Luftwaffe POW Officer with British Sergeant

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Date: Monday, 6 October 1941
Place: Newhaven Harbor, Sussex, England
Photographer: Lieutenant Edward G. Malindine

Luftwaffe Leutnant Heinz-Georg Möllenbrok (aged 20) was shot down in his Dornier Do 17Z-2 (U5+LL) of 3.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2 (KG 2) on August 16th, 1940, on his 20th mission and seriously wounded (his right hand was crushed in his attempt to bail out) during the raid on RAF Hornchurch, Essex. He was the victim of British Hurricane pilot, Frederick William “Taffy” Higginson of RAF No.56 Squadron. He is seen here disembarking from the Hospital ship ‘Dinard’, the guard is an intelligence Corps Sergeant and they are at Newhaven harbor in Sussex, United Kingdom, on October 6th, 1941. He and other seriously wounded German POWs were being repatriated to Germany via Sweden, but at the last moment Berlin decided to halt the exchange, as they weren’t happy with the disparity in the number of Allied troops expected to return from German POW camps, so he and the others had to return to their camps or hospitals. Although the German authorities agreed to the repatriation of 1,200 British POWs in September 1941, they cancelled the exchange when it was found that only 150 suitable Germans prisoners were available for return. Not until October 23rd, 1943, was a transfer of 5,000 British, Commonwealth, and American repatriates arranged. Heinz-Georg Möllenbrok himself was returned to Germany in October of 1943, and survived the rest of the war with the last rank as Oberleutnant, passing away at the age of 87 in 2007.

 

 

Leutnant Heinz-Georg Möllenbrok wearing a Luftwaffe DLV and NSFK Glider Proficiency Grade C badge on his tunic left pocket

Leutnant Heinz-Georg Möllenbrok during repatriation at Gothenburg in 1943

Source :
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?s=1200&q=heinz&__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_sufrpysviWpZTe2jYXj86s6_4MqGRG5N.xJQ4sIk_bU-1634306032-0-gqNtZGzNAmWjcnBszQQ9
https://www.facebook.com/worldwarincolor/photos/6-october-1941he-thought-he-was-going-home-but-the-authorities-in-berlin-changed/1759838437479274/