Crow, F

, ,

Guardsman Fred Crow

Family/Last name:
Crow
Forename(s) and initial(s):
Fred
Place of birth:
Hull
Date of birth:
23/2/1908
Nationality:
British
Service number:
2654615
Military Unit:
British Army, Coldstream Guards, 3rd Battalion (Coldstream)
Rank when captured:
Guardsman
Place of capture:
Tobruk
Date of capture:
21/6/1942
POW number:
31637
Camp
Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf / Stalag 344
Data sources
The National Archives (UK)Other Sources (Relative's report)
View a commemorative certificate for this prisoner

My Grandad was a POW at Lamsdorf. His name was Guardsman Fred Crow, 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards, 2654615, POW number 31637.

I have attached some pictures of him whilst in the Army and some letters we have, including one to my Nan which he wrote whilst he was in the camp.

He was known to fellow inmates as the Whistling Barber and cut plenty of hair during his time in the camp. He endured the Long March and was almost certainly injured in a friendly-fire incident from our own bombers who mistook them for the enemy, that happened close to Regensburg on 16th April 1945 which claimed the lives of more than 20 POWs. The POWs were crossing the River Danube heading west 2 miles from Regensburg, and luckily my grandad only received a broken leg from the incident. The injury affected the rest of his life as one of his legs was shorter than the other.

My Granddad never talked about the war but I remember my Nan and Uncle telling me about him being on a long march.

I don’t have any photos of him in the camp, but I do have one of him in 1945 in Wordsley hospital (above) once he arrived back in the UK.

My Granddad passed away thirty years ago and he was my hero because he taught me to fish, and I’m now lucky enough to make my living from fishing so you can understand how important he has been in my life.  Feel free to use these images on your site if you think they may be of interest.

Simon Crow

Posts related to this prisoner

    Please include as much information and pictures as you can so that we can create a record of each man’s experience. With tens of thousands of POW records already on site please help us if you can by including at least one of the following: service number, POW number or date of birth.

    Please note that a valid email address is required to submit this form. Your address will be stored in our website database and will be visible to the editors who will process the information you have submitted. We may use it to contact you for clarification or to discuss your submission. Your email address will not appear on the public-facing area of this website and will never be sold or passed to any third party. If you do not want your email address to be stored, please do not submit this form!

    Your details

    POW details

    Please don't guess these details! Only fill out the fields you know for certain.






    Many thanks for taking the time to help improve our data. We are indebted to thousands of volunteers and family members of former POWs for their time and efforts. Thank you for joining their ranks!
    Click Submit to send us the information you have entered.