POW Camp in Vilefoorde , Belgium .

[Schnellmeyer]

I am currently researching material from a Luftwaffe officer who was a POW and held in a camp in Vilefoorde , Belgium . He first arrived there in August 1945 .
I have found very little on this camp which I believe was guarded by the British , can anybody help me with information about the camp in Vilefoorde ?
Thanks.

[vic007]

Hello

IMO the name of the town isn't Vilefoorde but Vilvoorde (town near Brussels).
If you google this name maybe you'll get more hits.

I just searched a bit and on page 7 in this pdf: (sorry it is in flemish)
http://www.klbp.be/data/info/belgaph...ned_screen.pdf
i found out the fieldpostnumbers of this camp are: 2218, 2221 en 2230.

Hope this give you a new lead for your search.

Best regards


stijn

[Schnellmeyer]

Hello Stijn , thanks for your help . I used the spelling of the town as I had read it in the original notes that the luftwaffe officer used , he spelt it Vilefoorde but this is for sure a mistake .
Now that I have the right spelling I will continue my research

[WARNACH]

Helo Schnellmeyer,
Some books with that could provide Info.
- Zur Geschichte der Kriegsgefangenen im Westen. (by the German Red Cross) 1962, band IV
- Zur Geschichte der deutschen Kriegsgefangenen des zweiten Weltkrieges. Band XII (Die deutschen Kriegsgefangenen im Gewahrsam Belgiens, der Niederlande und Luxemburgs), 1966, Hermann Jung.
I have those books and yes, Vilvoorde was managed by the Brittish.
As of april 1945 the belgian government asked for German POW to work in the coalmines; 2 months later 11000 Germans worked in those mines.
camp Vilvoorde was one of the "delivering" camps.
The reputation of Vilvoorde was not that good. The inmates were robbed of their personal things etc ...
The LW officer could not be one of those 11000. As an officer he could not be forced to labour ...
Greetz
Peter