Colditz - The Park Part Five

 

After the Lebrun escape at Colditz (see previous posts) the Germans brought in additional security measures at the park. They:

1) Put a door in the boundary wall so that guards could get through to the other side quickly.

2) Raised the fence of the inner enclosure (known as the ‘sheep pen’) with two additional feet of barbed wire

3) Made POWs who were under stubenarrest, take their exercise in the morning and afternoon on a terrace at the rear of the guardroom. This was along the west face of the castle where a sentry was positioned at each end of the terrace.

In the summer of 1941 the escape season was now in full swing. It is noteworthy, that considering Colditz was a Sonderlager (high security camp); little had been obtained in the way of specialist equipment. There were no sunken microphones to detect tunnelling, or any electrical warning systems to detect POW incursion into restricted areas, especially where staff and administration buildings backed on to the prisoners. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) would have been unlikely to refuse any request for additional equipment, but as at July 1941 all that had been provided was four police dogs with handlers and an aged Kriminalkommissionar who the British nicknamed ‘Tiger’. On reflection, he was best described as amiable and of no worry to the prisoners.

It was a fact that POWs had been able to gain access to some locked rooms in the castle via lock picking and forged keys. Large scale searches were carried out on random floors of their quarters, but often the prisoners spotted signs of preparation or were tipped off by informants. The prison staff received a publication weekly called Das Abwehrblatt (Security News) from the OKW detailing escape methods in the different camps. Unfortunately, the Colditz escape attempts appeared in it regularly. There was a feeling amongst some ranks that whatever strategies were implemented, they were often playing catch up. The Germans were also no nearer to working out how Frenchmen Alain Le Ray, Renee Collin or Pierre Lebrun (on his failed first attempt) had escaped from the park (see earlier posts).

The British contingent had left escapes via the park to the French. With heightened security following the Lebrun escape, another attempt so soon time would have a poor chance of success. Despite this, on 26 July 1941 Captain Harry A V Elliott and Polish Captain Janek Lados decided to try their luck on the march back from the park. It is not clear whether they knew how Le Ray had managed his escape, but it is highly likely that they made for the same place.

 

Captain Harry Elliott extreme left - strijbewski.nl

 

Once through the gate on the left hand side of the road, the path to the park fell sharply. A turn in the path occurred by a house which was built up to the side of the cliff. It had its ground floor at the road level above and the cellar with an external door was level with the path. It was possible by distracting the guards or weaving/delaying, to create a blind spot and hide (see earlier post to read Le Ray’s own account of how he did this). The move could be made on the downward walk or return journey from the park. On the return was the most practical because of a head count when the POWs first arrived at the park. Elliott and Lados got in to the cellar through an open door on their way back by the same method as Le Ray.   

 

Present Day View of the Pathway (cellar door on the right) - virtualcolditz.com
(recommended visit)

 

When the column of POWs arrived back at the castle, the headcount revealed a discrepancy of two and the alarm was raised. Searches began immediately and the well rehearsed appell drill to identify who had gone missing swung into action. Guards began to search the castle grounds with dogs, and a general alert went out to the local police, Hitler Youth and Home Guard were called into action in addition to railway stations being alerted and crossroads  watched. The pathway down to the park was checked again. Hauptmann Roland Eggers recorded that it was only on their way back that they remembered an air raid shelter in the cellar of the house overlooking the path. They entered through the unlocked door and Elliott and Lados were found.

Polish POWs at Colditz - Thememoryproject

The Germans took appropriate action as they were now sure they had discovered how all the Frenchman had got away. It was only Le Ray’s hiding place which they had found. Lebrun’s first attempt and Collin’s home run were made by concealing themselves hiding in the rafters of the open pavilion.

Two days later, the French would try again with something completely different.  

