Pow camps - great coat

[Kindness]

This may seem like a silly question, but I am in the process of reading the great escape. It mentions how the prisoners used greatcoats to hide the dirt carrying devices. My question is, how would downed pilots have acess to greatcoats? Did they acquire them from the Germans or redcross ?

 

[Phantomfixer]

I believe that I read an account of a Kriegie, that the US or maybe Red Cross supplied POWs with GI uniforms. From accounts of POWs it seems not all POWs had been issued new coats or other uniform items. Maybe it depended on the camp or camp commander. Like the red cross packages that were hoarded and not issued.

 

[B-24J]

I imagine that there were RAF ground personnel captured in France, Greece, North Africa, and perhaps Crete. Often boooks will give total captured by nationality and not specify the branch of service. A second possibility is the Germans providing captured French coats to the prisoners.

John

 

[Kindness]

thanks lads