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https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1259/17144/MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-17.2.pdf
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Title
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Whitehead, Tom
T Whitehead
Description
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31 items and an album sub collection. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Tom Whitehead (b. 1923) who served as a rear gunner with 428 Squadron operating from RAF Dalton in Yorkshire. He was shot down over Duisburg and became a prisoner of war. Collection includes his prisoner of war logbook, official correspondence to his mother, official documentation, letters from the Caterpillar Club, German prisoner of war propaganda, 14 editions of the Red Cross prisoner of war newspaper and photographs of Royal Air Force personnel including himself.
Album in sub collection consists of 47 pages of prisoner of war related photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Pamela Hyslop and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2018-03-07
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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.
Identifier
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Whitehead, T
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The Prisoner of War
The official journal of the prisoner of war department of the red cross and st. John war organisation, St. James palace, London, S.W.1
Vol. 2. No. 13. Free to Next of Kin May, 1943.
The Editor Writes -
In view of the allegations which have been made in Parliament and elsewhere about conditions in Italian camps, and especially in Campo P.G.5. I am glad to be able to print some reassuring first-hand statements about prison camp life in Italy. The first is from Commander L.M. Brown, R.N., D.S.C., repatriated direct from P.G.5.
Prison Life in Italy
“The Italians,” he says “are always in my experience, kindly and well-disposed, but they are terrified of escapes. Their good intentions are not, however, always carried out in practise. When attempts are made to escape, it is the prison authorities rather than the prisoners who are most severely punished. That is why they limit the exercise space and remove many hobbies which would otherwise keep the prisoners amused. My only complaint is that they do not provide anything by way of recreational facilities – particularly at P.G.5. where everybody who had been punished was sent. Other complaints about this camp are mainly exaggerations.” (See also page 13.)
A Signal from the C.-in-C.
By way of postscript to Commander Brown I may refer to a signal from the Commander-in-Chief Levant to the Admiralty saying that the recently repatriated naval prisoners of war from Italy “unanimously express their sincere gratitude” for the food and comforts parcels sent out by the British Red Cross and distributed through the International Red Cross Committee.
From the Model Camp
Writing to his father in Hull from “the model camp of Italy” a denizen of Campo P.G.52 testifies: “Everything is done for our comfort and convenience. The Camp Commander is a perfect gentleman. We get a Red Cross parcel between two of us twice a week.” A gunner in Campo P.G.54 reports that his camp is situated in quite a pleasant spot not far from Rome, green countryside all around and a range of mountains in the distance. “Our enclosure,” he says, “does not allow much room for exercise but we are allowed out for walks at frequent intervals.”
Fine New Huts
And here is yet further good news from an Italian camp – P.G.73 – contained in a letter to a Reigate reader from her husband. “We are now housed in our new huts,” he writes,
[Picture]
Red Cross parcels arriving at Stalag 383, formerly known as Oflag III C – drawn by an inmate!
“Which are really fine places and 100 per cent. improvement on the tents, really modern and, above all, considerably warmer. There seems nothing to worry about on this side, so please keep smiling.” His wife says that her letters to Italy are getting through much more quickly than replies from there. From P.G.82 comes a message that next-of-kin parcels and cigarette parcels are arriving daily. Red Cross parcels every week. Main items wanted are “books, cigs, chocs, socks and hankies.”
Happy Returns!
This is our Birthday Number. It is a year ago since we appeared for the first time and I am happy to say that we have made friends all over the world. My birthday wish to our readers can only be “Speedy happy returns of your menfolk!” And I should like to quote from two letters that have reached me. One – from Redcar – says: “Keep on editing, editor. You’re doing a grand job and we know it. So do the chaps behind the wire. So keep up the good work till they’re home again.” The other: “I imagine every single copy of your magazine is more widely circulated and shared than any other paper.”
Photostat Journalism
Special arrangements, unique in the history of journalism, have now been made for the publication of [italic] The Prisoner of War [/italic] in Canada within a few days of its appearance in this country. One of the first copies printed in London is sent off by air mail to Ottawa, where some 15,000 copies are reproduced by Photostat with certain modifications and additions conveying suitable information for Canadian readers. I have just seen
[Page break]
2 The Prisoner of War May, 1943
a grateful letter from a lady living in Edmonton, Alberta, expressing appreciation of an article we published about Otlag IVC where her son has been prisoner for nearly two years.
Adventures in Kriegieland
A flying officer thus sets down his fantastic first impressions of Stalag Luft 111:
“An ardent individual clothed in a pair of pyjama trousers and an old scout’s hat, perched on a tree stump in the midday heat, a little way from the wire, diligently executing the chromatic scale on a saxophone. I was amazed at the indifference of the sentry in the box a few yards off and of the ‘Kriegies’ [sic] (prisoners of war), marching round the perimeter track, busily, quickly, in little knots of two or three, as if they had somewhere to go, a train to catch perhaps – or an important meeting to attend.
“Then there were the dozen or so yachtsmen, skilfully navigating homemade sailing boats round the fire squad’s 12 feet square reservoir. Some wore old socks on their heads, cut down R.A.F. trousers served as shorts, pyjama jackets, shawls and other quaint swathings [sic] abounded....
“I’m sure that only the season prevented the March Hare turning up at tea-time. Kriegieland — A land stranger much than fiction.”
Up-to-date Lantern Lectures
Red Cross lantern slides are now obtainable on loan, free of charge by schools, clubs and associations. These are in two sets, (1) “Red Cross and St Johns – Past and Present,” and (2) “Work of Red Cross and St. John for Prisoners of War.” Written lectures are issued with each collection and posters and leaflets can be obtained on request. Apply three weeks in advance of your date fixture to: Lantern Slides, Red Cross and St. John War Organisation, 24, Carlton House Terrace, London, S.W.1.
Examination Success
Since the inception of the scheme for holding examinations in prisoners of war camps, there have been more than 2,000 applications from candidates. Another 2,000 are working for exams, and about 400 have already sat for them in 13 different camps. In the results published up to date, 212 out of 262 passed, some with distinction. Subjects studied range from Banking and Economics to Gasfitting [sic] and there are now more than seventy examining bodies, including universities, professional societies and technical institutions.
Some prisoners are particularly interested in modern languages, and not all confine themselves to the European. Some want certificates in Malay, Swahili and Chinese!
Settling In
When prisoners are moved from one camp to another they are apt to feel a little uprooted. Other parents and friends may have read words like these: “I cannot say too much at present. Like everything else that is new, it seems a bit strange. We are still busy settling in.” But the letter continues cheerfully: “We are all living in a large house, just one big happy family.” And the surroundings strike a familiar note. This P.O.W. in Campo P.G.122 has seen scenery like this before. It is “very similar to the Great West Road round about Osterley.”
A gift from Italy
News has only just reached me of a most remarkable Christmas present. It appears that every man in Campo P.G.82 wrote home to his next of kin with instructions to send to the Red Cross a Christmas contribution on his behalf – “as a token of appreciation of the great work that Red Cross is doing for us.” A major in this camp who writes to inform us of this touching spontaneous tribute says that the total achieved was £1,344 sterling.
Am I downhearted? No
“Twenty-three to-day and my fourth birthday away from Blighty,” writes her brother in a Stalag to Elsie Morris, in Bolton. “Am I downhearted? No, far from it, for during these three years I’ve learnt more than in all the previous ones put together. I realise the real value of things. I get a kick out of doing something I detest, knowing that in doing so I am climbing one rung nearer the top of the ladder and not slipping the entire length to the mud beneath.”
Pain from Over-eating
A Westbury-on-Trym [sic] reader is anxious that I should print an extract from a letter from his brother Jim in Stalag XXB, because it will ease the minds of some who have relatives there. “I am really and truthfully O.K.” writes Jim.
[Picture]
Bathing at Stalag XVIII A.
“At present I have a pain in my stomach through over-eating! Seems funny to you, perhaps, but it’s God’s truth. The Red Cross food I’ve knocked back to-day would last a camel a week.”
So Very Tasty
Some prisoners show considerable ingenuity in the way they use the contents of the Red Cross parcels. Here is a “lovely breakfast” recipe from a Lincolnshire man in Campo P.G.70. “I mixed the Yorkshire pudding powder with grated cheese, and sliced some dates, and had it cooked in the cookhouse.” Rather a queer concoction, but its inventor says it was marvellous. He also says that he is in the pink of condition and has had “quite a lot of mail” from home.
Thanks from overseas.
Malta, Palestine, Trinidad and Southern India — readers in all those countries are represented in my mailbag this month. “In our village (Tel-mond, Palestine) are many families of P/W,” writes Mrs. Glezer, “and all of them are glad to read the journal for which I send the greatest of thanks.” Mrs. Ortensia Stafrace writes to St. James’s Palace from Valetta: “I wish to renew my thanks to you and your staff for what you are doing for me and many others and for keeping me in touch with my dear husband ... and I assure you I will remain obliged to you till death.”
“It Brings Them Nearer”
“In the last issue there is a bit about Ian’s new camp. It seems to bring our boys nearer to us.” Ian is the flying officer son of Mrs Bourne, who writes from Trinidad to express her appreciation of [italic] The Prisoner of War [/italic]. Mrs Barker, writing from Bangalore, is no less enthusiastic, and says that she is justly proud of her husband who, is [sic] spite of his 30 years’ service, seems to bear the ordeal of an exile’s life very well. He had been Camp Sergeant Major at Campo P.G.65 until he was transferred to another camp.
Red Cross Sunday
Sunday, May 2nd, will be celebrated in churches throughout the country as Red Cross and St. John Sunday. Special prayers recommended for the occasion include the prayer for Prisoners of War which was specially written by the Dean of York (Dr. Milner White) and published in our January issue.
The Editor Regrets
To those who have asked whether they can be put in touch with other next of kin I must regretfully announce that it is impossible for this journal to undertake that responsibility. Introductions must be made direct by your men in the camps.
THE EDITOR.
[Page break]
May, 1943, The Prisoner of War, 3.
[Picture]
“...still something to lean on.”
ALL in the DAY’S WORK
Many and Varied are the Jobs Done by Members of Working Parties
[Picture]
“....caught bricks, carried bricks and cursed bricks.”
Prisoners who are members of working parties often write home to say that they are putting on weight. “It’s not fat either, but good hard muscle,” writes one of the men at a German Stalag.
They are the happiest prisoners, for usually work carries with it certain extra privileges and extra rations, and the men get a small rate of pay.
Most of the labour is out-of-doors, which explains the good health which prisoners proudly report to their people at home.
Under International Law it was agreed that P.O.W.s who are physically fit can be employed on work not directly connected with the operations of war. Officers cannot be compelled to work, but may volunteer to do so.
Types of work
The types of labour vary and include plumbing, bricklaying, quarrying and factory work. A few prisoners work in coal and salt mines, some do clerical work, and a considerable number work on the land, and are billeted with the farmer or in one of his cottages. Some, however, live in a special camp near the farm.
The following description of “home conditions” in a farm cottage comes from Germany. The writer has christened his billet “Chez Nous.”
“We have two rooms, one large, one small. The small one we use as a washroom. The larger one is our bedroom, dining-room, ballroom – to suit the occasion.
“The bedsteads are two-tier bunks. The beds are palliasses [sic] filled with straw. WE have two fires – that is, one fireplace which we use for heating water and preparing our little Red Cross dishes, and an oven for heating purposes.
“We have a cupboard with shelves where we keep our belongings, on top of which is a small bookcase, which I made out of Red Cross boxes. Then we have a table and chairs, of course. Various photographs are hung around the room, and, naturally, I consider my collection on the wall above my bed to be the finest on show.”
Prisoners working on farms often get a certain amount of liberty. One of them, describing his working day, says: “’Aufstehen’ is at 5 o’clock. I wash and clean my teeth, and then six of us start our daily walk to the farm. I leave Mervyn and his mate about half a kilometre along the road, then another half-kilometre and we leave the other two ‘gefangeners.’ That leaves Dick Holt and myself to find our way along a canal bank for another kilometre to our farm. Then till 7.30 I help get green fodder for the horses, after which I get the horse and van ready and take the milk to the milk lorry. I come back, have ‘Fruhstuck’ and do a bit of threshing until dinner-time.
Threshing Until Vesper
“In the afternoon I do more threshing until ‘Vesper’ at 4 o’clock, after which we do various odd jobs till 7 o’clock, have a wash, then supper, and a walk back to the billet.”
However they are employed, the men seem to be glad to have the work to do.
One of them writes: “The work I do varies quite often, and at the moment I am working in a machine and blacksmith’s shop. Can you imagine me wielding a hammer on an anvil?”
Another comments: “We have a variety of jobs, such as digging, road-building and work connected with the building trade.”
And from another comes the following:
“This week quite a large gang went out on a working-party – plumbers, bricklayers, carpenters, labourers, and there is hope of plenty of work soon. I should like to get out as it entails extra rations.”
A prisoner who works in a quarry insists, rather surprisingly, that his work is easy. “The best job is running the stones to the station so as to unload it – about twenty minutes’ work and an hour and a half riding about on the lorry. We manage to see a bit of the town this way.”
Here is the wide experience with bricks gained by a prisoner who in other days was a bank clerk, recounted to his sister: ‘I have been putting up blocks of flats. As to my methods – Heath Robinson hasn’t a look in! I’ve handled bricks, stacked bricks, thrown bricks, caught bricks, carried bricks and cursed bricks. In fact, what I haven’t done to a brick has never been done.”
Relegated to a Shovel
Another joker remarks that he has been “sacked from the constructional job and relegated to a shovel . . . still something to lean on!”
A P.O.W. in Stalag VIIIB is quite sure that a regular job is a good means of keeping well. He writes: “I am now with my third working party and feeling very pleased and contented with life in general. We return from work by three in the afternoon with a healthy glow and feeling as fit as we have ever felt.” This prisoner mentions that there are sixty in his present camp and that they are “a grand crowd of fellows.”
In one camp the pay is quoted as “70 pfennig, that is, about 9d. a day. But we can’t spend it on much, so some of us will be millionaires when the war’s over!”
No chance of that, perhaps! Rather let us say that when the war is over, these men will come home in better health and spirits than would have been possible if they had been confined to their camps without any occupation.
[Picture]
Members of a working party attached to Stalag VIII B/E 373. In the background is the cottage in which they live.
[Page break}
4 The Prisoner of War May, 1943
[Underlined] The Far East [/Underlined] [Underlined] A Broadcast from Java [/Underlined]
LIFE IN A JAPANESE PRISON CAMP
[italic] Lieutenant J. Lambert, a young Artillery officer, is a prisoner of war in Java, and on March 6th he was allowed by the Japanese authorities to broadcast on the Batavian Service to Australia. Lieutenant Lambert, who was formerly a journalist in Preston and Nottingham, gave an interesting account of the daily life in the Javanese prison camp, and we reprint some extracts from his account. It should be borne in mind that the script of the broadcast was censored by the Japanese authorities.
