Heroes Return - Irish Journey of Remembrance - April 2005

Sandbostel Concentration Camp - Stalag XB / Marlag und Milag Nord / 1941 - 1943
Arbeitserziehungslager Bremen - Farge / Nazi Slave Labourers / 1943 - 1945

Background
Irish Born - Merchant Seamen - Prisoners of the Gestapo - WW2

From 27th April to the 30th April 2005 a Heroes Return-Irish Journey of Remembrance was organised by the Irish Seamen’s Relatives Association (1939-46) to enable former Irish born seafarers who had been captured while serving on British merchant vessels and held prisoner by the Gestapo during the second world war, to return to Germany in remembrance of shipmates who lost their lives in the concentration camp at Sandbostel, the merchant navy internment camp Milag Nord in Westertimke, the nazi forced labour camp Arbeitsertziehungslager Bremen-Farge located outside Bremen, and to attend a service of remembrance at the graveside of lost Irish Shipmates in Rheinberg War Cemetery near the city of Moers.

† Our trip was supported by the Irish Seamen’s Relatives Association (1939-46), Heroes Return Section of the Royal British Legion Republic of Ireland Branch, the British National Lottery, Dublin Bus [Bus Atha Cliath] and Ireland's largest trade union SIPTU. The following is a brief record of our journey.

On Wednesday 27th April 2005 our Irish Heroes travelled from Dublin via Hamburg staying in the Ringhotel Paulsen located in the village of Zeven. Present at a small function that evening were survivors and relatives from Ireland, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and representatives of the local German community. Commemorative medals proposed by the National Ex Prisoners of War Association were presented to our Irish survivors and relative.

On Thursday morning 28th April 2005 we commemorated the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Milag Nord by the Guards Armoured Division, at the site of the former camp in the German village of Westertimke.  A Memorial Plaque was placed in honour of those who were held captive and to the memory of those who died during their imprisonment. (Survivors recall members of the Irish Guards entering the camp looking for fathers and brothers. Wounded soldiers were cared for by merchant seamen in the camp's sick bay). In the afternoon our Irish survivors visited the site of their former concentration camp at Sandbostel also known as Stalag XB.

† On the 21st April 1945, as our merchant seamen were in Milag Nord waiting to be liberated by the advancing Guards Armoured Division, 24 year old Guardsman Edward Colquhoun Charlton 2nd Bn., Irish Guards was to earn the final VC of the second world war for his action at Wistedt, in the last major Battle of the Irish Guards in North West Europe, a short distance away from Milag Nord. Guardsman Charlton VC is buried in Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Germany. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Irish Guards Regimental Headquaters, London, England).

† On the 29th April 1945 Sandbostel concentration camp/Stalag XB was uncovered by the Guards Armoured Division. British army personnel were immidiately moved into the camp to deal with a situation where over 2,000, out of a total of 22,000, had died during the previous 10 days, and where the death rate had not fallen below 100 per day.

On Thursday 28th April 2005 at 8 p.m. in the Ringhotel Fährhaus Farge, one of our ex Irish slave labourers was interviewed extensively by the German Organisation responsible for protecting the site of the forced labour camp at Farge as a memorial place. New information was forthcoming which added to the knowledge of our German friends.

On Friday 29th April 2005 at 9.30 a.m. poppy wreaths from the Merchant Navy Association-Wirral Branch, the Irish Seamen’s Relatives Association (1939-46) which included one wreath with the Irish tricolour, five poppy crosses and a single poppy, were placed at the slave labourers memorial adjacent to the former U-Boat Shelter codenamed Valentin, dedicated to the memory of our Five Irish Shipmates and Alexander Van Gurp RIP Netherlands Slave Labour Association. Prayers and the exhortation for the fallen were said in English and Irish Bearla agus Gaeilge. Construction of U-Boat Shelter Valentin circa 1943-44 Photo 1 - 2 

At 10.00 a.m. in Baracke 27 a meeting was held with German officals which included the Commander, Training Area Schwanewede, German Army, a daughter of a German slave labourer and some more guests. A presentation of a Brian Boru Harp and a bound copy of the transcripts of the War Crimes Trial held after the War to investigate the killing and ill treatment of Irish and allied nationals in Bremen-Farge, was made to our German friends who graciously reciprocated with a gift of photographs and documents.

