Missing The Boat: War Stories of Thomas Alan Dirkin

22 Percussion It was common strategy to locate key production facilities close to the POW camps. This presented a disincentive to attempt to aerial bomb key locations. In the case of Lamsdorf, an oil refinery was built close to the camp. In the second half of the war, bombing raids were made by allied forces in an attempt to reduce fuel supplies to the front and Luftwaffe. Raids were ridden out by the POWs. While I am sure the prisoners understood there was nothing personal in bombing close by, there were times my dad said that if he had a gun he would have gone out and taken shots at the planes. In reality, there were no bomb shelters. During bombing raids my dad was left to sit in the prison building, on the floor, with his head pressed closely against