LIEUTENANT LAMBERT had been a prisoner for two days short of one year when he spoke. After being captured the men were assembled at a railway head and then, leaving the terminus, they marched at night loaded with all the gear they could carry to the camp itself.
For a week afterwards there was furious activity, “scrubbing, hammering, digging, grading, counting, sorting out mixed units, until the place was roughly organised. It was soon obvious that there was going to be a job of work for everybody in the task of preserving a reasonably healthy and cheerful community in a prison camp within six degrees of the Equator.
“The necessary organisation included just as much administrative work as though we had been living a normal garrison life, plus the establishment of hygiene and sanitation squads, anti-malaria service, engineers’ workshop, central cookhouse, kitchen garden squad, facilities for religious worship, entertainments and, above all, our own medical service.
“Living accommodation in general consists of sound buildings, plentifully ventilated. There is at all times plenty of freedom to move about in the open, within the boundary wife of the camp area. The traditional genius of the British soldier for making himself comfortable was never more obvious than it is here. We brought in a good many tools with us and any sort of available wood soon become primitive furniture.
“Officers have exactly the same type of quarters as the men. Meals are based on the steamed rice which is the staple diet of the Eastern Asiatic races. It is accompanied by soup or stew, made of plentiful green vegetables with a certain amount of meat and there is enough flour for a bread ration once a day. To supplement these rations we have our own shop, buying, under Japanese supervision from local sources, and one can get eggs, fruit, sugar, peanuts, onions, potatoes, cigarettes and native tobacco.
“The Japanese employ large numbers of men on work outside the camps, and for each day’s work the men are paid. In
[Picture]
A group of prisoners at Zentsuji camp, Shikoku Island, Japan.
addition, camp maintenance staffs are paid. A fit man can earn a small but regular income, and we have started contributory schemes of unemployment insurance and sickness benefit.
“It must be remembered, too, that most of us came here completely unacclimatised [sic], but, luckily, we had medical officers with long experience of the tropics. They certainly needed all their experience and all their energies from time to time, especially in the early months. But hospital accommodation and the supply of medical materials has greatly improved during the year. After a year of this life the men have learned a great deal about taking care of themselves in this climate, and the situation has shown steady improvement recently.
“There is any amount of recreation. Soccer and Rugby, limited to fifteen or twenty minutes each way, are played regularly, and inter-unit league games produce ‘needle’ matches with roaring crowds on the touchline. Basketball, deck-tennis and badminton supply milder forms of exercise. Chess and bridge have become absolute favourites among the indoor pastimes. Contract bridge has certainly not been reckoned among the ordinary soldier’s favourite card games as a rule, but it certainly has become one in the prison camps at Java.
“The standard of stage and concert-party entertainment is really amazing. In my own camp we have seen three colourful Shakespearean productions. We have a first-class dance band, and at the moment we are revelling in a series of shows of the light musical comedy type. We even possess a startling pair of synthetic female beauties. Two R.A.F. boys transform themselves into a dazzling blonde and a skittish redhead. At a range of five yards you’d never dream that the blonde’s crowning glory consists of the combed-out fibres of a bleached sandbag, cunningly waved and set.”
Lieutenant Lambert concludes:
“For the time being at least, and maybe until the end, we are out of the fight. We have had a year of captivity and we fully realise that we may have another year or more to face. But my own feeling is that the message to you all from prisoners of war in the Far East is this: “We can take it. Please don’t let any anxiety for us distract you from the job in hand.”
Official Reports on Camps
SIR JAMES GRIGG, secretary of State for War, stated in the House of Commons last month that the Delegate of the International Red Cross Committee in Tokio [sic] had recently visited six camps in the Osaka group and seven in the Fukuoka group. The following reports have been received from Geneva:-
OSAKA GROUP OF CAMPS
Nine camps in the neighbourhood of Osaka and Kobe are administered as one group. The principle camp is in Osaka and another is in Kobe, and two others, Amagasaki and Sakurajima are near these two adjoining cities. These four camps contain British prisoners of war from Hong Kong. The camps are described as clean and tidy.
At Kobe a four-storey brick warehouse is used to accommodate the prisoners. The buildings in the other camps have wooden frames and plastered walls. They are heated during the coldest weather with braziers. The men have five blankets each and sleep in two-tiered bunks. Each officer has a cubicle. There appear to be no recreation rooms.
The toilet arrangements are adequate. As is the custom in Japan, all the men bathe together in a large warm bath.
The rations are said to be satisfactory in quality, and to be superior to those issued to Japanese troops. The Camp Leaders are satisfied with the food.
The camps had all received a share of the Red Cross relief supplies sent on
(Continued on Page 14)
[Page Break]
May, 1943 The Prisoner of War 5
[photograph]
STALAG IX A/H
[photograph]
K.G.F. B.A.B.21
[photograph]
STALAGLUFT I
[photograph]
STALAG XVIIID 2981
[photograph]
STALAG IIID’404
Groups from the Camps
[photograph]
STALAG VIII B
[photograph]
STALAG XXA’5
[photograph]
CAMPO P.G.41
[Page Break]
6 The Prisoner of War May, 1943
Fun And Games
[Picture]
This model of friendly old “Big Ben” was made by a member of Stalag XXA.
Arts and Crafts at Stalag XXA
At a recent Exhibition of Arts and Crafts held at Stalag XXA one of the exhibits was the striking portrait of His Majesty King George VI. The exhibition included other clever portraits, copies of old masters and studies of animals and still life. In the modelling section friendly old “Big Ben” –reproduced on this page – was outstanding. One exhibitor, using materials to hand, arranged regimental medals against a backcloth to form the Union Jack and express the indomitable British spirit of the artists and craftsmen.
Dream Boat at Stalag XXB
“Dear Mum and Dad,” wrote a private from Stalag XXB, “we had a jolly good Christmas here; plenty of grub, thanks to the Red Cross. We also had a play called ‘Crazy Gefangeners,’ and did we enjoy it!
“ One item was a boat we had made pulled on pulleys in the dark with the light on the boat while the band played ‘When my dream boat comes home,’ ‘All ashore,’ ‘We are sailing on the crest of a wave,’ and ‘Red Sails in the Sunset.’”
“London Pride”
The camp commandant and other German officers attended a recent concert at an Oflag. It was a “roaring success,” with the Canadian Art Crighton and his Boys (Including Little Oscar on the Sousaphone) playing all the latest tunes. A New Zealander, Lee Humphries, sang hill-billies in a Canadian Rockie scene, Bruce Organ gave comedy numbers, and a grand pantomime, “Dick Whittington,” formed the finale.
In One stirring scene a cockney figure stood silhouetted against a background of the Embankment and the House of Parliament at night as he sang “London Pride.”
“Night Club” at P.G.21
Officers in the Italian camp P.G.21 (Chieti) have rigged up a large room as a “Little Theatre” where plays and variety shows are held regularly. The camp has a dance orchestra, described by a prisoner as “easily up to professional standards.” Recently the “Little Theatre” was turned into a London night club and cabaret, and a “customer” who dined at the “21 Supper and Grill” described it as “unreal and unbelievable.”
How Many Buttons?
A novel competition formed an added attraction to the ambitious revue. “London Calling,” recently produced at Stalag XXA by “The Cockneys” Concert Party. Included in the programme was a short notice inviting playgoers to guess the number of buttons on the jacket of the Pearly King — a
[Picture]
THE P.O.W’s RETURN
“Excuse me – but does Mrs. Jones live about here?”
“Yes. Er – as a matter of fact, I’m her daughter.”
“Dear me. Very pleased to meet you. I’m your father.”
(From a member of Oflag IX A/H)
member of the cast. Answers were to be written on the removable slip provided and dropped in a special box at the exit when the play was over. Meanwhile a piece of paper showing the true figure was being kept in a sealed envelope to be opened on the third night of the performance.
Valuable prizes, the audience was told, awaited those competitors whose estimates came nearest to the correct number.
Two Stalag Shows
“Tulip Time” is the charming name for a musical fairy tale presented at Stalag XXIA. One of the men at this camp recently sent the artistic printed programme, and a most professional programme it is, too. Songs, lyrics and music were all written by the prisoners themselves.
Another excellent programme has been received from Stalag XXA. This was for a revue called “Come in, Ma,” presented by the “Fort Concert Party.”
Books are Reaching Italy
Good news is reaching the Red Cross Indoor Recreations Section about the arrival of books in Italian camps. So far definite acknowledgments of books have been received from ten officers’ camps, sixteen men’s camps, and from six hospitals, as follows: Officers’ camp: P.G. Nos. 5, 12, 17, 21, 29, 35, 38, 41, and 47. Men’s camps: P.G. Nos. 51, 52, 54, 57, 59, 65, 66, 73, 75, 77, 78, 82, 85, 91, 95 and 129. Hospitals: P.G. Nos. 201 and 202. Military Hospitals: Pari, Parma, Morigi di Piacenza and Caserta.
Next of kin and friends of prisoners of war are asked to continue sending book parcels through permit-holding retailers to individual prisoners, as these books, when read are usually passed on to the Camp Librarian for the general benefit of prisoners.
APRIL SELECTION OF “PENGUIN BOOKS”
Penguin Books have informed us that the following ten books have been chosen as the April selection for prisoners in camps in Germany and Italy:
Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons; William Cook; Antique Dealer, Richard Keverne; Cut Throat, Christopher Bush: The Old Road from Spain, Constance Holme; Selected Modern Short Stories, Vol 1, Ed. By Alan Steele; Farewell Victoria, T.H. White; A life of Shakespeare, Hesketh Pearson; South Latitude, F.D. Ommanney; The Growth of Science, A.P. Rossiter; European Painting and Sculpture, Eric Newton.
[Page break]
May, 1943 The Prisoner of War 7
The Letters They Write Home
A world in Miniature
Campo P.G.78. 17.2.43.
“THERE is nothing that would indicate that we have been prisoners for two years. We have settled down to it as if it were our normal life and accept things as they are. We are not in the slightest degree crushed, cranky or depressed. It is a world in miniature with normal gossip and joking, with nothing more exciting than heated arguments occasionally about the constitution of the bands, concert party, etc., just as in ‘Civyy’ [sic] Street.”
The Simple Philosophy
Stalag XXID. 23.2.43.
“SATURDAY afternoons and all day Sunday we have to ourselves. The rest of the week we are working from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon. Lights go out at ten. The Red Cross have sent us all kinds of things – musical instruments, books, cards, games and drawing paper. I have taken up sketching. My special line is portraits – gave me a photograph of a man, woman or child and I will turn out a beautiful replica in pencil. It is curious how many of the chaps here have perfectly good photos of their relatives and young ladies and are not content until they have been reproduced in pencil. Conditions are a lot different now than in the early days. We have got our second wind back and settled down to the simple philosophy of ‘There’s a good time coming.’”
To His Daughter
Oflag IXA/H. Undated.
“AFTER the war won’t it be funny to hear the chink of silver money, to go for a walk without a guard, to sit on a chair that isn’t hard, to eat off a plate that isn’t iron, to have a comfortable bed to lie on, to go to a flick, to drive a car, with no one wondering where you are, to talk to people you really like, to sit in a bath or ride a bike, to wear clean clothes, to speak by ‘phone, to have a room of your very own, to send a letter away by post and get a reply In a week at most, to sit by a fire when it’s grey and ‘parky’, to wear a suit that isn’t khaki, to turn from a plate of good plum duff and say ‘No, thank you, I’ve had enough’!
“Won’t it be funny (won’t it be bliss!) to have you and Mum again after this?”
News of Blighty
Stalag IXC. 15.2.43.
“WE have here now some fellows who were recently captured in Africa who were able to give us very cheering news about ‘Blighty.’ As they were home as recently as last November, you can bet they had plenty to tell us. For the past few months I have been working in the mill, where all the salt from the mine has to be crushed to powder.”
Variety Turn
Stalag XXB. 14.2.43.
“I HAVE plenty to write about this week, for you see for the first time in our district we have had a concert, or rather a variety show. Organised by one of our lads, the show was put on in the village assembly hall and the lads taking part were from the surrounding farms, the cheese ‘joint’ and black-
[Picture]
Sports Day at Stalag VIIA – the bookmakers
[inserted] PICTURES AND LETTERS
POSTAL orders for 10s. will be awarded each month to the senders of the first three letters printed. We should be very much obliged if readers would send us COPIES of their prisoners’ letters instead of the original ones and on a separate sheet of paper.
Photographs, preferably of prisoners at work or recreation, will also be welcomed. Payments of 10s. will be made for every photograph reproduced across two columns, and 5s. for every photograph across one column. The name of the subject and also the name and address of sender must be written in block letters on the back. All letters and photographs will be returned as soon as possible.
Address: RED CROSS EDITOR, PRISONERS OF WAR DEPT., ST. JAMES’S PALACE, LONDON, S.W.1.
The cost of these prizes and fees is defrayed by a generation friend of the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation. [/inserted]
smith’s. Our modest band consisted of an ancient piano, guitar, piano accordion, drums and home-made bass, i.e., an old inner tube stretched over a soap box. Nevertheless, it did marvellously well. I composed a humorous monologue concerning a ladies v. gents cricket match, and I was besieged with requests for copies afterwards. In the last act I appeared as one of the Western Brothers in company with a West End garage proprietor. Together we recited my own composition, ‘It Was Agony.’ Our ‘toppers’ were made from our Red Cross parcel boxes and blacked over with tar. Exactly 160 of our lads enjoyed the show. Three German officers attended.”
Summer’s Coming.
Campo P.G.53. 6.3.43.
“LIFE isn’t too bad. . . . We brew up the tea from our Red Cross parcels several times a day so as not to waste a drop. What I look forward to most is chocolate and cigarettes. Am looking forward to your next of kin parcels. . . . Will you please send in your next parcel khaki shirts and shorts, as the weather in summer is just as hot as in the Middle East.”
Dear Old London.
Oflag VIIB. 9.3.43.
“WE spend hours talking about dear old London. It usually starts after supper with something like this: ‘Have you ever had oysters in one of those bars by the Helvetia – ?’ ‘Oh, yes,’ says someone else ‘and just round the corner, in Rupert Street, is Pinolis,’ and so it goes on.
A week or so ago three American Colonels arrived from Tunisia, so we do get a bit of late news from occasional people. Those things which three years ago one took for granted now seem to be the absolute essence of luxury, such as hot water running from a tap, or even gazing into a shop window. You know at times this seems almost worth it all, just for the unique experience it will be when it comes to an end and we return home.”
Looking Ahead.
Stalag Luft 3. 5.3.43.
“I AM wondering what it will feel like to be free again, just to be able to walk miles and miles out into the country and no barbed wire or guards to stop me. I want to stand on Rivock edge and look out over the valleys as far as the eye can see.
“We are entirely surrounded by woods and I haven’t seen anything except trees for ten months. It doesn’t matter though, my time isn’t entirely wasted and I know the gates
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8 The Prisoner of War May,1943
[Picture]
P.O.W. attached to Stalag XXB 258.
will soon be open, and I hope it will be this year as you and I seem to think.
