2nd Lt Mitchener was captured as a POW after a bombing raid in Germany during World War II; he was subsequently sent to Stalag Luft III, and kept a diary/scrapbook. It survived and was scanned into the Tennessee State Library & Archives

In July 1941, Hardy A. Mitchener, Jr. enlisted in the Air Force 

Second Lieutenant Mitchener, navigator for a B-17G of 351st Bombardment Group, stationed in Polebrook, England, was shot down and captured on May 30, 1944, after a bombing mission in Oschersleben, Germany, and sent to Stalag Luft III shortly thereafter.  

During his stay at this POW camp in Sagan, Germany, known principally for the famous "Great Escape" that took place in March 1944, Mitchener kept a diary of his experiences.

Stalag Luft III was run by the German Luftwaffe, thus allowing for at least a modicum of respect between the prisoners and captors, although conditions were by no means comfortable. It was certainly preferable to imprisonment under the SS, however. Stalag Luft III is located in present-day Zagan, Poland, but at the time, it was a remote part of German territory and called Sagan. 

Kriege means prisoners

The region was rich in coal but rather cold and barren during the wintertime. Known as Silesia, the soil was also notoriously sandy, which made escape via underground digging difficult. Despite the unforgiving geography, a number of British airmen were able to mastermind the famous "Great Escape" in March 1944.

These are only the pages I selected for my purposes, click the link to see the entire book https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/mitchener/search/searchterm/Hardy%20A.%20Mitchener%2C%20Jr.%20Journal%2C%201944-1945/field/collec/mode/exact/conn/and

I bet no history class in America is showing this to students... real no shit day to day WW2 POW life. 

I love everything about this, it's real history, a soldiers life, art, poetry, and scrapbook of WW2 experience

https://cdm15138.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/mitchener/search/searchterm/Mitchener%2C%20Hardy%20A.%2C%201919-1957/field/creato/mode/exact/conn/and/page/3

Mitchener grew up in Nashville in the Inglewood area and graduated from Isaac Litton High School in 1936. While in high school, he was voted "Wittiest Boy" and "Friendliest Boy," according to his senior yearbook, "The Littonian." He attended Vanderbilt University for a year and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He returned home from the war without physical injury but died at an early age from cancer. He was only 38. 

Many details about his life upon his return home have been difficult to uncover, but he is known to have married Estelle Wadell in 1948. They had no children. Mitchener had one sister, Margaret. It is likely that his diary was in her possession in 1993 when she died; the diary was acquired by TSLA in 1994. 

Mitchener died 1957 at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville and is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

This is only the 3rd POW book I've ever come across, the 1st was an incredible book about cars, that the British prisoners made similar to how a magazine would talk about cars and events.  https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-most-amazing-thing-i-saw-today-book.html and in that link you'll see why I had to buy a copy, as they are in print, on Amazon. Also, that's where I posted about the other book that was found in a used book store

I jusdt remembered, there is one other, and that is the amazing diary / sketchbook of George Rarey. I got myself one copy from the tips from cool readers, for Christmas. They can be purchased on Amazon, for about 100 dollars https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/02/i-had-not-known-p-47s-had-nose-art-too.html 

Now, if this post of a POW scrapbook don't make your day, I don't know what will.