Sources

 

The Colditz Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC

 

Colditz The Full Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC

Colditz the German Viewpoint - Reinhold Eggers

 
Author's Notes
 

©Keith Morley


THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish it to appear on this site, please message me with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed

Colditz - The Park Part Four

POW Escort to the Park - pegasusarchive

The POWs shambling walk from Colditz Castle to the park for the exercise period was well described by Hauptmann Roland Eggers in a recent post. Trying to maintain security around getting the POWs down to the park, monitoring their exercise and returning them to the castle without incident was a constant drain on German resources.  Eggers recorded that the Germans:

‘so found themselves with a problem…that needed as much attention for two hours daily, involving at the most 40 per cent of the prisoners, as the whole camp required for the twenty four hours day and night together, for anything up to 600 of them.’

By 2 July 1941 three French Officers had made successful home runs by escaping from the park, or in Alain Le Ray’s case, by slipping out of the column and hiding during  the march back to the castle. There had also been a number of successful attempts to get out of the park, which had resulted in recapture.

One effort targeted the POWs daily march out of the castle to a gate which led on to the steep pathway down to the park area. The idea was ingenious in its simplicity, but meticulous thought and timing were evident in the execution. On 25 June 1941, once again the French were at the forefront. The column of prisoners trailed and straggled along in the castle, concertinaing at entrances. It must have been a guard’s nightmare as the line knew just how far to push their luck.

Walk to the Gate before taking the path to the park
- war44.com

The line turned left off the roadway, stepping through the gate, before veering sharp right on to the path down to the park. There was a delay at the gate as the POWs filed through the narrow gap and the line of men behind shuffled along. An attractive looking neatly dressed German woman  passed by them, walking back up the road in the direction of the castle courtyard.  Some of the prisoners inevitably whistled. The sight of a woman, except via homemade telescopes and glasses from the castle windows was a rarity.

As she walked past the POWs, her watch fell near to Squadron Leader Brian Paddon. He picked it up, calling to her in German that she had dropped her watch. The woman kept walking and passed out of sight. Paddon signalled the nearest guard to explain what had happened. The sentry took the watch and running up the roadway towards the ramp back into the castle he shouted to a sentry in the courtyard to stop the girl.  

As the castle sentry approached the woman, he realised something was wrong. The woman’s hat and wig were removed to reveal the bald head of French Lieutenant Boulé, a man in his mid-forties. He neither spoke nor understood any German, but his face and skin complexion at first glance fitted the disguise and almost pulled off the deception. He had worn the disguise under his overcoat and concealed the hat inside. Skilful shielding by other POWs had given just enough visibility for him to pass the first head count inside the castle.

French Lieutenant Boulé in disguise
-pegasusarchive

It is ironic that the plan failed because of inadvertent intervention by a British POW who had no knowledge of the escape plan. On previous occasions in Colditz, escape attempts had also been made by different nationalities with little or no liaison between them. Following the Boulé failure a more co-ordinated approach was adopted to prevent complications.

Sources and recommended reads

 

The Colditz Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC

 

Colditz The Full Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC

Colditz the German Viewpoint - Reinhold Eggers

The Pegasus Archive is also recommended at www.pegasusarchive.org 

 

Author's Notes
 

©Keith Morley


THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish it to appear on this site, please message me with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed

Colditz - The Park Part Three

Colditz yard and solitary cells on the left - Pegasus archive

On Wednesday afternoon 2 July 1941 Pierre Lebrun made a second attempt to escape from Colditz. Twenty one days solitary confinement (stubenarrest) for his previous effort on 9 June (see previous post) would only have increased his resolve to get away as the time passed with just basic German rations and no food from Red Cross parcels. The manner of his last capture and the two previous breakouts before he was transferred to Colditz must have played on his mind in the lonely hours. Some men would have become demoralised or taken time to gather themselves and think things through before trying to get away again. Lebrun decided the only way forward was to escape whilst he was still in solitary. He calculated there was one chance to do this and it had to be in full view of the guards during the daily exercise.

It is surprising that POW’s in solitary confinement at Colditz were still allowed to take their exercise in the park area outside of the main castle. Such was the influence of the Swiss Government; the protecting power for British POWs under the Geneva Convention. Following complaints by the camp British Senior Officer, the Colditz Kommandant Oberst Schmidt maintained that the prisoner’s exercise in the park was deemed a privilege and not a right and could be withdrawn as punishment for transgressions of discipline and camp rules by the POW’s. The OKW (Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces) ordered that the current practice for exercise should continue (this included the park and POWs under stubenarrest).