“I have done a lot of thinking since I have been here, and I think I have got things more or less weighed up now as regards life and the way of it and I hope to get somewhere when I get back. I have been permanently impressed by the work of the International Red Cross,
[Picture]
Parcels Office at Stalag Luft 3.
particularly (in our case) the British Red Cross. I wonder if you at home fully realise how much we owe to them? It is more than we can ever hope to repay.”
Fair Shares
Stalag IXC. 5.2.43
“FOR our parcels we split up into ‘syndicates’ of two, three or four men. These groups share everything – food, cigarettes, money. I’m in a syndicate with B---- M----, an ex-Army cook who, of course, does the cooking. ‘Tommy,’ who acts as the ‘quarter-bloke, is a London Terrier, and a
[Picture]
Boxing bout at Stalag XX A/110.
gardener from Kent is general factotum. I’m scrounger-in-chief, and Chancellor of the Exchequer.”
Bridge Player
Campo P.G.65 24.2.43.
“I KEEP very fit and cheerful and play a lot of bridge. Have so far won four competitions and have taught nearly fifty fellows to play, including four sergeant-majors. To-day for the first time I went on an organised route march, under escort, of course, about three miles or so. It was a real treat to get out of camp.”
Kept Him Awake
Llag VII. 3.2.43.
“TO me in England. ‘Red Cross’ meant mainly ambulance and stretchers: in Jersey it was the message bureau. Here it means parcels! On issuing days you line up by rooms to collect dry goods and whatever tins you want. These are opened and examined for contraband. We had such a parcel yesterday. It raised spirits from zero to such a pitch that sleep was out of the question till 1 a.m.”
Handcuffing
Oflag VIIB. 20.1.43.
“I AM extremely well mentally and physically. I did not happen to get picked for the handcuffing, and even if I had been it is really not the sort of thing which need give rise to any alarm.
“I suppose it is difficult to imagine at home how we live here, but there is one thing that ought to be realised that things which would be intolerably irksome, if one were alone, lose a great deal of their sting when they are shared by two thousand extremely cheerful companions.”
Post-war Bureaux
[italic] From a Camp Leader, Stalag VIIIB. [/italic]
19.2.43.
“WE received a rude shock last week when I was notified that the Post-war Advice Bureau would cease to exist, that being the order of the German High Command. Unfortunately, there appears to be little hope that an appeal against the ruling will be upheld. What a disappointment, and just when the fruits were being borne!”
Exchange on Points
Oflag IX A/Z. 12.2.43.
“WE have an exchange market here which works on points instead of money. If any one has too much of one particular thing, into the market it goes and he is credited with so many points when it is sold. For instance, I wanted two suits of summer underwear, which I got, finest material. This cost me one tin brown polish. 80 points; four pair laces, 120 points; one pair socks, 50 points; one razor blade, 10 points.”
Brown as Berries
Campo P.G. 21. 6.3.43.
“AM enjoying the book [italic] Gone to Earth [/italic] very much and have only just finished [italic] The Sun Is My Undoing. [/italic] The weather is now doing its best to cheer us up, and sunbathing is all the rage. We shall all return as brown as berries ‘even though the belt has been tightened up considerably.”
Monuments to Patience
Oflag IIIC. 23.2.43.
“IF the weather with you is anything like ours, you will be wondering where the winter has gone. We have already started sunbathing, and shorts have begun to make their appearance.
“Recently we held our Arts and Crafts Exhibition, and some of the exhibits were really amazing, particularly when tools are limited to penknives and the material is all plywood. Most of these exhibits could be called ‘Monuments to Patience,’ that great but very necessary virtue acquired in P.O.W. camp.”
Dramatic Talent
Stalag XXA. 7.3.43.
“THERE were fifty men when I came here, now there are ninety. I have worked every day this last two weeks but to-day I have a break. The talent of our club put on a play called ‘The Monkey’s Paw,’ and it was a success and I enjoyed it.”
Stage Properties
Marlag und Milag Nord.
4.3.43.
“WE had three Americans in the cast of ‘On the Spot.’ We are very nice clothes for the shows and make female wigs from string off the Red Cross parcels. You would be surprised if you saw our efforts on the stage! Everything done as you would at home. We use real ‘make-up,’ dresses are made by the camp tailors, shoes are hand-made. The stage is properly equipped with lighting, spot-lights, dimmers.”
Maths Master
Campo P.G.70. 27.2.43.
“I AM starting a class in mathematics. Although I know quite a bit about maths, teaching men is a new experience. I have got over the spell of shortage of Red Cross parcels. They are giving us one a week again now. I am really glad that delay occurred as it makes me appreciate all the more what the Red Cross are doing for us. I shall never grudge helping them when I regain my freedom.”
[inserted] “IF I AM TAKEN PRISONER”
[italic] The letter quoted below was found in the kit-bag of an eighteen-year-old Commando. It was written to his mother the afternoon before he left on the Dieppe raid, in which he was wounded and taken prisoner. [/italic]
“My Own Dearest Mother,
“By now you will probably have heard what has happened to me. I hardly know just what to say to comfort you, but I am sure that you know that I do not want you to fret or worry over me. . . .
“I have only one regret I parting from you from as far back as the day I joined the Army, I wish I could have provided for you, or at least, helped to support you, better than I have done in the past. . . .
“. . . My love to all at home and away, and please tell them all that they were constantly in my mind, and I wish them all happiness and luck.
“Mother dear, I would just like to say that if I should be taken prisoner, please trust and believe in God that some day I will be home to work for you and comfort you. . . So don’t forget, darling, to try and smile and be brave. . . . God bless you.
“With everlasting love,
Your Son,
Ron.”
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May, 1943 The Prisoner of War 9
His Half Day
Campo P.G.54. 5.3.43.
“WE’VE been having some lovely weather with clear blue skies and sunshine, and Sunday was just like a midsummer’s day back home. I had a cold shower, put my clean underwear on and sat reading in the sun all the afternoon. The ‘working man’ enjoys his half day now!”
Hot Showers
Oflag 55 (VD). 1.2.43.
“THE best thing in this camp (built as a Youth Hostel) is the lovely hot shower baths which we enjoy every Thursday. We do not work, except to do what is necessary for the maintenance of the camp, but I find plenty to do. I get up first, at 7 a.m., and get the fire going, and boil hot water and make tea for as many as have it, and prefer it to German tea.”
Jack-of-All-Trades
Stalag IIID. 14.2.43.
“I AM working on the railway with a pick. It is pretty heavy but we get extra rations for it, so the work will not do me any harm. At home I would be called a plate-layer. I will be a Jack-of-all-trades when I get back.”
The “Stooge” Day
Stalag Luft III.
Undated.
“DURING the long evening, broken by brew and biscuits at 9.30, there is a lot of talking, but it is O.K, for working until bedtime just after 10 p.m., lights out at 10.30 p.m. Odd jobs, especially washing, take a lot of time, and the weekly ‘stooge’ day is nothing but preparing meals and washing up. Of course, we do a little talking, too! Our long discussions, the give and take spirit, and the little work I manage to do are doing me a lot of good.”
Special Security Camp
Oflag IVC. 15.3.43.
“THIS is a weird and boring life. This is my seventh camp and is probably my last, as it is a special security camp for people who cause trouble or who have tried to escape. There are Dutch, Poles, Belgians and French here, too, and a wonderful, cheery spirit pervades.
“We do most of our own cooking, but everyone is relieved when my turn is passed! My best dish is a plain raw onion salad! Also discovered it’s remarkable how long a bed will go unmade before becoming a complete cat’s cradle. Our beds are built in tiers and can go up to three, top one is awkward to scale and painful for the bottom two!”
Expert Translation
Marlag und Milag Nord. 3.3.43.
“THE new theatre which we have built was opened the other day by having a film show. We have a 16 mm. projector and hire the films for it. The apparatus is excellent and we put over quite a good performance. I stand behind and yell out the translations.”
His Music
Stalag VIIIB. 14.2.43.
“WE have a lot of musical instruments, too, piano accordions, guitars, etc., but immediately I start to practice about seventeen of the lads descend on me till I promise to stop. I’ve ordered a saxophone, and the fact that I don’t know the first thing about one won’t make the least difference.”
Keeping our Chaps Amused
Campo P.G.73. 23.2.43.
“OUR day starts about 7.30 a.m. when a drink of black coffee is brought round. When the weather was very cold we did not get up till 9 or 10 a.m., but as the weather gets warmer we rise earlier. About 10.30 we are issued with a small loaf and about 2oz. of cheese and an orange every other day. Then Ted and I do drawings or crosswords and sometimes we make up questions and quizzes to ask the hut of an evening.
“A lot of our time is spent in arranging talks and debates, as Ted and I have more or less accepted the responsibility of keeping our chaps amused.”
Talking Italian
Campo P.G.70. 2.2.43.
“WE still continue to get the Red Cross parcels. I am now well set up for external clothing, but await your personal parcel. I am in the Civilian Hospital and doing well. It’s very good in here. The food is fine and we have fun trying to talk Italian. Doctors and nurses are kind and treat us well.”
Weekly Treat
Campo P.G.75. 24.2.43.
“THIS evening I started off with the usual issue of soup, but I only had the liquid and saved the vegetables, i.e., cabbage and onions, and had them with some salmon afterwards. I followed with meat roll and biscuits and finished with dried peaches as a sweet. Of course, a meal like this only comes once a week, but we are very grateful for them and to the [italic] marvellous, stupendous, colossal [/italic] British Red Cross Society.”
[Picture]
Four cheerful faces at Campo P.G.59
Home Comforts
Campo P.G.53. 26.2.43.
“We have sheets and pillow cases and I can tell you it is marvellous to be between sheets again; it reminds me so much of home. . . . There are many kinds of lectures and classes one can attend, and just now we are running an Arts and Crafts exhibition for
[Picture]
Sports day at Stalag Luft 3.
which money prizes are to be given. As for sport, there’s practically every facility for it. There are also P.T. classes, for which they are getting complete equipment such as hobby horses, mattresses, parallel bars and such like. Then, of course, there is a canteen in which we can buy sweets, chocolate, fig bars, onions, oranges, and all kinds of miscellaneous articles such as notebooks, pens, ink, pencil sharpeners.”
[Picture]
Xmas dinner at Stalag VII A/2771.
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10 The Prisoner of War May, 1943
OFFICIAL REPORTS FROM THE CAMPS
[inserted] [italic] In every case where the conditions call for remedy, the Protection Power makes representations to the German or Italian authorities. Where there is any doubt whether the Protecting Power has acted, it is at once requested to do so. When it is reported that food or clothing is required, the necessary action is taken through the International Red Cross Committee. [/italic] [/inserted]
Germany
STALAG IXC
Reserve Lazaret Wasungen. – A lazaret for British patients suffering from infectious diseases. The buildings are of brick, two storeys high, and were once an old factory: a small hut has been added as an isolation room. The three buildings are described as old and in urgent need of repair. The beds have sheets (changed every four-six weeks though more often when necessary) a paillasse filled with wood shavings, and two blankets. There is said to be a scarcity of furniture. Lighting and ventilation are satisfactory. There is central heating, but the issue of coal is scarcely sufficient. The British staff stated that treatment was good, and there was quite a good stock of Red Cross parcels. Dental treatment is given at Reserve Lazaret Obermassfeld (Visited January.)
Reserve Lazaret Stadtroda. – Stadtroda is also in a factory building. Renovations and repairs have been promised, but so far have not been carried out, though one ceiling has been temporarily repaired. The Lazaret is
[Picture]
A scene at Stalag Luft I, an R.A.F. camp which was reopened for British prisoners in October,1942.
less crowded than it was, though it is feared that this is only a temporary state. Bathing and washing facilities have improved somewhat. Taps have been repaired and the water supply increased. Prisoners are now able to have at least one bath every week. Surgical cases are treated at this lazaret. The British doctors have complete freedom in their work. Dental treatment is given by a French dentist. Mail arrives regularly but slowly. Food is prepared by German women. (Visited January.)
Reserve Lazaret Hildburghausen. – Consists of two buildings about 400 yards from each other. The medical section – Karolinenburg – in one, and the surgical section – Frauenhaus – in the other. The buildings were formerly used as a private mental home. Beds and bed linen, light, ventilation and heating are said to be satisfactory. A common-room has been established at the Frauenhaus. Toilet facilities have been improved at Karolinenburg. Food is prepared by German civilian personnel and is normally satisfactory, but diets are only obtained with difficulty. The lazaret is visited monthly by a C. of E. chaplain. Mail has been somewhat irregular during the last few months. (Visited January.)
STALAG VB
Reserve Lazaret Rottenmunster. – This lazaret was once a rest home and is in the centre of a large park near the edge of a river. It is a large stone building of four storeys. The British prisoners of war are on the ground floor. Single beds have mattresses, sheets, pillows, blankets. Electric light, central heating and ventilation are described as entirely satisfactory. There was no complaint as regards food, and a milk diet is available. Clothing is good and parcels arrive regularly. Dental attention is given at a large German lazaret near by.[Sic] (Visited January.)
STALAG LUFT I (BARTHE)
An R.A.F. camp. All British prisoners of war were evacuated from here in April, 1942, but in October, 1942, the camp again opened for British R.A.F. personnel, when 222 prisoners were transferred from Stalag Luft III. At the time of the visit there were four officers and 470 N.C.O.s and men. Three compounds compose the camp, though at present only one is occupied. It is the intention of the authorities to organise the camp into one large compound; consequently, all facilities can at present be considered as of a temporary nature. Heating and lighting are said to be satisfactory, but ventilation is bad at night when the shutters are closed. Each prisoner of war has three blankets. A German doctor, who speaks fluent English, is in charge of the infirmary. He is assisted by a British Army doctor and four orderlies. Dental treatment is given by a German military dentist, who visits the camp twice a week. Urgent cases are treated by a civilian dentist at Barthe. The clothing situation is described as satisfactory. Each prisoner of war does his own laundry. A C. of E. chaplain is in charge of religious activities.
The camp has a very large library and an extensive educational programme, though, unfortunately, the present study room is noisy and the common room rather small. There is a good sports field. (Visited February.)
STALAG IVA AND WORK CAMPS (HOHENSTEIN)
The work camps of Stalag IVA are administered from Hohenstein. Red Cross parcels arrive at a small station near by [Sic] (Prossen), from where they are distributed. All the work camps are brown coal mines and the men work above ground.
Some improvements have been made at Grube Ostfeld. 97 men live in two barracks. There is also a kitchen shed, a special hut for sanitary installations and a wash-barrack. Four ventilation chimneys have been built into each barrack, so that air conditions are now reported to be satisfactory. A day room has also been built on to each barrack. Dirty blankets are to be replaced gradually by the employers. No overalls have been issued for work; the camp tailor was to prepare some that have arrived but needs repairs. The chaplain from Reserve Lazaret Konigswartha visits all the work camps and holds services about once in three weeks. The mail question over the whole area is not satisfactory, being both slow and irregular.
