Guest of Adolf

A Pennsylvanian draftee goes to war with the 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and ends up spending two years in POW camps.

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"I was a guest of Adolf!"

This was how Ernest Focht responded when asked about his wartime experience.

Ernest Virgil Focht was born and brought up in Tyrone, Pennsylvania. He was drafted into the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in April 1941 and assigned to the 105th Infantry Battalion (Anti-Tank). After training he participated in the Carolina Maneuvers. The National Guard unit was redesignated as the 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion, being deployed to North Africa in January 1943.

Ernie was captured in his first action in February 1943, remaining a prisoner of war until May 1945 when the Russian Army liberated his camp. During these 27 months he was held in five different POW camps, and was forced to march between camps in the depths of the 1944–45 winter. Using his wartime diaries and letters home, this book offers an insight into the 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and the experiences of prisoners of war.