{"product_id":"ww2-royal-sussex-regt-p-o-w-from-crete-stalag-383-release-book-medals","title":"WW2 Royal Sussex Regt, P.O.W from Crete, Stalag 383 release book \u0026 medals","description":"\u003cp\u003eLooking at all the information in this soldiers release book it appears that ;\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe “383 POW Camp Orderly Room” stamp almost certainly does refer to Stalag 383. He was almost certainly a former prisoner of it.\u003cbr\u003eStalag 383 was located in a high valley in Hohenfels, Bavaria, and it was specifically a camp for Allied non-commissioned officers. Crucially, many of the British servicemen incarcerated there had been captured during the evacuations at Dunkirk, or when Crete fell to the Germans. Lancaster enlisted on 22 August 1939, was in the Royal Sussex Regiment (which served in North Africa and the Middle East), his trade on enlistment was “concrete worker,” his service trade was “Duty NCO,” and his Africa Star confirms he served in the Middle East\/North Africa theatre. He was released from “M.E.F.” (Middle East Forces) on 27 September 1945, with release leave expiring 7 December 1945.\u003cbr\u003eThe Royal Sussex Regiment is specifically listed among units represented at Stalag 383, with men reported missing during operations in Crete in June 1941. \u003cbr\u003eLancaster was likely captured in Crete or North Africa, spent time as a POW at Stalag 383 (which held Allied NCOs, fitting his WS\/Cpl rank perfectly), was liberated when US forces overran Hohenfels in April 1945, then processed back through Middle East Forces before being formally demobilised in late 1945. The “383 POW Camp Orderly Room” stamp on his release documents was the administrative stamp of that camp’s British internal administration, used to process the men’s paperwork upon liberation.\u003cbr\u003eThis also completely explains why he received the Africa Star rather than the France and Germany Star. His Germany connection was as a prisoner, not as a combatant in the North-West Europe campaign. The medals follow where you fought, not where you were held.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever I have not managed to find any record of this man in any P.O.W data base I have found but I cannot find any other explanation for what you see.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gradia Militaria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53240203673928,"sku":"June26-23","price":90.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0924\/1103\/5976\/files\/IMG-0959.heic?v=1780762625","url":"https:\/\/www.gradiamilitaria.com\/products\/ww2-royal-sussex-regt-p-o-w-from-crete-stalag-383-release-book-medals","provider":"Gradia Militaria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}