Conditions are much the same at Grube Brigitta, where there are about 103 men. A new shower room is to be
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May, 1943 The Prisoner of War 11
built for the use of the men on their return from work. A considerable amount of coal dust is raised from the coal briquettes. Sick prisoners from all these camps are sent to Krankenrevier Schwarzkollin (minor cases) and Reserve Lazaret Konigswartha (severe cases).
Revier Schwarzkollin is in the charge of a Polish doctor P.O.W. Two-tiered beds are used, with three blankets each. An iron stove heats the ward, which was formerly an operating theatre. Toilet and washing facilities are described as adequate, but ventilation is bad. It is lit by electricity.
Grube Heye III. – New stoves have been put into the barracks and the former sick room is now used as a drying room. Three blankets each are issued. A breakdown in the mine’s electricity has resulted in poor lighting in the camp. Hot water is available in the wash room, but there are no showers. Dental treatment is given by a civilian dentist, who is described as “rough and overworked.” There are no canteens in these camps, but necessary articles are bought in the town.
In this camp some prisoners of war have to work on Sundays, though often not for the whole eight-hour day. The works engineer was consulted in this matter.
Grube Erika. – A new recreation room is being built for the 199 men in this camp. The only complaint from here was the fact that the mine is some distance from the camp. In future, part of the journey will be done by train.
Work Camp Radebeul was visited for the first time. Prisoners of war here are only fit for light work. They live in a modern concrete building in the middle of a factory area. They have central heating, and the large dormitory is well lit and airy, furnished with two-tier beds Sanitary and washing installations are described as satisfactory. Food is brought in from the neighbouring inn and the prisoners are able to cook the food from their parcels in their own small kitchen. The decision whether a man may visit the doctor rests with the German N.C.O. The results are not always satisfactory, and it has been recommended that the medical service in this camp should be reorganised. Up to the time of the visit the chaplain had not visited this camp. The football field has been turned into a vegetable garden. Walks will be organised to take the place of football. Some Sunday work is asked of the prisoners of war. (Visited January.)
[Picture]
Handing out Red Cross parcels at Marlag und Milag Nord.
STALAG IXC (MOLSDORF) and WORK CAMPS
One British P.O.W. is at the main camp in charge of Red Cross supplies. There appears to be some difficulty over the distribution of parcels and clothing. At the time of the visit no parcels had been distributed among the work camps since Christmas, although a consignment was to go out on the following day. The Camp Leader does not appear to have sufficient control over the clothing. A new camp commander had been appointed only a week before the visit. There are about 2,800 prisoners of war in this area, and 34 work camps, dependent on Stalag IXC.
At Camp Molsdorf there are 350 prisoners of war. Lighting and heating are described as satisfactory and each prisoner of war has two blankets. Latrines are now emptied regularly every week. A British medical officer is in charge of the infirmary, and dental treatment is given by a civilian dentist. The clothing situation is not very satisfactory; clothing is to be provided temporarily by the detaining power. Beer is available at the canteen every week. The C. of E. chaplain at this camp is to be allowed to visit the work camps. Mail is reported to be slow and irregular over the whole Stalag, though it is believed that this may be partly due to heavy German Christmas and New Year mails. The general atmosphere at this camp is said to have improved.
Work Camps 26 and 35B – The prisoners of war in these camps work in seed factories. Their work is light (nine hours a day) and Sundays are free. They are well housed and treated. Food is served from civilian canteens, but 35B is to have its own kitchen. Football is played on a field in the town. Each camp has a Medical Orderly in charge of any sick prisoners of war. They are allowed to visit a military doctor and a civilian dentist.
Work Camps 42B, 92 and 16 are smaller camps averaging twenty prisoners in each. They work on car repairs, loading metal and preparing timber for a sawmill. Accommodation at 42B is not altogether satisfactory. The prisoners of war live over the workshops and the smell of paint and acetone is not healthy. It is hoped that the men will be moved to other premises. At 92 there was a complaint of bed bugs, mice and sometimes rats. The bugs had returned after disinfection; other vermin were kept down by the use of traps. It was reported that a new wooden barrack is to be erected for the prisoners of war. There were no complaints from Camp 16. In all these camps football is played at week-ends. Clothing conditions are fairly satisfactory, and overalls are in future to be supplied by the employers.
Work Camps 106 and 137 are both salt factories. There were complaints that many of the prisoners had to work on three Sundays out of four without compensation. Articles for the canteens were very difficult to obtain. At 106 a second stove was to be installed for heating, and at 137 German women cook the food, but the prisoners of war have asked for their own kitchens.
It was reported that the work camps of Stalag IXC give a fairly good impression as a whole, the main difficulty being distribution of Red Cross food and clothing parcels from the main Stalag. – (Visited January.)
STALAG 383 (formerly OFLAG IIIC) (HOHENFELS, S.BAVARIA)
This is a large camp for non-working N.C.O.s. It is a former officers’ camp and is composed of large numbers of small wooden barracks as dormitories, and several larger ones for use as a theatre, recreation room and sports hall. There are good football and rugby fields and ample space for walks. The N.C.O.s have been gathered here from almost every camp in Germany. The first batch arrived in September, 1942. Many of the prisoners of war are hand-
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12 The Prisoner of War May, 1943
cuffed. The handcuffs are made of iron circles linked together by chains about 50 cm long; the prisoners are able to use their hands quite freely to do almost anything.
Twelve to fourteen prisoners of war live in each hut and more seating accommodation is needed. The camp is lit by electricity, but larger bulbs are necessary to make the lighting adequate. Washing and toilet facilities are satisfactory.
A second kitchen will be available for the use of the prisoners of war soon and there were no complaints about food. The Camp Hospital consists of three barracks, and is run by four British medical officers under a German doctor. Dental treatment is given is given by a British dental officer. Dental material and instruments are on order. The hospital is described as adequate and well equipped. Laundry facilities have not yet been settled as a new wash barrack is being built. The prisoners of war exchange things among themselves, and the canteen acts as the “intermediary.” There is a C. of E. clergyman in the camp who holds the rank of corporal. The men would also like to have a Roman Catholic priest. The recreation room is very well equipped. (Visited January.)
MARLAG UND MILAG NORD (WESTERTIMKE)
Marlag-Milag are two entirely separate camps, each having their own administration.
Milag. – Over 3,000 officers and men of the Merchant Navy are interned here. The camp is on sandy ground, surrounded by pine trees. The buildings are well constructed and are divided into several rooms. Two-tier bungs with straw-filled paillasses are used, and each man has two blankets. Officers have one sheet a month issued to them. Ventilation and lighting are adequate though the light cannot be switched on until 6 p.m. Two new kitchens have been added in which are separate dining rooms for officers and men. The internees cook their own food. There are also three small kitchens where special dishes can be prepared, but there is a shortage of cooking utensils. Each man has one good suit.
A new delousing station has been installed for the whole camp, and the prisoners of war at Milag are able to use the shower baths three times a week, which results in each internee having one hot shower per month. Latrines have been modernised. The Camp Infirmary is to be enlarged to the status of a Lazaret with a capacity of 110 beds, and a British medical officer has been brought to the camp to take charge of it. The dental surgery is described as fairly well equipped. Some spectacles have been provided, though many of the men are still on the waiting list.
There are Roman Catholic and C. of E. Chaplains in the camp. Recreational and educational facilities are well organised, though the light in the study room is said to be inadequate. Theoretically these internees do not work, but over 400 of them work on camp maintenance and a few work on farms outside the camp.
Marlag is the Naval camp. It is subdivided into two separate sections, the officers’ camp and the men’s camp. It has been constructed recently of large well-built wooden huts. Ventilation and lighting are adequate and there is no overcrowding. Cast-iron stoves are in every room, but the ration of coal was reported as not enough to give sufficient warmth. Each man has three blankets and one good uniform. There are repair shops for clothing and shoes.
There is plenty of cold water, and hot showers are available once a fortnight. The infirmary and dental surgery are said to be well equipped, and there was a good stock of drugs. A C. of E. chaplain and a Roman Catholic priest are in the camp. There are theatrical groups and orchestras, as well as a good library. Mail at all the camps is reported as very slow and irregular. Parcels arrive by rail at a nearby station and are distributed from there to the three camps. – (Visited November.)
Italy
MILITARY HOSPITAL AL CELIO, ROME
One floor of the hospital has been set aside for British prisoners of war. They are from Campos 68 and 54. There are three rooms. One of these rooms is at the disposal of convalescent patients. Mail service depends on the camps to which the prisoners of war belong. This sometimes causes some delay. Letter forms and parcels are sent in from the camps for the prisoners’ use. Rations are the same as those given to Italian patients and the men are able to prepare food from parcels. There had been no issue of tobacco up to the date of visit. The patients are given hospital clothing.
The Italian doctor and one nurse both speak English and two British patients have remained at the hospital after recovery to act as medical orderlies. Patients are normally returned to camp as soon as they are able to walk about. Eye specialists and dental surgeons are available. Italian Roman Catholic and Protestant priests visit the hospital. The patients are unable to go out of doors as there is very little space and a lack of guards. (Visited January.)
MILITARY HOSPITAL 201 BERGAMO
There are nearly 400 British patients in the hospital and the personnel has been increased by 41 medical orderlies. One hall has been cleared for use as a recreation room and a row of beds has been removed from the dormitories and replaced by tables.
Better furniture has been added to the medical officers’ rooms, which are now less crowded. The orderlies live in a barrack in a hospital yard. Accommodation is said to be very satisfactory and they are to have their own kitchen. All the sick wards are centrally heated. Delays in mail are caused by letters having to be sent on from the camps to which the prisoners of war belong. Tobacco ration has been issued regularly lately. Some clothing is issued by the camp authorities. Hot showers can be had every week. So far, no dental treatment is available.
A C. of E. Chaplain and a Roman Catholic Priest who speaks fluent English hold religious services. Exercise is taken on the terraces and in the courtyard. (Visited January.)
MILITARY HOSPITAL 203, BOLOGNA
Campo 203 was originally planned for a National Military Hospital and has a capacity of about 650 patients. At the time of the visit there were 456 patients (some of them from Caserta Hospital) and 68 medical personnel. Reports on this hospital are exceedingly good. The rooms are, if anything, overheated and all the windows can be opened at night. Mail service was described as slow – particularly the outgoing mail and the distribution of parcels. The tobacco ration has not been regularly received of late, but back issues are to be granted when the next consignment arrives. Clothing is provided by the camp authorities when prisoners of war are discharged from hospital, though some of the uniforms were Italian. There is an Italian dentist, but as yet no surgery. Cold showers are always available. A radio set is being installed. (Visited January.)
CASERTA HOSPITAL
Since this visit information has been received that many patients have been transferred to Military Hospitals 203 and 206, but at the time of the visit there were still nearly 1,300 British patients. The hospital is a large building of four wings, grouped round a large central courtyard. Three two-story houses have been added, each with a verandah [sic] overlooking the gardens. Five more bungalows are in the park. There were 15 British medical officers and several Italian doctors in charge. It is reported that relations between them are unfortunately not very cordial. Caserta is called a “Clearing Hospital,” and many patients remain only a few weeks, though some remain several months. There are no dental facilities at Caserta. Patients are given hospital clothing on arrival, and their own clothing is returned to them when they leave. (Visited November.)
HOSPITAL AT MORIGI DI PIACENZA
There were about 200 prisoners of war in hospital at the time of visit. Three British doctors assist the Italian personnel. The patients are mostly wounded
[Page Break]
May, 1943 The Prisoner Of War 13
prisoners of war. Accommodation, toilet facilities, food and cooking are described as being in first-class order. Hospital clothing is issued to the patients, but some misunderstanding seems to have arisen over the distribution of clothing for discharged patients. It will come in future from the Central Hospital, Piacenza, on which this hospital depends. A C. of E. chaplain looks after the patients here and at Alberoni Hospital. Mail is said to be very slow. There is a recreation room, but, unfortunately, very few games. (Visited January.)
HOSPITAL AT ALBERONI, PIACENZA
This was the first visit to this hospital, which is staffed by an entirely Italian staff. The Hospital is part of an old palace, in very good condition, with good accommodation and sanitary installations. Three Italian nuns help to care for the British patients, of whom there are 64. Food is well cooked, and special diets are available. All the patients are suffering from wounds, which sometimes take a long time to heal. The British chaplain from Morigi Hospital visits the patients regularly. Mail is reported to be very slow. (Visited January.)
TERRITORIAL HOSPITAL AT MODENA
Patients at this hospital come from Campo 73. Five rooms are at their disposal, well furnished, well heated, and well lit by electricity. One doctor and one nurse of the Italian personnel speak English. Mail is regular but slow. Red Cross parcels are distributed regularly. Up to the time of visit no cigarettes had been issued. Dental treatment is given at another camp and patients are conveyed by ambulance for treatment. There is an eye specialist attached to the hospital. Patients who are able to walk are allowed the use of the hospital garden. (Visited January.)
CAMPO P.G.5 SERRAVALLE, GAVI
When the camp was visited there was snow on the ground, though the weather was fine. The walls of the old fortress are reported to have kept quite dry. Twelve kilos of wood are issued per stove per day and the rooms are described as sufficiently warm.
Parcels are distributed regularly and there were no complaints about food. This is an officers’ camp: at the time of the visit there were 165 officers and 54 other ranks. The men have had their cigarette ration regularly. A consignment of clothing was expected shortly. There are three medical officers, a British dental surgeon, and an oculist. As the fortress is built on a hill there
[picture]
Insid: [sic] the cook-house at Reserve Lazaret Rottenmunster.
is some difficulty in finding room for the sports ground. Orders have been given that one shall be made. Walks are arranged occasionally and it has been recommended that they should be organised more frequently. (Visited January.)
CAMPO P.G.17 REZZANELLO
One hundred and fifty-one officers and 42 other ranks are confined in this old castle. Some of these officers are from Campo 66, Capua, and some from Campo 75, Bari. Central heating has been installed and is reported as working satisfactorily. Officers and other ranks have their own messrooms. [sic] Hot showers are available every two weeks. Food is described as sufficient with Red Cross parcels. The Camp Infirmary is in the care of one Italian and five British doctors.
Clothing conditions were bad, particularly underclothes. Laundry is done outside
The Canteen is described as fairly well stocked. The profits are used for the benefit of other ranks. A C. of E. chaplain holds services every Sunday and the Catholic prisoners of war go to Mass in the village. There is sufficient space for exercise and games in the courtyard, and weekly walks are organised. There is a good library. Mail is very slow, though there appeared to be a slight improvement of late. Parcels had apparently not been sent on for the officers from Campo P.G.66. (Visited January.)
CAMPO P.G.21, CHIETI
Over 1,200 British prisoners of war live in one-storey stone buildings which were once army barracks. The camp is considered to be overcrowded, although 400 officers have been transferred to another camp. There are now a few tables and benches in each room. Heating stoves had arrived but were not yet installed. No vermin had been reported for some months. No hot water has been available since August and water is only turned on for 1 1/2 hours a day. It is reported that the camp will have to be moved unless the water supply can be altered. Food was stated to be sufficient with Red Cross parcels. Serious cases of illness are sent to an Army hospital; others are tended by the Italian medical officer and four British doctors. There is a British dentist, but there are at present no instruments. Treatment is given by an Italian dentist. Information was received that a few days after this visit a large consignment of clothing arrived at this camp. Incoming mail is described as regular, but outgoing mail is very slow (Visited January.)
