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THE WAYNESVTLLE MOUNTAINEER
(Oa Dr Nwr Tictory) THURSDAY
JULY
Chambers Drofhers Tell
Of Experiences Vhile
Prisoners Of Germans
Brothers Did Not
Know of Each Other's
Fate Until They Met
After Liberation.
It is unusual for two brothers to
have been German prisoners of war
during the same period and fur
one not to even know that the
other was overseas, but such was
the case of Sgt. Ralph J. Chambers
and Pvt. William M. Chambers, III.
sons of William M. Chambers, of
Hazelwood, who have been liber
ated and returned to the States.
Their experiences give a picture
of horror and suffering that brinys
the German prison camps very
close home.
"Everything you read in the
newspapers is only about 75 per
cent as bad as the conditions in
prison camps were, for in most
cases they were too horrible to
print," said Pvt. William Cham
bers as the interview with the bro
thers began, in preparation of what
was to follow.
After their months of exposure
and lack of food in camps, as they
were getting ready to sail, the boys
met in France. "Words can t ex
press how we felt," they said as
they told of seeing each other for
vSgt. Ralph did not even know his
brother was in Europe much less
had been a prisoner of war.
The bojs seem to have a kind
of understanding that Sgt. Ralph
Chambers tell his story first as he
was a prisoner sixteen months and
Pvt. William over eight months.
They feel that the veteran prisoner
of a longer term should have the
first chance at telling his story.
"Sometimes I thought I would
get out, but a lot of times I had
Remarkable Treatment for
Stomach Distress
From Too Much Stomach Acid
bJ
Ar ou torturM with
the burning niir.rrr of
to. mwk Rtnnuch
acid? Lb of the fa
mous VON 'J'ABIJOTS
is bringing comforting
reliff to humlredp of
m il taut s. Sincere ly
a "TJjauBgBBS I grateful people tell if
mmSSSmmmmmtm hat they call the
"wonders" Von Tab
let! have dune for them. This gentle formu
la aims to counteract aurplus, irritating
toms'.'h acid and to bring relief from such
lolidiliorm. If you auffer from Indigestion,
gus, heartburn, belching, bloating, sour stom
ach and other symptoms due to exceaa
stomach acid you, too, ttould try Von'a
fur prompt relief . . . right at home . . .
without rigid liquid diet. Get 11.25 Trial
Size. Alto available 12.00. $3.50 alias. At
SMITH S CUT RATE DRUG STORE and
other good drug itoraa.
my doubts, for as I lost 44 pounds
and so many of the boys died I
often wondered if 1 could make
the grade until help tame, and then
we never knew what the Germans
might do." said Stft Chambers, who
served with the 95th Bombardment
I group, the first to drop a bomb over
j lierlin.
I He entered the service on De
! ceinber 8, 1941. as a volunteer and
I was inducted at I'oi t Dix. N. J. He
! was sent to Keesler Field. Miss.,
i and then to MacDill Field. Taiijpa.
j Fla. LaK'i he was assigned to Fort
Myers and put on patrol tiuty on
the Gulf coast. He was seni over
seas exactly two years, on Dec. '1,
1943, after he entered ihe service.
SkI Chambers first served in Kng
laial. and from there as the engi
neer of a bombing crew, made his
famous missions over Germa'iy,
softening up for the tough fight
the Infantry was to make to com
plete the job It was on his 2."ilh
mission and last scheduled flight
before coming home that lie was
wounded as his plane was shot
down over enemy territory. The
plane was blazing as Ik- hailed out.
and the minute he landed in a tree.
10 Germans were there to take
him over. lie sustained several
broken ribs in Ihe jump.
He was in a camp in Get'mi'iiy
for five and one half months, alter
which the ramp v. is evacuated as
the Russians .ipprn tched in that
area. He reminded at the next
camp for six tnorlh; alter which
his group were j.ui on Hie march
This was on Februan and the
weary prisoners v.t re Kept urn ril
ing from then until May 7, when
they were libeia'"d by a British
tank force.
After they were evacuated from
the first camp from Fast Prussia,
they were put in Ihe bottom of u
boat and sent down the Baltic Sea
for a four-day trip They had
neither food nor water during the
trip, and were all crowded together.
Their guards were young teen-age
Hitler youths, and were both cruel
and brave.
One had to slay in a German
prison camp around eight or nine
months before his mail began to
clear, according to Sgt. Chambers.
It was eight and one half months
before he got his first letter, but
during the 16' months a total of
200 letters and eight packages got
through. He says he wore the let
ters out reading and reading them,
and what they meant in his life
then would be hard to tell.
When he was first taken prisoner
Rocky Branch Cemetery
To Have Clean Up Drive
Beginning on Saturday, August
4, there will be a clean up cam
paign conducted in the Rocky
Branch cemetery, it has been an
nounced by Derry Norman. For
four successive Saturday after
noons the work will be continued.
Persons who have members of
their families and friends buried
there are asked to come to the
cemetery on the Saturday after
noons designated and assist with
the work.
he reported that they received
something each week from the Hed
Cross, but the Germans in time
gave them less and less, but kept
the things piled outside the camp
they later discovered.
