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Even though "The war was over
for these men" there was still military discipline to adhere to.
Since most of the prisoners were from either the RAF or the AAF the American
Senior Allied Officer (SAO) grouped all of the American prisoners into an Air
Wing formally called "Provisional Wing X"
The SAO was the highest ranking American
officer in command of all of the American PoW's. For the British prisoners SBO
(Senior British Officer) Wing Commander Fred Hilton was in command. Between
these two men and their respective commanders the compound became a
multinational military unit.
Apon his arrival on December 17, 1944
Col. Hubert "Hub" Zemke became the SAO. Relieving Col. Jean Byerly who was the
SAO. Col. Byerly who had been suffering from medical problems was more than
happy to hand over command of nearly 5,000 American PoW's to Col. Zemke.
Following military protocol, this would make Col. Byerly the XO or executive
officer. For the most part it was more of a title as his condtion often
prevented him from taking charge of those duties. Those duties fell onto the
shoulders of Lt. Col Mark Hubbard, who was Col. Byerly's XO and by protocol was
not the Chief of Staff to Col. Zemke. The American Chain of Command for Stalag
Luft I was as followed.
| Commanding Officer |
Col. Hubert "Hub" Zemke |
| Executive Officer |
Col. Jean Byerly |
| Chief of Staff |
Lt. Col. Mark Hubbard |
| Adjutant |
Capt. Milton Zahn |
| Commander North I Compound |
Col. Ross Greening |
| Commander North II Compound |
Lt. Col. Cy Wilson |
| Commander North III Compound |
Lt. Col. Francis Gabreski |
| Commander West Compound |
Col. Einaf Malstrom |
*Note: After searching for
information on the Location of the South Compound and the Compound Commander I
have determined that the South Compound was merged with the West Compound.
Which is why I can not find either the specific location or the Compound
Commander. |
