Work Camp 199 GW

Location: Sunk (near Hohentauern)

Type of work: Magnesite quarry

Man of Confidence: Driver W Evans

Number of Men: 41

Known to be present

The names and photographs have been sent by Matthew Smith, grandson of Spr Ken Millington, Ian Fraser, son of L/Cpl Robert Fraser and Sheila Russell, Linda Smit and Kevin Brannigan, the children of Gnr James Brannigan, and Dianne Hammond.

Camp Group with names	Camp Group	Same Group with names
Gerry Spaull	Joe Mildenhall	Ken Millington
George Millwater	Peter Windeler	Millwater & Windeler
	Alan Hammond
Group with beer	Camp Group	G.H. Sheaff
G. Millwater + 2	Band	Group in snow
Group	Frank Holmes	Bill Chalker

Ian Fraser, son of L/Cpl R.E. Fraser, RASC, has sent me the following sequence of photographs of the funeral of an unknown US airman who was shot down near to 199/GW.

General Description
New wooden barracks below a magnesite quarry which covers with its terraces the whole mountainside.

Interior arrangement
Electric light. Heating adequate. The barrack is now a bit overcrowded, but the work is just building a special hut for the guards outside the barbed wire area which will give the POWs the disposition of the guards' room and resolve thus the problem of overcrowding.

Bathing and washing facilities
There is an excellent washroom in the barrack.

Toilet facilities
Adequate. A separate shed contains 4 cabins with flush-type WCs.

Food and Cooking
British orderly cooks the food for the POWs in the camp. They get correct heavy workers' rations.

Medical attention and sickness
A civilian doctor in Trieben cares for the sick. Medical supply adequate. Dental treatment is also given in Trieben. The Man of Confidence and a sanitator look after the sick in the camp and give first aid and they also decide whether a man is able to go to work or not.

Clothing
In progress. The working uniform is in a very bad condition as the work in the quarry is very straining on the material. The boots are in order.

Laundry
Done by two women.

Money and Pay
Correct.

Canteen
Poor. The men can get beer. They are allowed to sit in the works canteen every evening for 1½ hour.

Religious activity
When Padre Ledgerwood visited the camp in Trieben, the POWs in Sunk were allowed to go down there and join the service.

Recreation and exercise
Near the barn where the POWs live there is a yard where they can get some sport. Swimming is also possible in the nearby river.

Recreation and Exercise
No complaint. They go to a little lake nearby in the summer for swimming; in the cold season walks are organised and when snow has fallen they have got a bobsleigh at their disposition and some skis which sport they appreciate very much.

Mail
Good.

Welfare work
In order.

Complaints
The Man of Confidence asked for some books on electricity and motor mechanics as some of his men want to study during the winter evenings. The YMCA will be advised of this.

General impression
This is a very good camp. The men are all in splendid physical condition and the spirit is excellent. The works director who is a colonel in the army has a fair understanding for the needs of the British POWs and as these keep up excellent soldierly discipline, he gives them very much freedom. Although this camp is situated in a rough and far-away mountain valley, no escapes were noted here which seems to come from the fair treatment the POWs are getting here.