mine. Marc ...Sorry, Kristen, that last comment was mine. Marc Stevens, Toronto.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04511679891961550313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407086824445019785.post-56230133943843391102016-09-25T04:51:44.250-07:002016-09-25T04:51:44.250-07:00Not to be contradictory, Kristen, but I'm not ...Not to be contradictory, Kristen, but I'm not sure that I agree with your final sentence. While it is true that Air Force officer POWs were, for the most part, well-treated, that cannot be said as a wide-sweeping description of all POWs, especially for non-Air Force NCOs and other ranks. Remember that the Luftwaffe insisted to the German High Command that they be responsible for guarding all Allied Air Force POWs. At the head of the Luftwaffe was Göring, a former World War 1 pilot, who still considered all airmen as "Knights of the Air." As such, the Luftwaffe treated Air Force officer prisoners with a certain deference and chivalry. My understanding is that this was not the case with most other Allied POWs, especially ground troops. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, officer prisoners could not be forced to work. But NCOs and other ranks could be, and they were, often in agriculture or in forestry. While their labour conditions were not as horrific as those experienced by the captives of the Japanese in the Pacific theatre, they were, nonetheless, not anywhere near as "cushy" as the relatively "easy" circumstances in which Allied Air Force officers found themselves.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04511679891961550313noreply@blogger.com