In 1944: The imprisonment of John Everard MacLean.

 In 1944: The imprisonment of John Everard MacLean.

Everard MacLean imprisoned as a P.O.W. at Stalag IV-B  Miramichier, John Everard MacLean was a World War II prisoner of war for approximately nine months. Corporal MacLean was captured in France by German troops during the first week of August 1944. 

He was imprisoned in Stalag IV-B located in Muhlberg, Germany, some 35 miles northwest of Dresden near the Elbe river [Lat. 51.26 N Long: 014.07E]. He was held as a P.O.W. at Stalag IV-B from circa December 1944 until his release on or about April 26, 1945.

John Everard MacLean was born July 17, 1917 in Black River Bridge, the son of John Everard MacLean and Catherine Stewart Watling. He would later marry Bertie Isabelle MacKnight, the daughter of Addison MacKnight and Violet Agnes Dick.

Corporal MacLean joined the North Shore (N.B.) Regiment during World War II and went overseas to Aldershot, England with the regiment in 1941. 

He was transferred from the North Shore (N.B.) Regiment to a holding unit and then on to the Lincoln and Welland Regiment.

The Lincoln and Welland Regiment was ordered to France in July of 1944. It was while serving with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment that Corporal MacLean was captured by the German army.

“Before the light of day on August 4, 1944, a patrol from another company had gone some distance into enemy territory and returned without contact. Later that same morning before daylight our patrol was sent into the same area.

 Evidently the previous patrol had been spotted by the Germans. The Germans followed the patrol and moved in and set up machine gun positions. 

When our patrol came along, the Germans allowed the lead section to pass them unharmed before opening fire. At the same time the lead section had passed the German guns, we had received orders to return to out lines.

“I attempted to crawl to the position of the lead section and advise them of the order, when a real hail of fire started, accompanied by mortar fire and flares.

 When daylight started to clear, I was within 50 feet of my platoon officer Lt. Phair, who wasmortally wounded. 

A German machine gunner was between us. I had pulled the pin from a grenade, before realizing what the situation was. It was not a pleasant meeting. 

I realized we were in a hopeless position and could do nothing but try to assist our wounded and that our capture by the Germans was inevitable.

“To the best of my memory, there was only myself and five other members of my platoon still mobile. We were busy helping the wounded. 

I just don’t know how many died that day. “Once the Germans captured us we tried to take the wounded out of the area along with us. 

My comrades were in various stages of condition[;] that is some had broken bounds [,] others has worse wounds. Many of my comrades died from their wounds.

“Lt. Phair my commanding officer was badly wounded. We tried our best to do something for him but our captors were not too impressed with our efforts and forced us away from the area. To my knowledge Lt. Phair’s body was never found.

“The Germans walked us for some distance, and when they had gathered sufficient P.O.W.’s to fill a truck load, we were loaded aboard vehicles and taken deeper behind enemy lines. The Germans did everything in their power to get us to a railway as fast as they could.

“Somewhere around the second week of August 1944, I was herded into a 40 foot by 8 foot box car originally built to transport 40 men or 8 horses.

“German guards gave us French ration bread that had a date from the 1930’s stamped on it. I took a load of this bread and wrapped both of my arms around the load and could hardly break it apart.

 But under these circumstances anything is good when you’re hungry, even this bread was palatable. You did not eat it by choice, but you ate it. 

We were never given any water while travelling in the box car. We were given a 5 gallon bucket for a toilet and it had to serve everyone in the box car.

“There was just enough room so that each [part of account missing from paper here] car. Our only gear was what we were wearing.

“The badly wounded were separated from us. Only those fit for travel were boarded on the train. We were aboard the box car for around three days. 

One night some of my fellow P.O.W.’s, while the train was still moving, escaped. They crawled out of a small window at the top of the railway car.

“We had many delays on the rail line mostly because the train was under attack by Allied fighter planes. 

At one point we were taken off the train because we were so badly shot up by friendly fire. Our engine was totally destroyed.

 Unfortunately for us, our railway box cars were not marked on top indicating we P.O.W.’s were aboard. 

The guys shooting up the train did not know that we were aboard but they sure shot up our train. The Germans left the damaged train right there where it was hit and marched us off to a handy little town.

“To the best of my memory this French village wasn’t very far from the German border. 

We were held over in that area for quite some time – somewhere between three to four weeks. We were put on another train and transported at night across the border into Germany.

“I remember we were in a small town that had been attacked by Allied bombers. It wasn’t a very pleasant place to be after the bombing. 

Our German guards instructed us to look after the bodies of German casualties killed in the bombing. As a result we were placed in a very uncomfortable, inhumane and hostile situation.

 We were being confronted by German civilians in the town who did not any Allied troops touching the bodies of their fallen countrymen.

 You couldn’t blame them.

“While at the morgue, we were instructed to bury the bodies of the German dead. We got to the morgue, but the outraged local town’s people [sic] stopped us from doing the burials.

“The Germans moved us on to another town neat a railway junction or intersection at which they said they were transporting refugees or enemies of the state. 

In fact they were transporting Jews on their way to death camps.

“I shall never forget this horrible scene and pitiful situation. 

The German S.S. troops were herding the Jews into a marshalling yard. One could tell by the looks on the faces of many of the Jews, that they were terrified and in absolute desperation.

“I cannot help but think they knew what was in store for them when they reached their destination. The Jews were waiting for a train to pick them up.

 Men, women and children were being herded like animals and treated with great indignity. The memory of this incident shall be with me until my dying day. 

Whenever I see television programs about the Holocaust and the killing of six million Jews, my mind returns to that October day. A terrible example of man’s inhumanity to man!

“Between October an December 1944, I was moved from prison camp to prison camp. 

Just before Christmas 1944, I was imprisoned in Stalag IV-B in Muhlberg, Germany not far from the Elbe river.

“Stalag IV-B at Muhlberg, I believe, was not far from Torgau on the Elbe river.

 Torgau is about 28 miles north of Leipzig where the American and Russian armies met each other on April 26, 1945. I was imprisoned in Stalag IV-B from December 1944 until around 26 April 1945.

“Stalag IV-B had about 1,600 Allied P.O.W.’s. There were army and air force prisoners including a low of English and Australian fellows.

“While it is true that I can not say we were mistreated, you sure knew that you were not living high at the Ritz Hotel. The only thing we had enough of was water.

 We didn’t have much by of facilities.

“You never really got a meal at Stalag IV-B. Every 17 men got rations twice a week.

 Our ration was two loafs [sic] of bread and a block of meat that you could hold in the palm of your hand. Every day we could walk around in the daylight for exercise.

“A week after I was released, I weighed 130 pounds, down from my 170 pounds prior to being captured. 

Our own officers were told that we were on a starvation diet. Some fellows could cope with the situation while others could not.

 Thankfully my health was good. My worst problem I had health wise was a tooth ache. A French doctor came and pulled my tooth for me.

“My P.O.W. experience made me think more. I guess spiritually one of the highlights for me was the Christmas service. 

The atmosphere at the service was overwhelming. There were people there from all the four corners of the earth.

 The German camp commander seemed to have realized that the end was near. He was a retired officer and in the end we P.O.W.’s saved him from capture by the Red Army.

“We watched the Russian army go by in full battle fashion with everything from trucks to old horses. Some of our boys went with the Red Army to meet the Americans. 

When the column of Russians had passed by, we spewed out of the gates like ants. We had no luggage, not even a tooth brush. I was liberated on or near April 26, 1945,” said MacLean.