Colditz Staff  Oberstleutnant Schmidt (centre, front)
- Pegasus archive

The exercise period for POW’s in solitary confinement, ran daily from 12.30 to 14.30. The prisoners were marched from their cells under guard and down to the park where they were confined inside an inner barbed wire enclosure (known as the sheep pen by the French.) This was a smaller area within the main exercise ground. The main ground was surrounded by a high barbed wire fence with a single warning wire about a foot in height, positioned a yard inside the fence. Anyone stepping inside this wire ran the risk of being fired on.

At one end of the inner enclosure and main exercise ground a ten foot high wall ran down the side of the valley, across the stream, along forty yards of flat ground and up the other slope. An officer, a Feldwebel and 3 armed guards kept watch on the small numbers of POWs from solitary, whilst they took their exercise inside the inner barbed wire enclosure. The sentries were positioned at intervals up the side of the valley where they had a perfect view. Escape looked impossible.  

The Park and Boundary Wall - virtualcolditz

Lebrun had other ideas. He had managed to share his plan with French Lieutenant Pierre Odry who had also been confined to the cells following an earlier escape from the park, where Odry managed to get out and reach the bridge at Gross Sermuth before being caught by one of the camp trucks. Odry agreed to help Lebrun on the day despite the virtually impossible odds. But the break would have to come whilst both men were still exercising together with the other POWs under punishment.

Lieutenant Pierre Odry



Lieutenant Pierre Lebrun

During the period of solitary, thirty Reich marks was smuggled into Lebrun’s cell along with small quantities of energy giving food. He had been working on his fitness during the daily exercise period, but this had to be done sparingly on account of the limited rations. Wearing running shorts, a short sleeved shirt which could pass off as a Nazi shirt, a leather sleeveless jacket, socks and plimsolls with rubber soles, he would exercise for the first hour, trying to jog at least half a mile around the inner enclosure during that time. The second hour was used to rest, discreetly observing the sentries and surroundings.

By 25 June he was ready to make the attempt. No one knew that he had wrapped a razor, soap, a small amount of sugar and chocolate in a silk cravat, which was concealed inside his jacket via a tight belt. Once inside the inner enclosure the exercise and sentries'  routine was usually the same, but the moment had to be exactly right. An opportunity did not present itself.

Colditz POW Major Pat Reid recorded

 ‘For five exercise periods he was ready to go, but each time the circumstances were not quite right. These false starts put an enormous strain on his nerves – he was too tense before each of them to even eat.’

Lebrun’s stretch in the cells was almost complete. On 2 July he told Odry as soon as they arrived in the park that he was going to make a break for it that day. The weather was warm and sunny and this time the two men walked around the enclosure for around an hour checking the position of the guards and looking for the exact spot where they could spring the escape. They marked it with a pebble at a point along the barbed wire which ran out from the park cross wall.

The ground rose up sharply amongst a number of trees on the other side of the barbed wire fence.  Two sentries had been positioned about twenty yards up the slope on a path which ran parallel to the enclosure. They had a good view looking down onto the POWs. Lebrun and Odry worked their way back to the marked location via jogging and leapfrogging exercises. The men stopped near the fence for a breather, everything seemed routine as on previous days. Odry turned his back on the fence, cupping his hands together at waist level, Lebrun had taken a few steps back and ran towards him, putting his foot into the ‘stirrup’. With a heave Lebrun was propelled over the fence, landing awkwardly on the other side.

 

Leapfrog - The Colditz Story 1954

Leapfrog 2 - The Colditz Story 1954

Leapfrog 3 - The Colditz Story 1954 

 

It took a moment for the Germans to realise what had happened. Someone shouted a warning ‘halt’, sentries unslung their rifles. Lebrun scrambled up, beginning a zig-zag run for the wall in the castle grounds about fifty yards away. The shooting started. He ran to the right, bullets whistling past. Sentries on the path had him well in their sights and fired. He reached the bottom of the slope, bullets hitting the wall behind him. Lebrun leapt up, scrambling the ten feet over the wall and running away through the trees, shots raining after him.

