Dr TM Park's memoirs
Title
Dr TM Park's memoirs
Description
Dr Park's memoirs relating to the Long March.
1. Summary of two typed accounts of the Gresse Bombing during the Long March from Stalag 357 (Fallingbostel) in 1945.
Dr Park left Fallingbostel as part of a column, 1500 strong. The column mainly RAF and Army Prisoners Of War, also included some Australian Army Prisoners Of War. Together with Royal Army Medical Corp orderlies and a young German soldier, Walter Gunther, they brought up the rear of the column, helped the lame who fell back and, at night, tended to the sick. After several days march they congregated in Gresse village where ‘Dixie’ Dean had organised the distribution of Red Cross parcels. When they had received their parcels, the column moved out of the village onto a secondary road and halted to rest, Dr Park remained at the rear whilst, in the middle of the column, the Methodist padre, Cpt Malcolm Norton and a New Zealand, Church Army officer, Cpt Cecil Wright talked to the men. After a short time the column came under rocket attack from Typhoon aircraft. The aircraft made three passes before leaving. Dr Park went up the column, surveyed the wounded and reported the numbers needing further treatment to Dixie Dean who arranged for them to be taken to hospital. Dr Park and the Australian doctor, Cpt Myer treated the wounded. There were 30 British Army Prisoners Of War and up to 12 German guards killed in the attack. They were buried in the village churchyard.
2. Transcript of telephone conversation with Dr Park.
In the telephone conversation Dr Park could not remember particular prisoners he treated, except for a little Glaswegian who was killed. He discusses the extent of wounds Prisoners Of War suffered from the attack and the assistance he and Cpt Myer received from a German farmer.
3. Letter from Heather at ‘The Reader's Digest’ to Cornelius Ryan.
The letter, dated 3 February 1964, refers to previous correspondence about a letter she had written to Dr Park asking if he could remember the identity of a Scotsman that was killed.
4. A handwritten letter and a typed transcript from Dr Park to Heather Chapman
The letter, dated 30 January 1964, refers to 2 victims of the attack. He identifies the first as Cpl Downie of the Cameroonians, possibly as coming from Glasgow, who had been a Prisoner Of War since Dunkirk. The second was a young RAF boy, whose name he could not recall. He had suffered a small headwound and died about an hour after being wounded.
5. Letter from Geoffrey Wilson to 'Ladies'.
The letter, dated 28 February 1963, informs the ladies of an unpublished manuscript they may have been interested to see. It was about an incident that had stood out in his mind and had been mentioned in their broadcast that afternoon. It also extols the virtues of 'Dixie Dean' and mentions other incidents that occurred on the march.
6. Notes by Geoffrey Wilson, Prisoner Of War, Fallinbostel.
The notes relate to when Geoffrey Wilson was shot down near Schwerin in Northern Germany, camp life in Fallingbostal, and the observations and incidents that occurred on the march when they were told the war was over.
1. Summary of two typed accounts of the Gresse Bombing during the Long March from Stalag 357 (Fallingbostel) in 1945.
Dr Park left Fallingbostel as part of a column, 1500 strong. The column mainly RAF and Army Prisoners Of War, also included some Australian Army Prisoners Of War. Together with Royal Army Medical Corp orderlies and a young German soldier, Walter Gunther, they brought up the rear of the column, helped the lame who fell back and, at night, tended to the sick. After several days march they congregated in Gresse village where ‘Dixie’ Dean had organised the distribution of Red Cross parcels. When they had received their parcels, the column moved out of the village onto a secondary road and halted to rest, Dr Park remained at the rear whilst, in the middle of the column, the Methodist padre, Cpt Malcolm Norton and a New Zealand, Church Army officer, Cpt Cecil Wright talked to the men. After a short time the column came under rocket attack from Typhoon aircraft. The aircraft made three passes before leaving. Dr Park went up the column, surveyed the wounded and reported the numbers needing further treatment to Dixie Dean who arranged for them to be taken to hospital. Dr Park and the Australian doctor, Cpt Myer treated the wounded. There were 30 British Army Prisoners Of War and up to 12 German guards killed in the attack. They were buried in the village churchyard.
2. Transcript of telephone conversation with Dr Park.
In the telephone conversation Dr Park could not remember particular prisoners he treated, except for a little Glaswegian who was killed. He discusses the extent of wounds Prisoners Of War suffered from the attack and the assistance he and Cpt Myer received from a German farmer.
3. Letter from Heather at ‘The Reader's Digest’ to Cornelius Ryan.
The letter, dated 3 February 1964, refers to previous correspondence about a letter she had written to Dr Park asking if he could remember the identity of a Scotsman that was killed.
4. A handwritten letter and a typed transcript from Dr Park to Heather Chapman
The letter, dated 30 January 1964, refers to 2 victims of the attack. He identifies the first as Cpl Downie of the Cameroonians, possibly as coming from Glasgow, who had been a Prisoner Of War since Dunkirk. The second was a young RAF boy, whose name he could not recall. He had suffered a small headwound and died about an hour after being wounded.
5. Letter from Geoffrey Wilson to 'Ladies'.
The letter, dated 28 February 1963, informs the ladies of an unpublished manuscript they may have been interested to see. It was about an incident that had stood out in his mind and had been mentioned in their broadcast that afternoon. It also extols the virtues of 'Dixie Dean' and mentions other incidents that occurred on the march.
6. Notes by Geoffrey Wilson, Prisoner Of War, Fallinbostel.
The notes relate to when Geoffrey Wilson was shot down near Schwerin in Northern Germany, camp life in Fallingbostal, and the observations and incidents that occurred on the march when they were told the war was over.
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
14 typewritten sheets with some handwritten annotations
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Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SDeansJAG-ParkTMv1
Collection
Citation
“Dr TM Park's memoirs,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 14, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/60062.