At 10.30 a.m. our ex merchant navy slave labourers then proceeded to the memorial beside the Main Gate at the site of their former camp at Bremen-Farge to remember lost Irish Shipmates.

At 11.00 a.m. a Wooden Cross made by Paul Finn from Dublin Bus, Clontarf Garage, was placed in remembrance to Patrick Breen from Wexford at the site of the former massgrave. Prayers were said in English and Irish Bearla agus Gaeilge.

† The remains of our Irish shipmate Patrick Breen R.I.P [AB, Athelfoam] Blackwater, Co. Wexford; were removed in 1949 from the massgrave in Farge to a cemetery located outside Bremen. The remains of our other four Irish shipmates W.H. Knox R.I.P [AB, British Commander] Dun Laoghaire; Owen Corr R.I.P [AB, Silverfir] Rush, Co. Dublin; Gerald O'Hara R.I.P [1^st Radio Officer, Devon] Ballina, Co. Mayo and Thomas Murphy R.I.P [AB, Earlston] Dublin; were reburied in 1946 in Rheinberg War Cemetery.

† On the 27th January 1943 having refused to work for Germany, Thirty Two Irish born merchant seamen were forcibly removed by the Gestapo from Milag Nord merchant navy internment camp placed in Bremen-Farge labour camp and forced to work on the building of Valentin. This was in direct breach of the Geneva Convention as they were required to perform work directly related to German military operations. As a result of ill treatment five of our Irish shipmates lost their lives. Valentin was subsequently rendered unusable as a U-Boat shelter in one of the last Grand Slam Raids of world war two when Bremen-Farge was bombed on the 27th March 1945 by twenty aircraft from 617 (The Dam-busters) Squadron RAF.  Note: This camp was also known as a concentration camp for workers. Following the failed assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944, many of those involved were also imprisoned in the Arbreitsertziehungslager Bremen-Farge as punishment. Some were executed. 

On Saturday morning 30^th April 2005 ably supported by our Piper from the Irish Guards, we concluded our Irish Journey of Remembrance in Rheinberg War Cemetery at the graveside of lost Irish Shipmates. The Venerable Arch Deacon of Dublin David Pierpoint and currently chaplain to An Garda Siochana had prepared and written up an ecumenical service for our use; our interpretation of a drumhead service. In total, there were nine altogether from Dublin, Waterford and County Down in our group.

Piper/Irish Guards began with Oft in the Stilly Night setting the scene for our remembrance service and concluded with Flowers of the Forest.  Prayers and the exhortation for the fallen were said in English and Irish Bearla agus Gaeilge. The Red Ensign was presented to a relative. Piper/Irish Guards contribution enabled our Irish Journey of Remembrance to be completed with great dignity, honour and have final closure. His piping, behaviour and courtesy was of the highest standard.....a credit to the Irish Guards. Gratitude is extended to all those concerned throughout Ireland, the UK, Belgium and Germany for their assistance and support with our endeavour. (8th March 2006; Congratulations to Piper/Irish Guards on his well deserved promotion).

† In May of 1941, as one of our Irish shipmates was in a prison camp in Bordeaux awaiting transportation to Germany, his brother was to lose his life aboard H.M.S Gloucester on the 22nd May 1941 in the battle for Crete. Survivors captured from the sunken Gloucester were later imprisoned in the naval camp Marlag while our Irish shipmate was imprisoned in the adjacent merchant navy camp Milag until January 1943.

 † 1st Nov 1945, American Prisoners of War in Germany Marlag und Milag Nord (Naval Personnel); A Report Prepared By Military Intelligence Service, War Department U.S.A.

† In July 2005, one 82 year old ex Irish prisoner finally received his WW2 Medals .

† Sunday 13th November 2005, the Royal British Legion kindly invited the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) to be a participant in their annual Service of Remembrance held in London. Our small Irish contingent from the Republic of Ireland paraded for the very first time and included two Irish survivors from the Arbeitslager Slave labour Camp Bremen-Farge run by the Gestapo. See Video/Stills Cenotaph Parade Sunday 13th November 2005.   Prior to the parade, Mr Ken Otter, Vice President of the Fighting 'G' Association, made a special presentation of a framed photograph of HMS Gloucester and also presented a copy of his book The Untold Story to one of our Irish ex prisoners, in memory of his brother lost on the Gloucester 22nd May 1941. As we passed the massed bands of the Guards Division our small contingent saluted the Irish Guards, in grateful remembrance for the sacrifices made by members of the Guards Armoured Division who liberated our Irish shipmates from Milag Nord on the 28th of April 1945.

