Bill Lawrence’s photos, taken in secret, at Stalag VIIIB/344

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These photographs were taken by Seargeant (later Warrant Officer) Bill Lawrence in Stalag VIIIB. He constructed the camera in a Red Cross food parcel box with the aid of two lenses which were smuggled into the main camp from an outside working party.

After each shot he had to move the frame on manually under the blanket of his bed whilst an accomplice wathced out for guards.

He carried the box under his arm and had a hole cut in one end which he covered with his hand. He had friends who were medical orderlies and they obtained x-ray chemicals for developing, and film.

 

7 replies
  1. Heather O'Brien says:

    My Uncle, William Fergus, was POW at Stalag VIII B. He managed to escape when the camp was being emptied as Russians were moving in.

    Reply
  2. Jean-Guy Nadeau says:

    Does anyone have contact information for the family of Sgt Bill Lawrence? I have been trying for months to obtain permission to use a few of these photos in a book I am writing on my father’s wartime experiences, which include a spell at Lamsdorf.
    The IWM has tried in vain to reach out. Any assistance would be welcomed.

    Reply
  3. Susan (Clay) McIsaac says:

    My father, Pte William Clay, RHLI was a prisoner taken at Dieppe and sent to Stalag VIII B. I have all the letters that my mother received from him as a POW. Censorship blocks out a lot of what he wrote. I was not able to find his name on the search.

    Reply

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