San Francisco, CA - A woman believed to be the only female American held Prisoner of War by the Germans during World War II has received a military burial with honors. Lt Reba Whittle, (later Tobiason), U.S. Army Nurse Corps, was flying on an air evac mission when the plane was shot down by the Germans (Sept 1944, European Theater of Operations). She and the crew were captured and imprisoned. Lt Whittle was wounded yet performed nursing duties for the prisoners in the camp. They were repatriated to Switzerland. Lt Whittle was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Reba Whittle Tobiason, a former Army nurse, was buried Thursday at the National Cemetery at the Presido Army Base.
Awarded (posthumously) Prisoner of War Medal, 1997.
YouTube video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XcmLdBgGmDs
Military Information: 1ST LT, US ARMY
**
Reba graduated from Rocksprings High School (Rocksprings, TX) in 1937. There are no 1930s yearbooks for her school anywhere. She then attended North Texas State Teachers College in 1938 (now known as University of North Texas/UNT - see her Freshman UNT photo), before studying nursing at the Medical & Surgical Hospital, Nursing School, San Antonio, TX, where she graduated in May 1941 (see clipping).
According to the Wikipedia page for Stalag IX-C, where she was held, it had two hospitals, the main hospital, Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(a), in Obermaßfeld, and a smaller one, Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(b), in Meiningen, and she was held in both:
Reba Z. Whittle, an Army Air Corps nurse who was captured in September 1944 when the aircraft she was in was shot down while on a flight to evacuate wounded Allied soldiers, was held briefly at Obermaßfeld and then transferred to Meiningen. She was held as a POW until January 1945 when she was repatriated. Whittle was the only female American POW in the ETO in World War II.
Under the administration of Stalag IX-C was a large hospital, Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(a). This was in the town of Obermaßfeld, south-west of Erfurt, in a three-story stone building that was previously a Strength Through Joy hostel. The hospital was operated by British, Canadian and New Zealand medical staff. Its staff was considerably augmented in October 1944 with the arrival of an entire ambulance team of the British 1st Airborne Division, captured at Arnhem. Patients came from across Germany, but mainly from Wehrkreis IX. The hospital was liberated by the U.S. 11th Armored Division.
There was also a smaller hospital Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(b) at Meiningen.
There's no Wiki page for the Main hospital, Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(a), but there is one for Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(b) in Meiningen.
The hospital building in Meiningen still exists and has been recently renovated it's called "Volkshaus Meiningen" or "Meiningen People's House". It took a lot of maddening hour of digging to find it since, oddly, it's not linked to on the Meiningen page and can only be found by searching Wiki or Google for "Volkshaus Meiningen" (do not reverse the order or search for the English translation, or it will not give you any results). Click on that and it automatically flips to English heading and text for, "Meiningen People's House". However, if you do the search in English for "Meiningen People's House" you will get zero results on Google and Wiki. It's as if someone doesn't want you to find it.
Under the "History" section on it's page, it says:
"...During the two world wars, the Schützenhaus served as a reserve hospital and in 1944/45, like the hall, it was used as a hospital for Western Allied prisoners of war, known as Stammlager IX C(b)."
The words "Stammlager IX C(b)" are linked to its own page. And once again you can search for it using "Stammlager IX C(b)" to find it, but you can't search for it and find it using the English translation.
Once you do the search, it automatically flips to the English "Main Camp IX C(b)" but you will never find it by searching for the English "Main Camp IX C(b)". The only way to find it via a Wiki search is by searching for "Stammlager IX C(b)".
It is called the Volkshaus or the "Meiningen People's House," but was previously called the the "Schützenhaus" during the time she was imprisoned there. It says:
"The Schützenhaus served as a reserve hospital and in 1944/45, like the hall, it was used as a hospital for Western Allied prisoners of war, known as Stammlager IX C(b) ."
Rest in Peace...