CAMPO P.G.66, CAPUA
Capua is a very large camp used as a quarantine and transit camp and the strength varies from day to day. At the time of the visit there were 127 officers and 5,800 other ranks. It is situated on flat ground in a mild climate.
A new officers’ section is almost complete. It will consist of stone bungalows with washrooms, showers, dining-room and common room. At present the officers are housed in wooden huts. Six out of eight sections for other ranks are complete. The men in the remaining two sections are still under canvas, but they should all be in huts by now. Sanitary installations are well constructed and there is an ample supply of water. Electricity is now satisfactory.
Each section has its own kitchen and the P.O.W.s prepare their own food.
Three Italian doctors and six prisoner of war doctors work in the camp infirmary. There is an excellent delousing plant. There are two C. of. E. chaplains, a Roman Catholic chaplain and an Italian priest in the camp.
Kitchen gardens extend between the barracks, and also outside the camp. Pigs and rabbits are kept in the camp. A football ground and tennis court are being made. Some clothing has been distributed by the detaining Power, but stocks are needed, as prisoners of war arriving at the camp must be fitted out. There is a good stock of Red Cross parcels. (Visited November.)
CAMP LIST
The following additions should be made. – ITALY: P.G.10, P.M.3300; P.G.148, P.M.3200; P.G.204, P.M.3450 (Hospital Camp). Location of above are unknown. Ospedale Militare, Teramo. Montalbano, Firenze (Civilian Internment Camp).
GREETINGS CARDS
We have been asked by the G.P.O to remind relatives that greetings cards cannot be sent to prisoners of war.
[Page Break]
14 The Prisoner of War May, 1943
HOW THE NEXT OF KIN ARE HELPING
In Wolverhampton they have a Prisoners of War Families Club organised by Mr. and Mrs. Dumbell. Here next of kin meet to exchange information, seek advice, and discuss their problems. Last month the Chairman of the Prisoners of War Department of the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation visited the club and addressed the members. Before he left he was presented with a cheque for £100 as a gift to the Duke of Gloucester’s fund.
“Since January, 1942, my husband has collected £300 towwards [sic] prisoners’ parcels,” writes Mrs. Clift, of Rugby. “This is just from workmates and friends.”
Her prisoner son will be glad to hear of this splendid gift. Many P.O.W.s are writing home to next of kin asking that donations should be sent. Private John Dunbar, tells his mother: “If you have any money of mine, give the Red Cross a nice donation out of it.” Mrs. Williams, of Barry, Glamorgan, has had a request from her prisoner son to send £5: Mrs. Andrew, of Camberley, whose son is in an Italian Campo, sent 10s. on his behalf, and Mrs. Gardner, of Brixton Hill, bearing her son in mind, sends 5s., “the price of a seat at a musical show.”
The next of kin of P.O.W., W. Holland has sent £1 by his special request: P.O.W. Edward John Truscott. £2. 2s.
Organises Dances
Meanwhile, the energies of next of kin are unabated. “A year ago I made up my mind to see what I could do.” Writes Mrs Squires, of Emner Green., Reading, whose son is a prisoner in Germany. “I am too old to do other war work, but I try to make people happy by organising dances and whist drives.” She sent £55 15s.
Making and selling is earning its usual welcome sums. Mrs. Bernthal, of Abing-
[Picture]
Study at Stalag XXA. Your help can provide these men with educational material.
don, and her daughter raised £3 10s, by the sale of a cake and of toilet preparations; patchwork quilts, the work of Holy Trinity Mothers’ Meeting, Ipswich, brought in £5. Mrs. Stone, of Weymouth, sold a banana brought home by a soldier friend for £1 12s. 3d. Another banana made 10s. when sold by Selwy Morgan, of Cefn Coed Merthyr Tydfd.
Children Help
Children, too, are entering enthusiastically into the work of raising funds. Nine-year-old Joan Hughes, of Talybont, near Bangor, has contributed 11s., and hopes to send another 5s. soon. Norman Bennett, who is ten, also sent 11s., made by the sale of dishcloths, his own handiwork. Little Doreen Ayley sent 10s., which she earned by making and selling golliwogs. Betty Frosch, an eleven-year-old, of Stoke Newington, made 8s, from the sale of a tulip which she grew.
Mrs. Challinor, of Northfield, Birmingham, collected £7. 5s. for flowers for the funeral of a much-loved neighbour, but the widow, Mrs Hughes, who has a prisoner son “out East,” knew what her husband’s wishes would have been and sent the money to our Fund.
From far Rhodesia came the sum of £2 from Mrs. Rickards, who recently sent £40 raised by a dance.
“I pass round your magazine to my friends and collect 1d. for reading it,” writes Mrs. Shand, of Camberwell. “I hope to be able to send you quite a sum by the end of the year.”
Twenty guineas come from Mr. A Burrows, of Northampton, as the result of a whist drive organised at the suggestion of his son, a P.O.W. in Germany.
The model of a Spitfire, presented to Mrs. Garrett, of Hedge End, Southampton, with other prizes, resulted in a contribution of £30 10s. Mrs. Margaret Hayley, a member of the British Red Cross Society , Wilts. Sold a pair of silk stockings for 30s., and added 5s. collected in threepenny bits. A collection of “odd coppers” made by Miss Joan Lillywhite, Kirkstall, Leeds, among her workmates earned £2.
From Mrs. D. Pryor, of Enfield, comes a cheque for £2 11s, 6d.; the sum included 2s sent with the blessing of an old man of ninety-one. Mrs. Clarke, whose husband is a prisoner in Italy, has started collecting at her works.
Mrs. Edna Wells, whose husband S.Q.M.S Frank Wells, of the 12th Royal Lancers, is in an Italian prison camp, had a young baby to look after, but she could not rest until she had shown appreciation of the Red Cross is some tangible form. So she organised a private raffle among her friends in Roath, Cardiff, and raised £3.
Tribute to Journal
As a thank-offering for The Prisoner of War, Mrs. Bompas, of Broughton, near Stockbridge, sent us 10s., and Mr Clarkson, of Motherwell, who says that the Journal is “a mine of information,” sent 5s.
There is no limit to the ingenuity and generosity of our readers, and I need hardly say that the Red Cross is deeply appreciative of all these tokens of good will and practical recognition of the value of the work that is being done.
OFFICIAL REPORTS
(Continued from page 4)
the diplomatic exchange ships: some of the prisoners had already received these supplies when in Hong Kong.
There is a P.O.W. doctor in each camp, and Japanese doctors also visit regularly. Any serious cases are taken to military hospitals. More medicines are needed.
The Japanese authorities have supplied the prisoners of war with some clothing. More clothing is required as the original garments are wearing out.
The men work in the docks and in factories. The officers, who are scattered among the different camps, are consulted about the work. The hours are reasonable and no complaint is made of work conditions. The workers receive a little pay. Sundays are free.
The canteens are not well stocked, but some sweets and tobacco can be bought. Each man also receives a ration of between 150 and 200 cigarettes monthly.
There are only a few books in the camps; the International Red Cross Committee delegate hopes to supply both books and games. The Japanese have confiscated playing-cards in order to prevent gambling. (Visited March.)
FUKUOKA GROUP OF CAMPS
This group of seven camps is administered from Fukuoka, in Kyushu, the most southerly island of Japan. The names of the camps are Ube, Omine, Ohama, Motoyama, Higashimisone, Mukojima and Innoshima. They contain British prisoners of war from Hong Kong and Java, and some naval prisoners of war. Two of the camps are on Islands in the Inland Sea.
Although fewer details are available about this group of camps, it appears that in many respects they resemble the Osaka group. The Japanese have supplied clothing. The food is based on that given to Japanese troops, modified for European tastes, and includes bread and cereals. The prisoners, when not working, study languages, including Japanese, and read books. Work averages eight hours a day. The canteen supplies are limited. The prisoners get five or six cigarettes a day. No mail has yet been received or sent. The International Red Cross Committee delegate has still got a reserve of relief supplies and will send some to these camps. The morale is said to be good. (Visited March)
Further notes on these camps will appear in our next issue.
[Page Break]
May, 1943 The Prisoner of War 15
MATERIALS: 11 oz. any double knitting wool. Two No. 7 and two No. 9 knitting needles.
ACTUAL MEASUREMENTS: Length, from top of shoulder, 24in. Width all round at under-arm, 36in.
Tension: 5 ½ st. to the inch in width, measured over the plain, smooth fabric.
RECIPE – THE FRONT: Using the No.9 needles, cast on 94 st.
1st row: K. 2, *P.1, K.1, repeat from * to end of row. Repeat this row twenty-three times. Using the No. 7 needles, proceed as follows: –
1st row: Knit Plain.
2nd Row: K.1, purl to last stitch, K.1. Repeat these two rows until work measures 15 1/2in. from the commencement, ending with the 2nd row. Proceed as follows: –
1st row: K.2, (P.1, K.1) five times, knit plain to the last 12 st., (K.1, P.1) five times, K.2.
2nd row: (K, 1, P.1) six times, purl to last 12 st., (P.1, K.1) six times. Repeat 1st and 2nd rows twice.
7th Row: Cast off 6 st., K.2, (P.1, K,1) twice, K.29. (K.1, P.1) five times, increase once in next st., K. 30, (K.1, P.1) five times, K.2.
8th row: Cast off 6 st., (K.1, P.1) three times. P.29 (P.1, K.1) six times. P.30 (P.1, K.1) three times.
9th row: K.2. (P.1, K.1) twice. K.2 tog, K.27. (K.1, P.1) six times, K.28, K.2 tog., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
10th row: (K.1, P.1) three times, P.28, (P.1, K.1) six times, P.29, (P.1, K.1) three times.
11th row: K.2 (P.1, K.1) twice, K.2 tog, K.26, (K. 1, P.1) six times, K. 27, K. 2 tog., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
12th tow: (K.1, P.1) three times, P.27, (P.1, K.1) six times, P.28, (P.1, K.1) three times.
13th row: K. 2, (P.1, K.1) twice, K.2 tog., K.25.(K. 1, P.1) twice, K.2, turn. Work on these 38 st. as follows: –
1st row: (K. 1, P. 1) three times, purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) three times.
2nd tow: K.2, (P.1, K.1) twice, K.2 tog., K.22, K.2 tog., (K.1, P.1) twice, K. 2.
3rd row: (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) three times.
4th row: K.2, (P.1, K.1) twice, K.2 tog., knit plain to the last 6 st., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
Repeat the 3rd and 4th rows twice, then the 3rd row once.
10th row: K.2, (P.1, K.1) twice, knit plain to the last 8 st., K. 2 tog., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
Keeping a border of 6 st. in rib at each end of the needle, continue in plain, smooth fabric, decreasing once at the neck edge in every following 8th row until 28 st. remain. Work
[Picture]
11 oz. of any double knitting wool will make this useful garment
Sleeveless Pullover
4 rows without shaping. Proceed as follows: –
1st row: (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 7 st., turn.
2nd and 4th rows: Knit plain to the last 6 st., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
3rd row: (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 14 st., turn.
5th row: (K.1, P.1) three times, turn.
6th row: (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
7th row: (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) thee times.
8th tow: Cast off 22 st., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
Work 2in. in rib on the remaining 6 st. Cast off. Join in the wool at the neck edge and work on the remaining 40 st. as follows: –
1st row: K. 2 tog., (K.1, P.1) twice, knit plain to the last 8 st., K.2 tog., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
2nd row: (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) three times.
3rd row: K.2 (P.1, K.1) twice, K.2 tog., K.22, K.2 tog., (K. 1, P.1) twice, K.2.
4th row: (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) three times.
5th row: K.2 (P.1, K.1) twice, knit plain to the last 8 st., K.2 tog., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
Repeat the 4th and 5th rows twice, then the 4th row once.
11th row: K. 2, (P.1, K.1) twice, K.2. tog. Knit plain to the last 6 st., (K.1, P.1.) twice, K.2.
Keeping a border of 6 st. in rib at each end of the needle, continue in plain, smooth fabric, decreasing once at the neck edge in every following 8th row until 28 st. remain.
Work 3 rows without shaping.
Shape for the shoulder as follows: –
1st row: K.2, (P.1, K.1) twice, knit plain to the last 7 st., turn.
2nd and 4th rows: Purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) three times.
3rd row: K.2, (P.1, K.1) twice, knit plain to the last 14 st., turn.
5th row: K.2, (P.1, K.1) twice, turn.
6th row: (P.1, K.1) three times.
7th row: K.2, (P.1, K.1) twice, knit plain to the last 6 st., (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
8th row: Cast off 22 st, (P.1, K.1) three times. Work 2in. in rib on the remaining 6 st. Cast off.
THE BACK: Using the No. 9 needles, cast on 94 st.
Work exactly as given for the Front, until the cast-off st. at the under-arm are reached. Proceed as follows: –
1st row: cast off 6 st., K.2. (P.1, K.1) twice, knit plain to the last 12 st., (K.1, P.1) five times, K.2.
2nd row: Cast off 6 st., (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) three times.
3rd row: K.2, (P.1, K.1) twice, K.2 tog, knit plain to the last 8 st., K. 2 tog. (K.1, P.1) twice, K.2.
4th row: (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) three times. Repeat the 3rd and 4th rows six times.
17th row: K.2. (P.1, K.1) twice, knit plain to the last 6 st., (K.1, P.1) twice. K.2.
18th row: (K.1, P.1) three times, purl to the last 6 st., (P.1, K.1) three times. Repeat the 17th and 18th rows seventeen times.
Shape for the shoulders as follows: –
1st row: K.2. (P.1, K.1) twice, knit plain to the last 7 st., turn.
2nd row: Purl to last 7 st., turn.
3rd row: Knit plain to the last 14 st., turn.
4th row: Purl to the last 14 st., turn.
5th row: Knit plain to the last 22 st., turn.
(Continued overleaf)
[Page Break]
[London Post Mark 24 May 1943]
16 The Prisoner of War May, 1943
NEXT OF KIN PARCELS DESPATCH
The Next of Kin Packing Centre has always endeavoured to despatch parcels within two or three days of their receipt. But the number of next of kin parcels being sent has increased since January by a third, and under present conditions it is very difficult to obtain additional staff to handle the very detailed work connected with their examination and despatch from Finsbury Circus.
It is, therefore, regretted that there is a temporary delay of about three weeks in the despatch of parcels, which, however, may be sent as usual by the next of kin. The parcels are being despatched in strict rotation and every effort is being made to reduce the delay. It is hoped that arrangements will shortly be completed to clear the congestion.
