This page in Mitchener's diary from World War II includes a drawing of the food closet. A number of cups are hanging from the wall, and a pitcher is on the floor. Mitchener writes, "As you enter the room - life's sustinence (sic) compartment...The...
This page in Mitchener's diary from World War II includes a drawing of a group of prisoners who are passing time by playing cards. They are sitting next to a heating stove that, according to Mitchener, has a six-foot radius. He writes,"There's at...
This page in Mitchener's diary includes a drawing of the kitchen, in which a large cooking stove is pictured. On top of this image, he has written a number of commonly used phrases, including,"shut the d - ' door!" and "The skillet's dirty again!"...
This page in Mitchener's diary shows three more men being added to his POW camp quarters in room five, even though there is not enough space. Mitchener lists their names, which are John R. Hanzlik [Pennsylvania], John F. Hodges (Tennessee) and...
This page in Mitchener's diary shows three sinks in a bathroom at the POW camp. On the top of the page, he writes, "Pursuit of the daily 'facial'--" Underneath the picture, he has written, "'Thru these pipes pass the coldest water in Germany.'...
This page in Mitchener's diary shows the barracks as they appeared on January 27, 1945, after a rapid evacuation of the POW camp. The picture shows the interior of a room with everything in disarray. He writes,"As result [sic] on a cold Sat. P.M....
This page in Mitchener's diary shows a bedroom in what appears to be a private home. One prisoner can be seen by the bed, resting. Mitchener writes,"About thirteen hours later & 29 km. -- 'Resting a Bit' - In the hamlet of Freiwaldau, the caravan...
Barbed wire; Prisoners; Military personnel; War; Fighting; Firearms
This page in Mitchener's diary shows the prisoners and guards seeking cover in a trench; several German guards are pictured shooting guns. Mitchener writes, "Near Priebus, second nite out ---C'est le guerre [It's war] - Down the road, rattled a...
This page in Mitchener's diary shows the POWs departing the German prison camp. They have not been released, but rather, they are being relocated to another POW camp farther west because of the approaching Russians from the East. Mitchener has...
This is the dedication page for Hardy A. Mitchener, Jr.'s journal during his stay as a POW in Germany during World War II. He has dedicated the diary as follows: "To 'Irish': - + and, in spite of everything - Memories of a POW." The "Memories of a...
This page in Mitchener's diary shows a drawing of two train cars with "40 Hommes 8 Cheveaux"(40 men 8 horses) written on one of the cars. Mitchener writes,"As you approach the 'Zug' [train] Yards - Spremburg---'Board!' Fifty-six men per car--Hardly...
This page (and the following three pages) features a poem or song called "Kriege's Lament," written by Willie Munger. The poem has an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme and is seventeen stanzas long. The subject is the return home of the American POWs to their...
This page is the continuation of a poem or song called "Kriege's Lament" written by Willie Munger. The poem has an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme and is seventeen stanzas long. The subject is the return of the American POWs to their mothers and families....
This page is the continuation of a poem or song called "Kriege's Lament," written by Willie Munger. The poem has an a-b-a-b rhyme scheme and is seventeen stanzas long. The subject is the return of the American POWs to their mothers and families....
This is the last page of "Mothers' Sons," a poem about the sons who don't make it home after the war and the ones who do. Mitchener is aware of his own luck to have survived his air missions, but sympathetic to those mothers who will never see...
Mitchener drew this image during his stay at a German POW camp. The image represents the registration process of prisoners at Dulag Luft, after which they were sent to Stalag Luft III. Eleven names, listed on license plates, are pictured. They show...
Mitchener wrote this poem in his diary during his stay at a German POW camp. The poem,"Our Creed," explores his ideas and feelings about being a prisoner of war.
This page has a playing card, a Jack of Spades, pasted on it. Next to the card, Mitchener has written, "#11" and "Thus passed Christmas -- As typical as barbed wire -- The cutting of cards designates selection of Kriege present."
This page in Mitchener's POW diary from World War II shows the remainder of the song, "Thanks for the Memoires," which begins on the previous page of the diary. Another song, "Kriege Rations," is also shown. This song makes light of the fact that...
This page in Mitchener's POW diary from World War II shows two images, the first, a bombardier in an American B-17 airplane, and the second, a miserable prisoner of war who appears to be drinking. Mitchener is contrasting the two, and writes, "Then...
