Charles B. Sewell papers

Charles B. Sewell (1918-1991) was an alumnus of the University of Maryland (Class of 1949). Sewell had enlisted in the United States Army in 1941 when the United States entered World War II, volunteering to be sent to the frontlines in Europe. Sewell served as a turret gunner in the 8th Air Force, 100th Bomber Group, and in 1944, his plane was shot down over Berlin. The crew was subsequently captured by Nazi soldiers. Sewell spent nearly a year as a prisoner of war, first at Stalag Luft IV in Stettin, Germany; at Nuremburg; and finally at Mooseberg, which was liberated by General George Patton and the 88th Tank Battalion in April 1945. After returning to the United States, Sewell acquired his general equivalency diploma (G. E. D.) and enrolled in the University of Maryland in 1946. The collection consists of a photocopy of Sewell's wartime diary kept during his time as a POW, contemporary newspaper accounts of his capture and incarceration, and oral histories of Sewell's fellow POWs.