 Ex-Prisoner
of Nazis, Freed By Reds, Returns to Athens
After a long diet of watery soup, sleeping on a shelf, and enduring
the deadening routine of a German prison camp, Sergt. Warren R. Roach,
the fourth Calhoun county man to reach home after liberation by the
Russians, is taking things easy at the home of his father. Roy Roach,
route one. Athens. He is starting a 21-day furlough and after that will
report at Miami. Fla.. where he will spend a period of rebuilding and
convalescence at a luxurious hotel. As a paratrooper, Sergeant Roach has
plenty of reason to remember D-day, June 6. last year. He came down by
parachute behind the German lines before the first landing party had
readied the Normandy beachhead. And he was captured that same day.
"Since 1.500 of us landed in Boston on April 8. life has been a
procession of steaks, chops, cutlets and Juicy roasts," the sergeant
said. "At Camp Miles Standish they not only fed as the best there is.
but they provided entertainment that was continuous from 2 p. m. until
midnight. We have been treated swell everywhere we have been."
After Sergeant Roach was made a prisoner, he was In seven German camps
before reaching the permanent camp known as Stalag 3. at Kuestrin.
Germany, on the Oder river, about 90 kilometers east of Berlin.
Woman Tank Commander "The thing I like best about that camp is the
memory of the mid-afternoon that a Russian tank rolled up at the camp,"
the sergeant said. "The commander of the tank was a woman. That
surprised us, too. "I didn't meet any Russians that could talk English,
but a few of our boys could talk Russian and they acted as interpreters.
The Russians told as to hitchhike to the rear and if possible to ride
the refugee trains. They were unable to furnish us formal transportation
because everything they had was headed toward Berlin.
"We assembled in Poland and the Russians gave us transportation to a
port on the Black Sea and provided us with food, also en route."
Sergeant Roach was unable to disclose the movements of the prisoners,
except to say that they made several stops after leaving the Black Sea
port and ultimately arrived in Boston. Alter a stop at Camp Miles
Standish. he reported at Fort Sheridan, Ill., where he received his
furlough.
"Except for food, the Germans lived up fairly well to the terms of
the Geneva convention." he said. "If it had not been for the boxes
received from the Red Cross we would all have died of starvation. The
regular diet given us by the Germans was a pint of watery soup and
one-sixth of a loaf of bread every day. Except for one period of two
months, however, we received the Red Cross boxes every week, containing
both food and cigarettes.
"We lived in a compound surrounded by barbed wire. The beds were simply
wooden shelves. We each [had] a mattress and two blankets, but kept warm
by doubling up in cold weather. It was September before we reached
Kuestrin. After we had been there about three months we received sports
equipment from the YMCA through Geneva, and enough musical instruments
to organize our own band. Prison life brightened up.
Reds, Poles Generous
After our liberation, both the Russians and Poles were more than
generous to us. In many cases Polish people would give us the last bite
of food they had and one Polish man stayed up all night so that my
buddy, Sergt. Jack Prince, of Wisconsin, and I could sleep in his bed."
Sergt. Roach said the Germans had a post exchange in the compound
but the only articles available were an oil dressing for shoes, an
occasional lead pencil, and one razor blade and one box of matches a
month. |
Medical care was provided as well as the circumstances would
permit. The sergeant entered military service in August, 1942and received
his basic training at Camp Wolters. Tex. He volunteered for paratroop
service and went to Fort Benning, Ga.. where he was assigned to the
508th Parachute Infantry. He then went to Camp Mackall. N.C. and went
overseas to North Ireland in December. 1943. For three months before
D-Day his unit was in England.
Sergeant Roach attended Coldwater high school and at the time of
entering service was working at the Homer Furnace Co. in Coldwater.
His mother Is deceased. A brother. Floyd R. Roach, is in navy
service in the Aleutians and another brother. James E. Roach, is
employed here and lives on route one [Battle
Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, MI,·20 April 1945, Sat, Page 8]
 Home!
Ex-Prisoners of War Greet Loved Ones
Two Battle Creek soldiers held as prisoners of war in Stalag 3-C
near Kuestrin. Germany, are home with their families. They are home also
to have again good food, warmth and the household comforts of which they
have had so little.
What that means to those who have waited at home, often stricken
with fear and apprehension for their men held as prisoners by the
Germans, was clearly visible in the smiles and tears, the barrages of
questions and the silences between those newly reunited.
The two men who came home last night are Corp. Chester Wilk, son of
John Wilk of 83 Hoag, and First Sergt. Ray Holman, husband of Mrs.
Marion Holman. of 87 Harvard.
A third Battle Creek soldier who was held a prisoner in Stalag 3-C
is Sergt. Warren R. Roach, whose father, Roy S. Roach, recently moved
from 56 East Rittenhouse avenue to route one. Athens. Sergeant Roach was
expected home this afternoon. He was with paratroops which landed in
Southern France. Sergeant Roach was taken prisoner on June 8, 1944.
Corporal Wilk was met as he arrived on "the Twilight" at the
Michigan Central station about 7:20 p. m. by his father and two sisters,
Irene and Emily. There was no mother to meet him. His 41-year-old
mother, Mary Wilk, died last July of a cerebral hemorrhage about two
weeks after the birth of her 11th child, a daughter. Dolores Kay.
Chester was in Italy at the time.
Mr. Wilk and the two girls took Chester home for his reunion with
(Please Turn to Page 18. Column 1 )
[Battle
Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, MI,·17 April 1945, Tue, Page 1]
CAMPAIGN HAT FITS DAD
Sergt. Warren R. Roach, paratrooper captured on D-day
D-day D-day in France last June and now just returned from a German
prison ramp, is spending a 21-day furlough with his father, Roy S. Roach
of route one. Athens, formerly of Battle Creek.
Besides the army hat which the father is wearing temporarily, Mr.
Roach is also wearing a badge which shows one son in the paratroop
infantry and another son, Floyd R. Roach, in navy service, now in the
Aleutians. [Battle
Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, MI,·20 April 1945, Sat, Page 8] |