Next of kin who have enclosed postcards in their parcels for our acknowledgement of receipt are advised not to expect them back as soon as they would have done under normal circumstances, and are asked not to make enquires until a reasonable time has been allowed for the delay.
The delay in despatch will not affect the date of the next parcel, [Indecipherable word] which labels will be sent as usual directly the current parcel has been despatched.
Very Important
THE new P.1 Instructions Leaflet, issued with the labels for N/K parcels, is now split into two sheets.
P.1B, containing lists of articles that may and may not be sent in parcels, will be issued with every label.
P.1A, which contains general instructions, will be issued only once – with the first label for a newly registered prisoner.
[italic] Be sure, therefore, to keep P.1A in a safe place for future reference. [/italic]
Any alterations to the leaflets will be published from time to time on this page.
Sleeveless Pullover
(continued from previous page)
6th row: Purl to the last 22 st., turn. 7th row: Knit plain to last 6 st., (K. 1, P.1) twice, K.2. Cast off.
TO MAKE UP THE PULL-OVER: With a damp cloth and hot iron press carefully. Sew up the side and shoulder seams. Sew together the first two ridges of the neck opening. Join together the bands from the fronts and sew to back of neck.
[inserted] NUMBER, PLEASE!
PLEASE be sure to mention your Red Cross reference number whenever you write to us [/inserted]
Any Questions?
Dyeing Difficulty
How can I get a permit for dyeing flannel trousers khaki to send in a P.O.W. parcel?
We do not think that you would be able to obtain such a permit.
News of his Brother
May I tell my son, a P.O.W. in Germany, the whereabouts of his brother, serving in the R.A.F.?
No information about the address of a unit of H.M. Forces, whether at home or abroad, may be sent to a prisoner of war; and no mention must be made of the movements of any members of the Forces.
Blue for the Army?
I have some navy blue wool to make a pullover for my son, a P.O.W. in Germany. May soldiers wear navy blue or must their pullovers be khaki?
It would be much safer to send your son a khaki pullover, as one could not be certain that he would be allowed to have a dark blue one. The regulations sometimes vary from camp to camp.
Marlag und Milag
Is Marlag und Milag a convalescent camp?
Marlag und Milag is not a convalescent camp, but is the camp in which the majority of Naval and Merchant Marine prisoners of war are interned, in the “Marlag” and “Milag” respectively. Each section has its own infirmary.
Comfortable Slippers
Can I send my husband, a P.O.W. in Italy, ordinary leather slippers?
Yes.
Metal Clips
May braces and suspenders be sent in a P.O.W. parcel if they contain metal clips?
Yes.
His Garden
How can I send seeds to my brother for his P.O.W. garden?
Seeds may no longer be sent to individual prisoners of war, but supplies are sent to each camp by the Royal Horticultural Society for general use.
Photo by Air Mail
Can I send my husband a photograph by air mail?
An unmounted photograph of a personal nature may be enclosed in an ordinary letter sent by air mail; but enclosures may not be sent in the special prisoner of war air-mail letter-cards.
Location Wanted
Can you tell me the location of Campo P.G.154?
This camp was in North Africa, but its exact location was unknown to us.
Canvas for Embroidery
Can I send a stencilled canvas in my next of kin parcel to my son, who is a prisoner in Germany?
No. Please refer to the leaflet sent each quarter with your label. You will see that only plain linen or canvas may be sent for embroidery.
From Friends and Relatives
May parcels other than next of kin parcels be sent to prisoners?
Tobacco, cigarettes, books and games may be sent direct to prisoners of war through shops which hold permits for this purpose.
Stalag IXC
Where is Stalag IXC situated? What is the meaning of Commando No. X39?
Stalag IXC is located at Bad Sulza. “Commando No.X39” is a working detachment number.
Everything New?
Can you tell me if I must send new articles only to my husband who is a prisoner in Italy? I have been told that this is so. Also, what is the location of P.G.98?
No. Clothes sent in quarterly parcels need not be new. The location of Campo P.G.98 is Ragusa, Sicily. According to our most recent information there are no longer any British prisoners in this camp.
No Food Parcels
Can I send my son who is a prisoner in an Italian camp food parcels through friends in South Africa?
No. Private food parcels may not sent to prisoners of war.
[inserted] FREE TO NEXT OF KIN
THIS journal is sent free of charge to those registered with the Prisoners of War Dept as next of kin. In view of the paper shortage no copies are for sale, and it is hoped that next of kin will share their copy with relatives and others interested. [/inserted]
Printed in Great Britain for the publisher THE RED CROSS AND ST. JON WAR ORGANISATION 14 Grosvenor Crescent, London S.W.1. by THE CORNWALL PRESS, LTD. Paris Garden, Stamford Street, London, S.E.1.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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The prisoner of war, Vol 2, No. 13, May 1943
Date
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1943-05
Description
An account of the resource
Includes: editorial matters; all in a day's work; life in a Japanese prison camp; fun and games; letters they write home; official reports from the camps; group photographs from the camps; how next of kin are helping (including knitting pattern for sleeveless pullover) and any questions? Includes photographs throughout.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Format
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Sixteen page printed document
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
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MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-17
Creator
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Great Britain. Red Cross and St John war organisation
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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.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Civilian
Royal Air Force
British Army
Royal Navy
Temporal Coverage
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1943-05
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Poland
Germany--Barth
Poland--Żagań
Poland--Łambinowice
Germany--Hohenfels (Bavaria)
Germany--Hildburghausen
Contributor
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Bradley Froggatt
arts and crafts
entertainment
prisoner of war
sanitation
sport
Stalag 8B
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1259/17118/MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-10.1.pdf
55542025330567fb778e93a552e83e15
Dublin Core
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Title
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Whitehead, Tom
T Whitehead
Description
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31 items and an album sub collection. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Tom Whitehead (b. 1923) who served as a rear gunner with 428 Squadron operating from RAF Dalton in Yorkshire. He was shot down over Duisburg and became a prisoner of war. Collection includes his prisoner of war logbook, official correspondence to his mother, official documentation, letters from the Caterpillar Club, German prisoner of war propaganda, 14 editions of the Red Cross prisoner of war newspaper and photographs of Royal Air Force personnel including himself.
Album in sub collection consists of 47 pages of prisoner of war related photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Pamela Hyslop and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2018-03-07
Rights
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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.
Identifier
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Whitehead, T
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Transcription
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The Prisoner of War
[symbol] THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR DEPARTMENT OF THE RED CROSS AND ST. JOHN WAR ORGANISATION, ST. JAMES'S PALACE, LONDON, S.W.1 [symbol]
Vol 2. No. 25 Free to Next-of-Kin May, 1944
The Editor Writes –
MANY prisoners of war are being deprived of their letters week after week because well-meaning people on this side are writing too much and too often. A very urgent appeal has reached us from a British Camp Leader in a large Stalag begging us to do what we can to stop the excessive flow of letters to his camp. “Please impress upon relatives and friends of P.o.W.s,” he writes, “that one letter a week per man is quite sufficient and would certainly ensure every man getting his mail regularly.”
One Letter a Week
I believe that many men have written to their next-of-kin urging them to keep letters down to one a week, but perhaps it is difficult to make people realise the congestion and delay caused in the Censor's office on the other side if there are two or three letters for Bill Smith instead of one; for there may be thousands of Bill Smiths in the camp, and therefore thousands of extra letters to be censored and distributed without any extra staff to do the work. Naturally the men whose letters are delayed get “fed up” to see their companions getting several letters when they get none. The remedy is for each next-of-kin to organise the mail to the best of his ability. “One a week from home” is the ration, and relatives should collaborate to see that it is not exceeded.
They All Get Chocolate
I have been looking at a most interesting chart of the contents of the food parcels that are sent to the camps. Each parcel contains about 17 items out of a list of 40 different commodities. Seven different standard parcels are packed at the Packing Centres, and since last month the contents of the parcels have been replanned under expert guidance. No. 7 parcel is a special one for Indians. Of the other six all contain chocolate, tea, sugar, condensed milk, cheese, hot meat, biscuits and butter or margarine, salmon or pilchards, jam or syrup, beef loaf or chopped ham, and most of them dried eggs and rolled oats or oatmeal. One parcel contains pancake batter, another oatmeal block, and I notice that the one parcel with sausages has no bacon. The average weekly output from all the Packing Centres in Britain is now 97,000.
Cheerful Letters – and Others
Somebody has noticed that the letters we publish on our letter pages are almost always cheerful and bright and suggest that it is time we printed some of the other kind. The answer is, of course, that we do. It is only rarely that a gloomy letter is sent to me for publication, because I think that it is realised that hundreds and even thousands of people might be caused needless anxiety by a piece of information about conditions which perhaps affect only the writer and his immediate surroundings. You have only to read the “Official Reports from the Camps” to recognise that we do not make any attempt to conceal real conditions. Many letters reach the Prisoners of War Department containing complaints about one thing or another. These are always investigated, and in suitable cases referred to the Protecting Power or the International Red Cross Committee for action.
[photograph]
Prisoners of war setting off from Stalag Luft 3.
Holiday Camp
Life certainly sounds congenial at Stalag III D, judging by an unofficial account I have seen of the camp. Stalag IIID is run as a sort of holiday resort for men who have been working in mines or on other arduous tasks for the past three years.
“They come here for a six weeks' rest with good food and organised games, concerts and sports,” writes my informant, “and it's really amazing
[page break]
2 The Prisoner of War May, 1944
to see the change this rest does for most of the lads.”
The writer is himself a member of the camp staff, in charge of arranging all the indoor games, and it is not surprising to hear that he is “very contented” with his situation.
Guards Recommended
There is an interesting little story attached to the incident of the fire that broke out in Stalag XVIIIA's work camp 7001/GW one night last November and destroyed most of the buildings. On the morning after there was a “court of inquiry” to which one prisoner, a marine who had been acting as camp interpreter, was called to represent the rest of his companions. “As a request had been made by the men for me to pay respect where it was due,” he writes home, “I recommended two of the guards for bravery in the fire.”
He adds that they are all settled now in a new camp near Schladming, with personal kit replenished by the Red Cross and with the only five men injured in the fire “doing fine.”
Friend in Need
Before he fell into enemy hands a young Australian airman – strange to this country and with his own home on the other side of the world – used to spend his leave periods in company with 26 brother officers at the house of Mrs. Bryant, near Stratford-on-Avon. As a prisoner he expressed a wish to study medicine, but first there was the Educational Books Section to be approached and all his necessary particulars to be collected from his parents and college back in Australia. All these preliminaries have now been settled, and in his latest letter of thanks to Mrs Bryant he tells her that his studies, now well under way, have become “a pleasure instead of a lesson in self-discipline.”
No Time for Fiction
What he modestly calls “a fair amount of work” is being indulged in by a member of Oflag VA, who sends home a most impressive record of camp studies made possible by the initiative of the prisoners themselves.
“A barrister of seven years standing takes our class on contract and property. A partner in a firm of estate agents takes us in valuations. A South African takes four or five of us on building construction, drainage and sanitation. I have an accountant who sets me book-keeping questions, and I have attended lectures on the history of architecture, modern architecture and the general aspect of town planning.
“All this,” he goes on to say, “helps to fill in the week,” remarking that he
is finding less and less time nowadays to read novels. No wonder!
[photograph]
Inside a hut at Stalag 383.
Black Watch Artist
Private Thomas Johnson, of the Black Watch, was an art student before the war and has continued resolutely to “keep his hand in” during his four years captivity. He sent back two specimens of his work recently for his mother to look at – two delicate
[inserted] THEY ALSO SERVE...
“When I came here I felt quite humbled to see the splendid bearing of men who had been down three and four years,” writes a member of Stalag Luft VI.
“Theirs was a more finely tempered greatness than that which excites public imagination. It made me blush to think of the times I had heard 'browned off' talk at home.
“Of course they dream of home and peace; but until those days come, they also serve.” [/inserted]
miniature water-colours. Very sensibly, she has not kept them secret, and I am glad to see that they have been hung in this year's exhibition of pictures by artists of northern counties at the Laing
Gallery, Newcastle. Let us hope that Private Johnson will come home to find himself famous – at any rate in his home town of Tynemouth.
Idea for Disney
Winter sports of one kind or another, in spite of handicaps, have been enjoyed by quite a number of our P.o.W.s, to judge by the accounts they have sent home. One man in Stalag 383, to which the Red Cross sent out a hundred pairs of skates last year, approaches the subject from a new angle. “The sight of a hundred men skating on the tiny pond at Hohenfels,” he says, “would give Walt Disney inspiration.” I print his suggestion for what it's worth.
Making Things Easier
A touching tribute reaches me from a New Zealander, another inmate of Stalag 383. “Every P.o.W. fully appreciates your efforts to make their life of waiting easier,” he writes. “To all readers and workers of your organisation I acknowledge a debt of gratitude we can never repay.”
It has been encouraging, too, to hear from a lady in Feltham, Middlesex, that the journal gives her “a vivid picture, and helps us to realise the sort of life our men are now living.”
Mistaken Identity
One of the most pleasant testimonials I have seen of the skill shown by P.o.W.s in their theatrical disguises was given – inadvertently – by a new arrival at Stalag Luft III. The camp had staged its first production of “The Merchant of Venice,” and amid the applause at the end of the performance he turned to his companion to comment on the brilliant acting of the female parts, asking with understandable enthusiasm where those W.A.A.F.s had been captured!
News Flashes
Here are a few glimpses of life to-day in various camps. I choose them from a pile of letters for which, unfortunately, there is no space to quote at length.
Oflag VA: “Hot showers once a week, and private parcels arriving.”
Oflag IVB: “Visit to the local natural history museum.”
Stalag XVIIB: “Plenty of fresh air and exercise now, working in the forests.”
Stalag XVIIIA: “Different activities starting, including dancing lessons and revival of debating club.”
Merrie England
It was my good fortune to spend Easter in a Surrey village where on that glorious sunny Saturday the local Hunt held a gymkhana and show in aid of the Prisoners of War Fund. It was a beautiful and a typically English sight in which children and ponies played the major part. I could not help thinking what a joy it would have been to thousands of our country-bred lads now in prison camps, if they could have been suddenly transported to that field and seen the fearless young riders patting their ponies' necks after a good jump. Here was a little pattern of Merrie England that never changes in war or peace – of the England that is worth coming back to.
[page break]
May, 1944 The Prisoner of War 3
For Sailors and Seamen
An Outline of Marlag and Milag Nord
MARLAG UND MILAG NORD consists of two distinct camps, of which “Marlag” is the camp for naval prisoners of war, and “Milag” for merchant seamen. “Marlag” is in its turn divided into two quite separate sections, of which “Marlag O” houses the naval officers, and “Marlag M” the ratings.
The camp is situated in undulating open country, in a farming district. “Distant pine woods encircle us,” wrote a prisoner in the “Milag.” “Half the fields are cultivated and the remainder is lovely grazing pasture. Between one village and the next runs a stream, and we can follow its course from our window by the willow trees.”