 † Wednesday 26th May 2006, at 13.00hrs local time, 11.00hrs GMT, in the location of the wreck of HMS Gloucester, at approximately 12 nautical miles south east of Kapsali Bay off the Island of Kythera in Greece, Mr Peter Mulvany, Chairperson, Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) placed a Poppy Wreath in remembrance of the brother of our Irish MN POW and in memory of all lost shipmates. Gratitude is extended to the Mr Ken Otter, Vice President, The Fighting "G" Club, and to the Captain of the Greek passenger vessel MYRTIDIOTISSA (MYR) for their kind assistance in this endeavour. See also HMS Gloucester Plaque Kapsali Bay, Kythera.

† Tuesday 14th November 2006, the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) was advised by the International Organization for Migration, German Forced Labour Compensation Programme, Genève, Switzerland, that an appeal we had prepared and submitted on behalf of another former Irish MN Slave Labourer who had been in the Arbeitsertziehungslager Bremen-Farge during WW2 was successful.

 † Sunday 12th November 2006, A BBC Radio Ulster (Northern Ireland) programme entitled 'A Journey to Remember' was broadcast on Sunday 12th November 2006 and rebroadcasted on BBC Radio Foyle on Sunday the 26th December 2006.

† Wednesday 20th December 2006, a plaque recording the names of the 5 Irish born merchant  seamen who lost their lives as a result of Gestapo illtreatment in Bremen-Farge is now to be constructed and affixed to the Irish Merchant Navy Memorial Plinth located in the merchant navy convoy section of the  National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, England in remembrance of our 5 Lost Irish Shipmates.

† Tuesday 8th to Thursday 10th May 2007, the Irish Seamen’s Relatives Association (1939-46) organised a visit to the Bremen Town Hall in Germany to attend the opening of an exhibition on the building of the U-Boat Bunker Valentin during WW2. 32 Irish Born Merchant Seamen were imprisoned by the Gestapo in an adjacent work camp and used as slave laborers on this Bunker from February 1943 until April 1945. At the memorial two poppy wreaths and several poppy crosses were placed by Mr Harry Callan, our Irish Shipmate, in memory of all who died as a result of the Nazi terror. In particular we remembered the 5 Irish Born Seamen captured while serving on British merchant vessels who lost their lives in Farge as a result of ill treatment; see Bremen - Farge War Crimes. See also German Article.

† Saturday 1st September 2007, Unveiling - Refurbished Irish Merchant Navy Plaque and Memorial Plaque in Remembrance of Deceased Irish Born MN Slave Labourers - Bremen Farge 1943-45: Organised by the Irish Seamens Relatives Association (1939-46) Mr Harry Callan kindly travelled to the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, England, where he unveiled the newly refurbished Irish Merchant Navy plaque and a memorial plaque dedicated to his five Irish Shipmates lost in Bremen-Farge during world war two. This completes the Irish born MN slave labourer project.

Research Note: During world war two 32 Irish born Merchant Seamen were forced to work as slave labourers by the Gestapo on the U-Boot Bunker Valentin  located on the river weser in Bremen-Farge. The Gestapo had attempted on several previous occasions to persuade the Irish to sign a bit of paper to indicate they would become frei-arbeiters (free-workers) and work voluntarily for the Nazi regime. Led by Irish born senior merchant navy officers, to a man they refused to sign. Unbeknown to the Irish the Nazi's had immediate plans to send them onto a concentration (KZ) camp for their continual refusal to sign up and work-(frei) voluntarily. Unlike military personnel who were Prisoners of War, a status which immediately on capture attracted the protection of the International Red Cross, the  Irish as merchant seamen and civilians were pursuant to international law never Prisoners of War, consequently they had no protection  from the International Red Cross in Bremen-Farge.  It is to their inestimable credit that our Irish born merchant seamen captured while serving on British merchant vessels resisted the Gestapo effort to recruit them into Nazi propanganda machine. All showed immense courage in the face of the Nazi terror.

May 2008 - Harry Callan Honoured by Geschichtslehrpfad Lagerstraße - Germany