On the long march from Febru
ary to May they lived on the land,
as they went, and they made from
20 to 25 miles a day. It was bit
ter struggle to keep going when
you had so little food, but the Hit
ler youths would urge them on by
methods which he hated to recall.
Sgt. Chambers is entitled to wear
the Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Purple Heart, air medal, three oak
leaf clusters, the European Thea
ter and American Theater ribbon,
and Presidential citation with two
clusters.
"Now you let my brother tell you
his story, for I was a non commis
sioned ofliccr and I did not have
to work, so while I was in camp
longer than he was he had in some
ways a much tougher time than I
did," said Sgt. Chambers as he
turned the intterview over to Jiis
brother.
Pvt. William Chambers entered
the service in July, 1943, at Fort
Dix. N. J., and was sent to Camp
Grant, III., for his basic training
and in February, 1944 was sent
overseas. He was attached to the
45th Infantry Division as a medi
cal aid. He saw service at Cassino,
Anzio Beachhead, Battle of Home,
Invasion of Southern France.
He was takerj a prisoner during
the invasion of France and was
caught in retreat as the American
forces were driven back by the
Germans. Ills group of prisoners
had their shoes taken away from
them and were stripped of their
clothes and all personal posses
sions and started on a 300-mile
march to a German camp, barefoot
ed, without clothes and hungry
they marched to Mulhouzcn, Ger
many. Here he, with 2fi others were
herded into a box car and rode
four and one-half days without food
or drink to Limbcrg. Here I hey
were registered as Gcrm&n POWs,
and loaded on a box car again and
sent to Mooscbcrg, their pernn
ncnt camp, and for eight and one
half months he lived the life of a
German prisoner.
As a buck private it was his lot
to be put to hard labor. His day
0)v Try
I axe
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rn
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and
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i
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TOWN OF WMHESVIilE
JOHN BOYD, Tax Collector
started at four o'clock in the morn
ing and ended at 10 at night, work
ing constantly with no food other
than weak soup. If you stopped
to rest, there was a guard who was
ready to punish you.
His group were assigned to re
pairing the railroads, and accord
ing to Pvt Chambers it was a job
that had to be done over and over
again, for the AAF was busy over
Germany during that period. Day
in and day out the American bombs
fell on the railroad tracks tearing
them to pieces and the prisoners
repaired them again for travel.
The political prisoners were the
most pitiful in the lot, according
to Pvt. Chambers. They had been
prisoners so much longer, and all
hope had left them. He said they
worked automatically, but they
were mentally off, and had only a
vacant stare, with no light in their
eyes.
"It would be hard to niake any
one understand the cruelty of the
Germans. I have seen over 3'i0
bodies of political prisoners buried
together in a bomb crater without
ceremony," he said.
"Everyone cherished hope of get
ting home I mean the American
boys, but in their hearts they knew
they had little chance," he !t;d.
Pvt. Chambers was liberated on
April 29, this spring when the 13th
armored Infantry of the 3rd U. S.
Army recaptured his group. It
was nerve wracking according to
his reports. They were in a Ger
man town, and the Americans
wanted to be sue that it had com
pletely surrendered so they shelled
the place for nine hours. There
were 500 American prisoners and
162 British prisoners in the camp.
They were so afraid that some of
them might get killed right on the '.
eve of liberation, but not a soul
received a scratch, when ihe shells
stopped flying and the Americans
marched in and took over.
Colored truck drivers drove the
liberated men to a town some dis
tance away, going down crooked
roads at 55 miles an hour. Later
tin men saw a 65-pound pig in a
p; ,ture, they killed and cooked the
pjrker and ate until they were
sick. After recovering, they ate
some more.
"We were worried about what
the reaction of the Americans back
home towards a prisoner of war,
but we soon learned there was
nothing to fear, as we were treated
like heroes. The army certainly
has given us the very best of medi
cal attention and food," Pvt. Cham
bers remarked.
Pvt. Chambers was then flown to
Camp Lucky Strike in France. He
says that favorite American ciga
rettes have been used to name the
American camps in Europe.
Then the two brothers had their
dramatic meeting. Sgt. Ralph
Chambers left three days ahead of
Pvt. Chambers, but his liberty ship
got in combat and was struck by
an aircraft and a tanker in a fog,
and delayed cn route 6 days, so
he got home five days ahead of him.
and the meeting in America was
another happy event in their lives.
The only soyvenir that Pvt.
Chambers brought back with him
from a German prison camp is
book. He prizes it above all his
possesions. It meant a great deal
to him in camp, where he found
the volume among the meager col
lection of books in the camp li
brary. It is a story about the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park.
Pvt. Chambers, who is entitled
to wear the Purple Heart, was
wounded twice in Italy. He is also
entitled to wear the European
theater ribbon and the good con
duct medal.
Like all overseas veterans the
Chambers brothers feel that there
is no country in the world like
America, and no people on the face
of the earth so kind, so generous,
and fair as the Americans. They
want to live the rest of their days
in this country. Sgt. Chambers
plans when he is discharged to live
in New Jersey, but Pvt. Chambers
wants to live right here in Hay
wood county.
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