Timeline
- September 1940 - The camp was built around a Polish boys' school by adding barracks. Initially it was Stalag XXI-B to accommodate Polish soldiers captured during the Invasion of Poland (1939). These prisoners were used for the expansion of the camp.
- December 1940 - the camp was split and Polish officers, previously held together with enlisted men in other camps, were moved here and part of the camp was renumbered Oflag XXI-B
- June 1940 - the Polish officers were transferred to other camps. French officers were brought here from the Battle of France. All French officers had been transferred elsewhere prior to the arrival of British Officer POWs
- September 1942 - British and Commonwealth Officers of the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm were transferred in from Oflag VI-B at Warburg following its temporary closure. These included airman from Poland, Czechoslovakia and other occupied countries serving in the RAF, as well as airmen from the Allied Air Forces - RAAF, RNZAF, RCAF, SAAF, USAAF.
- October 1942 - More British RAF Officers and NCOs arrive from Stalag Luft III to help relieve overcrowding there.
- November 1942 - A second batch of British RAF Officers arrive from Stalag Luft III
- October to March 1943 - Newly captured British, American and Allied Air Force Officers arrive in batches transferred from Dulag luft.
- March 1943 - A mass escape through a tunnel occurs - 35 men escape, albeit none are successful at reaching neutral territory.
- April 1943 - The camp is cleared of all POWs - all being sent to the enlarged Stalag Luft III.
- The camp was later reopened and re-numbered Oflag 64 for American officers only.
- The separate Stalag XXI-B stayed in Szubin until 1945.
Read more about this topic: Oflag XXI-B