~Linda (48291572)
San Francisco, CA - A woman believed to be the only female American held Prisoner of War by the Germans during World War II has received a military burial with honors. Lt Reba Whittle, (later Tobiason), U.S. Army Nurse Corps, was flying on an air evac mission when the plane was shot down by the Germans (Sept 1944, European Theater of Operations). She and the crew were captured and imprisoned. Lt Whittle was wounded yet performed nursing duties for the prisoners in the camp. They were repatriated to Switzerland. Lt Whittle was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Reba Whittle Tobiason, a former Army nurse, was buried Thursday at the National Cemetery at the Presido Army Base.
Awarded (posthumously) Prisoner of War Medal, 1997.
YouTube video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XcmLdBgGmDs
Military Information: 1ST LT, US ARMY
**
Reba graduated from Rocksprings High School (Rocksprings, TX) in 1937. There are no 1930s yearbooks for her school anywhere. She then attended North Texas State Teachers College in 1938 (now known as University of North Texas/UNT - see her Freshman UNT photo), before studying nursing at the Medical & Surgical Hospital, Nursing School, San Antonio, TX, where she graduated in May 1941 (see clipping).
According to the Wikipedia page for Stalag IX-C, where she was held, it had two hospitals, the main hospital, Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(a), in Obermaßfeld, and a smaller one, Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(b), in Meiningen, and she was held in both:
Reba Z. Whittle, an Army Air Corps nurse who was captured in September 1944 when the aircraft she was in was shot down while on a flight to evacuate wounded Allied soldiers, was held briefly at Obermaßfeld and then transferred to Meiningen. She was held as a POW until January 1945 when she was repatriated. Whittle was the only female American POW in the ETO in World War II.
Under the administration of Stalag IX-C was a large hospital, Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(a). This was in the town of Obermaßfeld, south-west of Erfurt, in a three-story stone building that was previously a Strength Through Joy hostel. The hospital was operated by British, Canadian and New Zealand medical staff. Its staff was considerably augmented in October 1944 with the arrival of an entire ambulance team of the British 1st Airborne Division, captured at Arnhem. Patients came from across Germany, but mainly from Wehrkreis IX. The hospital was liberated by the U.S. 11th Armored Division.
There was also a smaller hospital Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(b) at Meiningen.
There's no Wiki page for the Main hospital, Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(a), but there is one for Reserve-Lazaret IX-C(b) in Meiningen.
The hospital building in Meiningen still exists and has been recently renovated it's called "Volkshaus Meiningen" or "Meiningen People's House". It took a lot of maddening hour of digging to find it since, oddly, it's not linked to on the Meiningen page and can only be found by searching Wiki or Google for "Volkshaus Meiningen" (do not reverse the order or search for the English translation, or it will not give you any results). Click on that and it automatically flips to English heading and text for, "Meiningen People's House". However, if you do the search in English for "Meiningen People's House" you will get zero results on Google and Wiki. It's as if someone doesn't want you to find it.
Under the "History" section on it's page, it says:
"...During the two world wars, the Schützenhaus served as a reserve hospital and in 1944/45, like the hall, it was used as a hospital for Western Allied prisoners of war, known as Stammlager IX C(b)."
The words "Stammlager IX C(b)" are linked to its own page. And once again you can search for it using "Stammlager IX C(b)" to find it, but you can't search for it and find it using the English translation.
Once you do the search, it automatically flips to the English "Main Camp IX C(b)" but you will never find it by searching for the English "Main Camp IX C(b)". The only way to find it via a Wiki search is by searching for "Stammlager IX C(b)".
It is called the Volkshaus or the "Meiningen People's House," but was previously called the the "Schützenhaus" during the time she was imprisoned there. It says:
"The Schützenhaus served as a reserve hospital and in 1944/45, like the hall, it was used as a hospital for Western Allied prisoners of war, known as Stammlager IX C(b) ."
Rest in Peace...
~Linda (48291572)
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