Anyone visiting the camp now after an absence of some two and a half years might hardly recognise it. “When we arrived at Marlag, the whole place was a sandy waste,” reports a prisoner. “On windy days there were miniature sandstorms, nasty on the eyes, and dirty in the rooms.”
Now there are grass plots within the enclosures, formed of turf sods which the men were allowed, under armed guard, to fetch from outside the camp. They brought in loads of soil also, to make garden beds, and young fir trees were planted in groups between the huts.
Three Sections
Life in the three sections of the camp is similar, yet diverse. Each section has its own theatre, church services, orchestra, sports ground and sick bay. In each one classes are organised and regular courses of study are followed.
In one respect, “Milag” differs from “Marlag,” and that is in the number of nations represented by the internees, though the majority are British. A visitor to the camp described it as being rather like a village, each hut having an individual character, which indicated the national characteristics of its occupants.
Gardening appears to provide a great interest for the merchant seamen, and seeds sent out by the Royal Horticultural Society, as well as the plants bought locally, have enabled the men to grow flowers and vegetables with great success. “The authorities here give us every facility for gardening,” wrote the senior British officer. “Quite apart from the important food factor, it gives employment to a large number of otherwise idle hands.”
[photograph]
A group of men in Marlag O, the section which houses naval officers.
The Daily Routine
Another letter from the same section of the camp describes the writer's daily routine. “We rise at 6.30 a.m., parade at 6.45, get breakfast ready in our room, and at about 7.20 I go to inspect the garden. From 8.30 to 10.30 my assistant and I work assiduously in the parcels office sorting and collecting the tins needed from our Red Cross parcels. Most afternoons I join our outside gardening party from 1.15 to 4, returning to a bath and two-course tea.
The food parcels he speaks of are forwarded by the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva jointly to Marlag and Milag, and are then divided as required between the three sections of the camp. Uniform is also sent alike to the three sections, and, of course, like all other prisoners of war, they may receive next-of-kin and permit parcels.
“The Germans do not trouble much with the internal arrangements of the camp,” comments a repatriated officer, looking back on his years behind the wire. “Consequently, the camp is nicely organised and efficiently run by our own appointed officers. Neither were we troubled much with rules and regulations, the Germans concerning themselves mainly with the blackouts. Generally speaking, any rules we had to obey were reasonable.”
[inserted][cartoon]
They brought in young fir trees to plant between the huts.[/inserted]
Education at Milag
Great interest is taken at Milag in education because, thanks to the co-operation of the Ministry of War Transport, the Merchant Navy Officers' Training Board and the Red Cross Educational Books Section, apprentices and cadets can continue their ordinary education and prepare for their future career by studying for their Second Mate's Certificate. “I hope my sister Betsy is doing as well at school as I am here,” wrote 17-year-old cabin-boy Jackie Hipkin, who has been a prisoner for three years, to his mother last October. “I learned algebra and geometry last winter, and now I'm in the matriculation classes. I've also started learning Spanish, and I am surprised how easy it is!”
Well Used Leisure
In the same way study courses for First Mate and Master and all grades of marine engineer are available to merchant seamen, while in Marlag as well as Milag, examinations are held in construction, navigation and kindred subjects for which officially recognised certificates are awarded. Thus, here as elsewhere, those who have devoted their enforced leisure to study should find on their return that their captivity has not been an unmixed evil.
[page break]
4 The Prisoner of War May,1944
Official Reports from the Camps
[inserted] In every case where the conditions call for remedy, the Protecting Power makes representations to the German authorities. Where there is any reason to doubt whether the Protecting Power has acted it is at once requested to do so. When it is reported that food or clothing is required, the necessary action is taken through the International Red Cross Committee. [/inserted]
The following camps were all visited in January, 1944.
STASLAG XIB (FALLINGBOSTEL)
Work Camp 7005 Salzgitter. – This camp was opened only a fortnight before it was visited, when there were 409 British prisoners of war from Italy. Two-thirds of the men are doing heavy work for factories in the area and find the work too heavy in their present state of health.
The prisoners live in wooden barracks, with double-tier bunks, palliasses and two blankets. The rooms are well heated and there is ample space. Electricity is to be improved. Washing, bathing and toilet facilities are good.
Food is described as poor, and up to the time of the visit no Red Cross parcels had been received.
As yet there is no British medical officer at the camp. Dental treatment is given by a local dentist. Clothing of all types is needed. There has not yet been time to organise religious or recreational facilities.
STALAG LUFT I, BARTH VOGELSANG
Luft I has now become a camp for British and American Air Force officers only. Accommodation remains the same, though there are fewer prisoners in the camp than there were. British and Americans are in separate compounds, though at present they are all administered as one camp. Accommodation is still being enlarged, and the capacity of the camp will be about 3,000. At present there are nearly 800 prisoners of war.
There is one British medical officer and two chaplains. Lighting is still unsatisfactory. Heating is described as adequate. Washing and bathing facilities are satisfactory; toilet facilities have been improved.
The British medical officer is satisfied with the infirmary and the treatment given; medical supplies are sufficient. There is great need for a dental surgeon. Clothing conditions are fair. No arrangements have been made so far with regard to laundry, and the officers have to do their own washing.
Recreational and religious facilities are entirely satisfactory, though there is some lack of sports equipment.
OFLAG IXA/H, SPANGENBURG.
This camp is rather more crowded than it was owing to the arrival of senior officers from Italy. Acommodation [sic] is therefore not so good as it should be for senior officers.
Two-tier bunks are used. The rooms are dark and lighting not very good. Hot showers are available fortnightly.
A new German doctor is in charge of the revier, and the general state of health is stated to be extremely good.
Mail has been slow of late. The senior British officer asked for more walks to be organised.
[photograph]
The old stone-built monastery at Wurzach, civilian internment camp.
OFLAG IXA/Z, ROTHENBURG
Officer from Italy have also arrived at this camp and it is also full to capacity, even study and recreation rooms being unavailable for normal use.
Lighting is not adequate in some of the rooms, and the toilet facilities are insufficient.
The supply of fuel has been cut in many camps during the winter, and heating has been hardly sufficient, particularly as two of the buildings have stone floors.
Each man has only one blanket from the German authorities, but they are well supplied with private blankets.
The British medical officer stated that the general health of the camp was amazingly good. The arrival of mail has been very erratic during the last few months.
MARLAG UND MILAG NORD, WESTERTIMKE
This camp is now divided into four distinct camps:-
Marlag O for Naval officers.
Marlag M for Naval ratings.
Milag for Merchant Navy.
A camp for Indians.
There is also a small Dulag or transit camp.
Marlag O. – There are 271 officers in the camp. Accommodation is fairly satisfactory, but it is reported that the roofs of the barracks are continuously under repair. Lighting is fair. More cleaning materials and cooking utensils are needed and a new boiler for the laundry. Recreational facilities are satisfactory.
Marlag M. – 663 petty officers and ratings are detained in this camp. Several small points about the camp should be improved, such as lighting in some of the rooms. The boiler and refrigerator should be repaired and the kitchen range enlarged. The receipt of mail has been very bad of late.
Milag. – There are 2,561 internees of the Merchant Navy in the camp of many nationalities. The same remarks apply to this camp as to the others. Roofs need repairs; lighting in some of the rooms is bad and the coal supply is described as insufficient.
The hospital at this part of the camp caters for prisoners of war from the entire camp, and the organisation is described by the British medical officer as very satisfactory in every way; the general health of all the camps is said to be very good. The clothing situation has improved.
The Indian merchant seamen are satisfactorily housed in a newly built camp in the forest.
Dulag. – Two barracks are used by prisoners, who normally stay in this camp only a short while before they are sent to a permanent part of the camp. The capacity is about 150 men. Accommodation is satisfactory, and the camp is administered from Marlag.
STALAG XIA, ALTENGRABOW
Stalag XIA was originally built for German troops and prisoners of war of other nationalities than British, and is in the heart of the country, about 50 miles from the nearest town.
The 1,327 British prisoners are accommodated in stables, which are very
[page break]
May, 1944 The Prisoner of War 5
solidly constructed. The rooms are high, with small windows and floors of cement. Kitchens, and infirmary, hospital, and recreation rooms have been separately built.
There is a large sports ground. Two blankets have been issued to each prisoner, who sleep in three-tier bunks.
The rooms are overcrowded and there is not adequate seating accommodation. Lighting is bad and heating insufficient.
The water supply is adequate, but the sanitary installations are not, although all the prisoners have one hot shower each week.
Food is prepared by French prisoners of war in a central kitchen. The medical situation is good. Two British medical officers and seven orderlies are in charge of the infirmary and hospital, and dental treatment is given by a French dentist. Medical supplies are sufficient and hygienic conditions are described as being “not too bad.”
Laundry is done by the prisoners of war themselves. Recreational facilities have not yet been organised. Most of these prisoners came from Leros and their morale is very high. They will be sent out to work camps as quickly as possible.
STALAG XVIIA, KAISERSTEINBRUCH
1,883 of the 2,335 British prisoners are in the main camp. The others are in work camps. These men are from Italy. The British in the main camp occupy four huts, the remainder are occupied by prisoners of other nationalities.
The huts are built of wood and are divided into two rooms each, which are said to be overcrowded. Three-tiered bunks are in use. Lighting is bad, and washing and bathing facilities are inadequate for the large number of prisoners. There is not enough space for exercise and no sports ground.
Clothing conditions are satisfactory. Correspondence forms had not been issued to the prisoners, but a stock had arrived on the day of the visit and receipt of mail has been greatly delayed. No religious facilities had so far been organised.
One of the huts has been reserved for use as an infirmary with two British medical officers in charge, assisted by five British medical orderlies.
Up to the time of the visit this hut had not been sufficiently fitted out as an infirmary, but the doctors had an adequate supply of drugs.
STALAG XVIIA
Work Camp A941. – There are 68 prisoners of war here, accommodated in wooden huts, which are situated on a hill. They have two-tier bunks, one sheet, a pillow and two blankets. There are huts in use as dining-rooms, kitchens and for sanitary installations.
Heating and lighting are adequate and there is plenty of room for tables and chairs. Clothing conditions are not good. Medical and dental attention is given by civilians and appears to be satisfactory. Recreational facilities have not yet been organised. The men are employed on drainage work. Hours of work are 8 1/2 per day and weekends are free.
HOSPITAL AT OBERMASSFELD
Obermassfeld is described as very full and many airmen are brought here if wounded when captured, as well as surgical cases from Kloster Haina.
271 British patients and 104 Americans are in the care of nine British medical officers and a British dentist. There are also nose and throat specialists. The supply of instruments and drugs is, generally speaking, sufficient, and the operating and dental theatres, massage room and artificial limb “shop” are quite well equipped. The dental station deals with prisoners from many camps in the IX Area.
Apart from being somewhat over-crowded this hospital can be considered to be satisfactory.
HOSPITAL AT BAD SODEN, SALMUNSTER
After the repatriation of sick and wounded prisoners of war last October, Kloster Haina was closed and the “eye-station” and blind prisoners of war transferred to this new hospital at Bad Soden.
A former sanatorium has been taken over. It is on a hillside facing south and is surrounded by a park.
There are patients of other nationalities besides British (who number 36, including 10 officers), and all are under the care of two British medical officers and British orderlies and two Braille teachers. The impression
[photograph]
A group of prisoners at Marlag und Milag Nord.
[photograph]
Outside the internment camp of Dongelberg, Belgium.
[photograph]
A trio of airmen at Stalag Luft I.
[page break]
6 The Prisoner of War May, 1944
gained is that of any ordinary hospital. Only part of the sanatorium is occupied by prisoners, the other part being occupied by Roman Catholic sisters, who are said to be very helpful and kind whenever they can.
Washing and toilet facilities are very good and hot showers are taken fortnightly. Food is good and is cooked by the sisters. Medical supplies are good. Clothing is satisfactory. The British medical officer considers this hospital a great improvement on Kloster Haina.
[photograph]
The Chapel at Stalag Luft I.
CAMPS IN NORTHERN ITALY UNDER GERMAN CONTROL
(Both camps visited November, 1943.)
DULAG 226.
This is a transit camp for other ranks who will eventually be transferred to Germany. The camp consists of wooden huts among trees on the hillside and is surrounded by barbed wire. The general state of health is satisfactory, and a German staff doctor looks after the prisoners. There is a supply of Red Cross parcels at the camp.
STALAG 337. MANTUA.
Stalag 337 is a transit camp for officers and other ranks who have been recaptured in Northern Italy. The camp strength naturally varies from day to day.
Accommodation comprises six large rooms which were formerly used as garages and store-rooms. The rooms are well ventilated but they are rather dark. There are three stoves in each room. The officers sleep on camp beds and have one blanket each; the other ranks sleep on plank beds and also have one blanket each. Washing and toilet facilities are primitive. Prisoners in need of urgent medical attention are taken to the local hospital.
Food is brought to the camp twice a day and is said to be sufficient in quantity and of good quality. On the day of their arrival at the camp the prisoners are allowed to send a card to their next of kin. An Italian priest celebrates Mass in the courtyard. Prisoners do not normally stay at this camp more than 10 days.
CIVILIAN INTERNMENT CAMP
ILAG WURZACH
At this camp, which is situated in an old stone-built monastery at Wurzach, in the province of Wurtemberg, there are 613 internees, most of whom have been there since 1942 when they were evacuated from the Channel Islands. The building itself is dark and damp, especially on the ground floor, and there are rats and mice and plagues of flies and mosquitoes in the summer.
The sanitary arrangements, at first very unsatisfactory, have recently been improved. Some of the internees sleep in single beds, others in two-tier structures with a palliasse and two blankets, in addition to those which they own personally.
The food is reported to be of poor quality with a lack of proper fats and green vegetables.
The school accommodation for children is so limited that it has only been possible so far to give them one hour's lesson daily, but efforts are being made to provide better accommodation.
The situation as regards shoes is very poor.
The internees are able to use the sports ground regularly in the afternoons and walks out are also organised. Mail takes one month to and from the Channel Islands.
The health of the internees is fairly good. The general atmosphere is not considered satisfactory. The building is old, decrepit and unpractically arranged.
(Visited January, 1944.)
ILAG LIEBENAU
This camp is situated at Liebenau, near Tettnang, Ravensburg, in the province of Wurtenburg in south-western Germany, and is about seven miles north of Lake Constance.
The building was formerly a Home of Rest conducted by Roman Catholic sisters, who still occupy a part of the premises.
The nuns attend to the preparation of the food, which is of good quality and the quantity is supplemented by a very satisfactory supply of Red Cross food parcels. The internees themselves help with the kitchen work and the laundry.
During 1941 and 1942 the camp was considered to be almost a model one, but towards the end of 1942 the number of internees was so much increased that the accommodation was overcrowded and until quite recently, owing to the growing shortage of coal, there was insufficient hot water for bathing more than once every two weeks.
Health is good and medical attention, given by a German doctor, is reported to be satisfactory.
An Educational Committee is running a school for the twenty-two children at the camp with great success. For the adult internees student groups for languages have been organised and prove very satisfactory.