He made for the nearby wood, working his way through and crossing the river twice to throw the dogs off his scent. The NCO in charge at the park made the decision to return the prisoners to the castle guardroom. Hauptmann Roland Eggers observed that ‘he might have done better to climb the wall and go off in pursuit himself.’

The alarm sounded as Lebrun neared the edge of the wood. Now he had to remain out of sight from the nearby civilian population. The Germans would bring out the police, Home Guard, Hitler Youth and dogs to search for him. He opted to hide in a cornfield, walking slowly backwards, lifting up the flattened corn as he went along. Hiding and opting to move by night was worth the risk against being discovered in the hours before darkness.

lubbockonline

The weather quickly deteriorated with a spell of heavy rain. Dressed in his sleeveless leather tunic, shorts and plimsolls, there was little choice but to remain where he was until nightfall. Anyone walking through the downpour dressed as he was would arouse immediate suspicion. There is no doubt that the weather hampered the searches and the dogs were unable to stay on his trail.

The rain continued throughout the evening. Once it was completely dark Lebrun set off following the River Mulde to the south-west, hiding by day and travelling by night. The bad weather continued until the morning of 5 July when the sunshine returned. Even though it was summer, the days and nights wearing the same soaking wet clothing must have been testing.



Zwickau - burgermeister-online.com

 

As soon as his clothes had dried sufficiently he walked into the town of Zwickau (50 miles from Colditz) and managed to steal a bicycle. Switzerland was still 400 miles away, but he might pass off as a German cyclist, possibly touring the area. There is a suggestion that he was able to bluff his way through some situations with the cover story that he was an Italian officer on leave from the front who had decided to tour some of the land of his country’s ally.

 

travellerspoint.com

After 8 days travel, incredibly LeBrun reached Switzerland and freedom. He was the third man to make a home run from Colditz. All of them were French officers who had made their escape via the park.  

 

In his cell he had left his kit tied up and addressed to himself in unoccupied Vichy France with a note  'Should I succeed, I should be obliged by the dispatch of my effects to me at the following address - Lieut. Pierre Mairesse-LeBrun, Orange (Vaucluse). May God help me.' The Germans at Colditz sent the items on to the address.

 

Sources

 

The Colditz Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC

 

Colditz The Full Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC

Colditz the German Viewpoint - Reinhold Eggers

Colditz-Oflag IVC - Michael McInally

 

Author's Notes
 

©Keith Morley


THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish it to appear on this site, please message me with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed

Colditz - The Park Part Two

Lieutenant Pierre Mairesse Lebrun - strijdbewijs.nl

French Lieutenant Pierre Mairesse Lebrun made his first escape from Colditz on 9 June 1941 by climbing into the rafters of an open sided pavilion in the middle of the park used for exercise. Fellow POW’s had created a series of innocent looking diversions to enable Lebrun to make the move without being seen by the guards. He was able to hide himself away until after the exercise party had left the park and was not detected by the dogs sent in for a final check of the area.

This was less than two weeks after Lieutenant Rene Collin had successfully escaped via the same method of concealment. He was not recaptured, so it is likely that Lebrun was sticking to the same plan. For his absence to remain unnoticed, it was necessary for the head count at the park (taken before the prisoners were marched back to the castle) to tally with:

The agreed total before they initially left the castle

The total when they first arrived at the park

The total when they reached the castle after being marched back from the park.

(See previous post for security measures taken by the Germans in relation to the daily park exercise).

The count was manipulated by concealing a very small Belgian officer Sous Lieutenant Verkest at the outgoing count parade from the castle. He had clamped his legs around a fellow POW’s thighs whilst two others supported him by the elbows. The man in the middle wrapped his coat and some blankets around the Belgian and then unfolded a German newspaper to conceal the deception. It was then easy for Verkest to cover Lebrun at the returning counts.

A bugle blown from one of the castle windows was the POWs signal that the absence had not been noticed. Lieutenant Verkest had covered successfully and Lebrun was clear to make his exit from Colditz. He climbed down from the rafters and successfully negotiated the park fence and wall. He was wearing a smart grey suit which had been made from pyjamas sent to him during the winter.

