The next day we arrived in Munich, Germany. Our several boxcars of men were pulled into the railroad station and uncoupled from the rest of the train. We were left and told that the Allies usually bombed the railyards about this time every day. The few guards left weren't too happy about the situation either. Fortunately, there was no bombing that day. It was evident, though, that the railyards had been bombed frequently, as bomb craters were everywhere. Also, most of the rails were temporary laid and there was hardly a straight line anyplace.

We eventually arrived at our next prison in Moosburg, Germany-- Stalag VII. We were very weak and done in, but we survived. In all, Stalag VII had over 130,000 P.O.W.s from the U.S.Army, U.S.Army Air Corps, and all branches of the European Military. Life in Moosburg was a lot more miserable than at Sagan III.

When we first arrived we were deloused and given a shower. We then were searched and put into barracks. This was horrible. We were put in tiers of twelve men; three bunks high with six bedboards per bed. Again, the bunks had straw pads, but were full of fleas, lice and bedbugs. Most of us were bitten from head to foot.

The weather was cold and damp. The Germans didn't give us fuel for heat so most stayed in bed and counted bedbugs and talked about food and home. Several individuals were threatened with bodily harm when the talk got too descriptive about food. For food we were given a half cup of warm water for breakfast, a cup of thin watery soup for lunch, and a slice of cheese or blood sausage for supper. We were all getting thin. My weight when liberated was about 98 pounds.

We were issued either a Red Cross parcel every two weeks or a British Red Cross parcel. The British parcel had to be cooked. Again, hundreds of "Kriege burners" (the tin can stoves) were made and put to use. We used the wood bedboards and tore part of the inner floor out of the barracks for fuel for our "Kriege Stoves". The barracks was so full of smoke that most had red swollen eyes.

We were ordered out of the barracks twice a day for Appel to be counted. When spring arrived we were quite elated, as our hidden radio was telling us that our Army was running wild thru the Germans. We knew that the war was coming to a focus, and we would either be moved again, shot or liberated. We also got the news that President Roosevelt had died. Most had never heard of our new President Truman. Then we heard that President Truman and the Red Cross got the German high command to agree to not move us again.

After arriving at Moosburg we found our navigator, Lt. Muller. He had been in the South Camp at Sagan III. Also, Sgt. Gilbert Pagel found me. We had attended eighth grade in the Lutheran school together, and our families attended the same church. The camps were not allowed to mingle, so we hadn't known the whereabouts of these men. It was the first time we saw our navigator since we bailed out over Hungary.

Still no word of our Co-Pilot Lt. Hilde, but stragglers were coming every day. We waited every day behind the locked gates to see who the newcomers were. One day, Hilde appeared, pushing a baby buggy with his few meager possessions in it. He told us that the plane's antenna had penetrated his jaw when he bailed out. He had been in a German hospital and released just before the march.