Lebrun did not go to Colditz station, but walked the six miles to Grossbothen to catch a train to Leipzig. All was going well until he tried to pay for his ticket. The 100 mark note was out of date as it was from 1924 during the reign of King Wilhelm 11.(hidden for months in a nutshell inside a jar of jam after arriving in a next of kin food parcel)



A early picture of Grossbothen Station - Wikipedia

He was taken to the stationmaster’s office and detained there.

Hauptmann Roland Eggers of Colditz described how they received a phone call one evening from Grossbothen station:

‘They asked if anyone was missing. No. Why should there be? We have a man under here under guard. Might be one of your PW’s. He asked for a ticket just now and offered us out of date money for it – an old blue 100 mark note. He can’t be German.…

We fetched the man in; it was Lieut Mairesse-Lebrun. He was dressed in the smartest civilian clothes, complete with monocle.'

Eggers recorded that they had no idea how Lebrun got out and naturally he had refused to tell them. It was worrying because there was clearly an exit from the camp via the park and the prisoners were using it ‘sparingly and successfully.’ (The Germans did not know how either Alain LeRay or Rene Collin had made their escapes)

Lebrun received 21 days in the cells for his attempt. It must have been frustrating being thwarted by something as simple as an out of date banknote. Before arriving at Colditz he had already escaped twice from camps and had reached Switzerland on the first occasion without realising; drifting back to the German side and being arrested by a patrol.

Here was no ordinary soldier. Within weeks of the German attack on France in May 1940 Lebrun had already been awarded the Croix de Guerre and Legion d’Honneur. He defended his post at Chatel sur Mosel to stop the Germans crossing the Moselle until the day  France officially capitulated. With communication as it was, he had no knowledge of the latter stages of the Battle of France or the demand for an armistice on 17 June. He simply followed orders to the last, surrendering on 22 June with half of his men lost and the rest out of ammunition. The next day he found himself lined up with fellow officers in front of German machine guns ready for execution following the murder of a sentry overnight by one of his men. The execution was only stopped at the last moment when one of the French Lieutenants standing alongside Lebrun broke ranks and made himself known to a German officer who had arrived to supervise proceedings. The Lieutenant had worked opposite the German in Berlin before the war whilst in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Stubenarrest cell 

As soon as he began his spell on solitary Stubenarrest in the Colditz cells Lebrun planned his next escape. It was arguably one of the most simple, daring and almost suicidal attempts to get away from the castle.        

Sources

Colditz The Full Story – Major P R Reid MBE MC

 

The Colditz Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC

Colditz the German Viewpoint - Reinhold Eggers

(All are recommended reads)

Author's Notes
 
©Keith Morley

THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish it to appear on this site, please message me with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed

Colditz - The Park Part One

The Park with Colditz Castle in the Middle Background - virtualcolditz.com

 
On 31 May 1941, two days after the failed canteen tunnel attempt (see previous posts) Frenchman Lieutenant Rene Collin escaped from Colditz by hiding himself in the rafters of the park shelter in the outside exercise area. 
 
What is significant is that Collin’s escape (second home run from Colditz) originated from the POWs being led out of the castle daily for afternoon exercise in the park area below. Fellow Frenchman Lieutenant Alain Le Ray had made perfect use of a blind spot from the sentries on his walk back from the park under guard on Good Friday 11 April, having dived out of a line of prisoners and hid in the cellar of a house (see past posts).

Other escape attempts around the park would follow, but before these are examined it is crucial to have an awareness of the ‘end to end’ process around the POW’s exercise in the park area, and the circumstances surrounding that ‘privilege’ which became a nightmare for the Germans. It must have been frustrating for the captors to have to operate this facility outside of the main castle under the terms of the Geneva Convention. Colditz had bars on every window, high walls on all sides of the prisoner’s courtyard and the POWs were surrounded by sentries, barbed wire, and searchlights at night. The prisoners were also kept on the move inside the castle by way of regular relocation. This made tunnelling and storage of materials and money more difficult.

Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, the Kommandant was required to let POW’s out of the main castle security area for around two hours daily for ‘fresh air and exercise’. How this was interpreted was open to manoeuvre, as technically the courtyard within the main castle area (45 x 35 yards in size and open air) was deemed as suitable. There was no mention in the articles of the Convention about minimum space required or a need for grass and trees. The Kommandant viewed use of the park as a privilege and concession for the POWs, so when there was trouble in the castle, exercise in the park was stopped.

The POWs then complained that they had lost their access to fresh air and were being collectively punished for something that that may not have involved them. These were both deemed breaches of the Convention by the British and following complaints to the Swiss Government (protecting power for Great Britain & Commonwealth POW’s) the Swiss took the issue up with the German High Command and the walk was deemed a right which must continue and not a concession. It is interesting that the daily average of POW’s taking up this ‘right’ was relatively small with numbers (excluding occasional peaks) ranging between 5 and 20% daily.

Some of the escape attempts reached the height of creativity and sheer daring, but the security procedures operated by the Germans were typically well organised and it is not easy to find fault with the drills followed:

Minimum number of POWs was thirty.
 
At the appointed time, they would be let out of their courtyard to form up in five ranks between the guardroom and castle archway.

Prisoners were counted and the number entered in a book.

Guards flanked the column on either side with a German NCO at one end, an officer at the other and a dog(s).

Prisoners were ordered to take a right turn, quick march under the archway, half left across the yard and turn right through the outer gate on to the roadway.
 

  
After 150 yards the column turned left off the road and then right down a steep path with a hairpin back to the stream at the bottom of a small valley. Between the top and the stream the path did run close to some buildings.

There were 2 gates on the path, one at the start by the roadway and another further down from the buildings. On the path there one or two spots where sentries could be momentarily unsighted (see posts on Le Ray escape).

 

Gate to the path -  war 44



The POWs turned right over the bridge into the wired enclosure and the column halted, where a second count was taken.
 
The enclosure had a six foot barbed wire fence around it, with a standard warning wire about a foot high and a yard inside. Anyone stepping inside that would be liable to be shot.
  
At one part of the enclosure there as an open sided summer house. The far end of the area was bounded by a ten foot high park wall which ran down one side of the valley across the stream and through forty yards of flat ground and then up the other slope.

Guards marched to positions outside the wire all around the area at 30 yard intervals.

POWs were then allowed to move around freely inside the enclosure.

After an hour the whistle blew, the party assembled in formation and another count was taken.
  
The guards were brought back in from outside the wire and the party marched back to the castle. Dogs and handlers were left behind to check the enclosure in case the count had been manipulated. 

The walk back across the bridge and up the pathway  - virtualcolditz.com

Back outside the gate to the castle yard a fourth count took place and if everything tallied the POWs were let back in to the castle.
                                                                                 *

In reality, getting the POWs to the park and back without incident required a substantial input of manpower. Colditz Hauptmann Roland Eggers later recorded

‘…and so found ourselves with a problem on our hands that needed as much attention for two hours daily …as the whole camp required for the twenty four hours day and night together for anything up to 600 of them.’
 
The column of walkers dawdled and delayed, some quickened, some slowed.
  
Eggers wrote,

‘No one kept step with anyone else. Certainly no one ever marched. ..crocodiling around the corners, concertinaing on the straight bits, jostling in the gateway, pointing, calling back, calling forward, dropping things, causing the whole time some kind of diversion. And all the same again on the way back.’
 
The initial exit from the castle was equally difficult with POWs wandering through the gate one by one, delaying, going back to call a comrade to join them. The last minute rush before the gate closed became a regular occurrence and the combination of uniform and clothing to suit what they would be doing was often a rag tag affair making it difficult to recognise anyone. Once at the park the men could be playing football, running, swinging on the bar provided, walking, talking, reading in a corner, gardening in a small seed bed, hiding contraband or checking out possibilities for escape.


Next week – The Escapes


Sources

Colditz The German Viewpoint - Reinhold Eggers (Highly recommended read)

Author's Notes

virtualcolditz .com (recommended site)
 

©Keith Morley

THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish it to appear on this site, please message me with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.