Theatre performances are given periodically. For two hours a day the internees are allowed to take walks in the neighbourhood, where the countryside is very beautiful.
The camp is very satisfactorily run, and the nuns show great kindness and consideration.
(Visited January, 1944.)
THE BRITISH LEGION
OF the six to seven thousand branches of the British Legion there is not one which does not run a prisoners of war comforts fund, to provide our men with cigarettes, tobacco and other comforts.
Relatives will find branches in every town and village willing to lend their halls for social gatherings, and ever ready to offer their help and co-operation.
Recognising that the men (and women) of this war will in due course control the Legion's destinies, prizes of £500 have been offered for ideas of the present Forces on its future policy.
This is open to prisoners of war.
Conditions of the competition have been sent to all prisoner of war camps in Germany through the War Organisation of the British Red Cross and St. John, and word has been received at Legion Headquarters, Cardigan House, Richmond, Surrey, that numerous entries are on their way.
When the men return home they will be faced with many and diverse problems, on most of which the local branch of the British Legion will be prepared to help or advise them, or tell them where to get advice.
CAMP LIST
Please add the following to your camp list:-
STALAG IID, at Stargard, Square F3 on map. (Camp for Canadians, also some British prisoners born in Canada.)
STALAG VIIB, at Memmingen. Square C9 on map.
STALAG 357, at Thorn. Square H3.
Reinsert STALAG IIID, as there are still three or four work-parties which use this address.
[page break]
May, 1944 The Prisoner of War 7
[inserted]The Letters They Write Home[/inserted]
His First Letter
Oflag VIIIF. 26.2.44.
WHEN we came in pretty well done up the fellows gave us food and cigarettes, although they had only bare sufficiency themselves.
The Germans, in all fairness, are very correct towards us, and the Red Cross, God bless them! keep us comfortable. I wish you wish you would convey to them our gratitude for their splendid work.
I am sharing a room with nine other very nice fellows. I can almost treat this camp, except for our loss of freedom, like a minor university, for we all work hard to keep ourselves fit in mind and body.
There are lectures to attend, games, amusements, even a theatre we made, and I have already seen a play. Incidentally, “Iolanthe” is coming off in about a month. Don't worry! I'm having a grand time.
Air Like Wine
Marlag und Milag Nord (Marlag T.). 8.2.44.
I AM writing this from the new camp up in the Hartz Mountains; I cannot tell you the name of the place as it is not allowed. The air here is like wine and the camp is situated on top of a mountain overlooking the valley with beautiful little villages scattered here and there.
I was beginning to get mental trouble like Uncle Joe through being behind barbed wire for 3 1/2 years. I am feeling the change already – the fresh air, seeing people, men and women, and even to hearing the sound of a motor car now and then. I am waiting patiently for the spring, when thousands of pine trees will turn green and birds will sing again.
Farmers' Club
Stalag 344. 21.2.44
I AM in agriculture up to my eyes now; in fact, I have very little spare time. The latest on the list is a farmers' club, of which I am the very proud president, and at our opening meeting I gave a 3/4-hr. speech on the subject “Should Farmers be Subsidised?” Getting good, aren't I? I shall be able to blind you all with science when I return. Seriously, though, this chance to learn is worth a lot to us.
Feels Homesick
Stalag IVB. 3.2.44.
I AM O.K., and have just been out lifting some dumb-bells weighing over one hundred pounds, so I shall be able to lift ten stone O.K. Also trying some antics on a parallel bar. I went to our theatre last evening – It is called “The Empire” – to see a variety show. My main object was to listen to the band, which is very good. But I have been very homesick since; I was sitting next to a chap who was in England just over a week ago. I am just about to start my washing-day for clothes.
He Talked to Padre
Stalag XXB. 23.1.44.
MY camp was visited by the Padre, and the Chief Man of Confidence to-day. We had a very nice religious service, and everything in the camp was found to be in tip-top order. I had a long chat with the Padre and was very interested.
[photograph]
Prisoner with his pets at Stalag XXB/155.
Parcels are Scarce
Stalag XIB, Kdo 7004. 18.1.44.
AFTER short sojourns in two transit camps I have finally landed up in a German working camp and now spend my time between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. swinging a long-handled shovel!
Red Cross parcels have been very scarce and, owing principally to their absence and also to the fact that we had only reached our new camp two days before Christmas, Christmas itself was a complete washout. On Christmas Day we were even minus a smoke. Since then we have had one parcel, which is still lasting.
Our rations are only fair, our principal meal being a thick vegetable soup which we get about 6 p.m.
The best thing of all is that living conditions are really good. Good beds, table, forms, and a big stove with loads of fuel and a good fire awaits us each night. We also have a large boiler in the wash-house and get a hot wash on our return from work. I am fit and well.
Day of Rest
Stalag XVIIA. 6.2.44.
ONCE again it is Sunday, our one day of rest. At the moment the snow is falling heavily, and already there is a covering of six inches.
The last stage of our journey to the lumber camp is made on a sleigh drawn by two horses.
We are right up in the mountains and the air is richer than wine. We drink from a pure mountain stream and also perform our ablutions in it. I'll be stronger than an elephant in a month's time.
Our food parcels are punctual now, so everything in the garden is lovely. If you were here I would be a very happy man.
Exam. in April
Oflag VIIB. 29.2.44.
THE frost is moderating and toboganing [sic] is now over. However, it is still bitterly cold at nights. You would laugh to see my night garments: long pants, two pullovers, socks, body belt, scarves, all in addition to my pyjamas.
[photograph]
They're building the theatre – at Stalagluft 3.
[page break]
8 The Prisoner of War MAY, 1944
[photograph]
A group at Stalag XXA/110.
[photograph]
Some bathers - at Oflag IXA.
[photograph]
Arrival at Oflag VII.
[symbol] My exam is fixed for some time in April. I think, after all, I shall be able to manage all six subjects together. I have temporarily given up my fencing in order to devote more time to my studies. At present I dream about contracts, meetings, “fair comment,” etc.
We have now completed our tuition in Culbertson and are proceeding to put it into practice. With some effect, too, I might rather immodestly add.
Only another two months to complete my four years. Really it is getting rather boring you know. However, we still smile, though rather feebly!
[symbol][italic] Final of Chartered Institute of Secretaries. [/italic]
Received Parcels from Italy
Stalag IVG K.D.O. 35/361. 27.2.44.
HERE'S the usual weekly, this time with some really good news. When I had your letter saying the Red Cross were redirecting letters and parcels from Italy, I must admit I laughed.
However, Friday came, and with it fourteen of September's letters – and your fourth parcel. Need not tell you how pleased I was with it, especially as that makes all of the four parcels you sent to Italy.
On Behalf of 1,500 P.o.W.s
Stalag XVIIA. 14.2.44.
IT is with the greatest of pleasure that I write on behalf of the 1,500 British prisoners in this Stalag to convey to you our very sincere thanks for the food parcels and clothing, which we have received from you through the intermediary of the International Red Cross Committee.
The majority of us have been prisoners of war for upwards of two years now – in Libya and Italy and in Germany. We arrived in this Stalag in early November with virtually nothing, and when I take stock of benefits we have received from you in these past three months I find it impossible to express in mere words our very deep gratitude to those of you at home for all you have done – and are continuing to do – on our behalf. We were well supplied by you in Italy, but never have I known so speedy and complete a response to innumerable requests as we have experienced since our arrival here.
We owe a debt we can never hope to repay, both to the millions in England who have contributed towards our well-being and comfort, and to your organisation.
Beer Bar
Stalag IVD E1-105E. 23.1.44.
MAIL started arriving in this camp yesterday, though I didn't get one. However, I might get one any day now. We've also had Red Cross parcels, cigarettes and clothing. There are hot-water pipes here, tables and forms for eating and writing at, and we've built a small bar in our room for serving out the beer which we can buy with our camp money forms.
He Carries Tiles
Stalag VIIA. 20.1.44.
WELL, I've left sunny Italy behind. It is very much like England over here – cold, with rain and snow. Life is much more pleasant than it was in Italy; living quarters are much better and the food is more to my liking. I am working again – the job is easy, and all I do is carry tiles. We go to work by tram, and also get a pint of beer a day. The pay is 70 pfennigs a day and we work 5 1/2 days a week. I think we will have more chances of spending our money here than in Italy. There is a picture show coming to the camp at the end of the month, and also we have a concert in preparation.
Winter in Stalag
Stalag VIIIA. 14.2.44.
WINTER is with us in earnest now, 6in. of snow, long icicles hanging from the eaves 1 and 2 feet long, and do we have fun!
Each day there is a “battle royal” between members of the different huts, snowballing like billy-o; even the poor camp S.M. got his share when the lads all turned their efforts against him. I hung out a white hanky and mentioned Official Business in a loud voice, but, no good, I was properly “done over,” so to speak.
We have made sledges out of Red Cross wood to carry our coal boxes and dirt boxes on. I actually saw a horse-
[inserted]PICTURES AND LETTERS
TEN SHILLINGS will be awarded each month to the senders of the first three letters from prisoners of war to be printed. Copies instead of the originals are requested, and whenever possible, these should be set out on a separate sheet of paper, showing the DATES on which they were written. The Editor welcomes for other pages of the journal any recent NEWS relating to prisoners of war.
Ten shillings will also be awarded for photographs reproduced across two columns, and five shillings for those under two. Photographs should be distinct, and any information as to when they were taken is helpful.
Address: Editor, “The Prisoner of War,” St. James's Palace, London, S.W.1. The cost of these prizes and fees is defrayed by a generous friend of the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation [/inserted]
[page break]
MAY, 1944 The Prisoner of War 9
sleigh to-day. complete with bells, driving through this camp.
Day with the Sentry
Stalag XVIIB. 13.2.44.
HULLO, here we are again, Sunday, 4 p.m., and I have just finished work in the cookhouse: start again at 3 a.m. in the morning.
We have had another fall of snow and the north wind is very cold; our billets are in a dip surrounded by trees, so they help to break the wind, We are getting “civvy” rations and our Red Cross parcels each week, which are a blessing to all.
Yesterday I had a day out with a sentry, which was a nice change for me. Our billet was gassed the other day to free us from lice and bugs, and we had to stand out in the cold for seven hours. It only holds three of us, and we have our blankets, a white sheet and pillow – quite comfy.
Like Beau Brummel
Camp d'Internment Militaire, Degersheim, Switzerland. 3.2.44.
I HAD an almost incredible surprise today – thanks to the good offices of the International Red Cross – I have just received a personal parcel from you, dated July 1943. Everything is in good condition, including the chocolate (great stuff that!).
Of course, I am not in such great need of it now, but everything, you can be sure, is very acceptable. I know how hard it must be for you to know what to put into these parcels, but if the wives and mothers could see the faces of the chaps when they open them they would be amply repaid. Of course, the chap does not open it on his own; he always has half a dozen helpers and about 50 onlookers, and everything is handed round, inspected and admired.
And then the great thrill of being able to put on decent clothes, blacken your boots, brilliantine on your hair, good shave, and clean your teeth properly. Then for a walk round the camp feeling like a “Beau Brummel” and thinking that life is not so bad, after all. That's what I felt like when I got that first parcel – made me a man again.
Royal Message
Ilag Wurzach. 2.1.44.
WE had a message from the King and Queen; it is nice to know we are not forgotten. When you mention oranges it is strange to realise there are children here, four years old, who do not know what an orange or banana is.
My skill at shove ha'penny gained me 34 cigs. last week. The master sport!
We had three inches of snow yesterday and the horse sleighs have made their appearance.
Lots of children have home-made sledges and pull each other round the compound. To-day they hitched up to an ox. What a picture! We see lots of squirrels in the wood opposite. Some of our folk here go out for a “conducted walk,” but find themselves knee-deep in snow. We shall wait until the “summer tours” begin.
We are longing for the time when the gates open for good.
Good-night, Ladies
Biberach. 24.1.44.
I WILL try to give you a little camp news. We live in barracks; there is a long passage down the centre with doors opening from it into rooms which hold from two to sixteen people; these rooms are very much like cabins on a ship, with bunks around the side and lockers for clothes and food.
There is a table in the centre and a coal heating-stove to each room, and we get a ration of coal three times a week. We take it in turns to cook the things we get in our Red Cross parcels; we have all our meals in our rooms.
Football is the main sport and they also play handball and netball; there is a hut set aside for dances and theatricals, the internees being the actors, and I must say they put on some quite good shows, and a new one every week.
Two barracks are used as hospitals, one for the men and the other for the ladies, and these are run by doctors from Guernsey, but the nurses come from both Islands. All the work inside the camp is done by internees, from shoe repairing to brush-making. I still help to run the post and records office, and this is a full-time job as there are just under 1,200 internees, occupying
[photograph]
Living quarters at Stalag IVA.
[photograph]
Ready for a dip - at Stalag XVIIIA.
[photograph]
The church at Stalag 344.
[page break]
10 The Prisoner of War MAY, 1944
some 20 barracks. The men have to say good-night to their womenfolk at 9 p.m., and each retire to their own barracks as they are segregated at night. Lights out at 10 p.m.
Chaps From “70”
Stalag IVF. 24.1.44.
THE majority of the chaps have received a letter, but up to date I have been unsuccessful. We hear that some of the chaps from “70” got back to England. I feel like kicking myself now, but at least I obeyed orders.
Did I ask you to send me a pipe? I need a new one badly. We have not forgotten how to smile; in fact, we can get a laugh out of everything. We laugh so much that I often wonder if we are still sane. But we'll soon know when we get back.
Much Better Than Italy
Oflag VIIIF. 30.1.44.
THIS camp is very much better than Italy. We can play rugger and soccer, we have a swimming bath, which is now frozen over and we are able to skate.
The theatre has just opened, and the first show is “Spring Meeting.” Very shortly the band will be in full swing. The educational system is a thousand per cent. better than Italy!
Getting Settled Down
Stalag IVB. 15.1.44.
THIS is a senior N.C.O.s' camp and we are just getting settled down. A church, theatre and educational rooms are being built, but in the meantime concert parties travel round the billets.
In the camp we have three padres and two medical officers, so at least we assured of both physical and spiritual treatment.
It is not too cold here, and my job as interpreter gives me plenty of walking about during the day; and, with a room full of “comics” during the night, I never weary. It is a lot better than Italy in every way.
His Log House
Stalag 398. 12.1.44.
I AM really fit and getting along well; I am now working. We are a small party – 18 of us – and a guard in a mountain valley doing lumbering work. So far, it has consisted of sawing logs into 3ft. lengths.
We have been here five weeks and live in a new log-built house – the best billets we have had since being prisoners. The food also is better. We have had two food parcels; they were the first for six weeks. We are much fitter because of the work, and the scenery here is lovely with everything covered with snow. I am the only one who speaks any German, and have had plenty of practice.
[photograph]
A sketch of the interior of a hut at Oflag VIIB.
London Club
Stalag IVB. 2.2.44.
WE have started a London Club in the camp; so far there is somewhere around three hundred members. So there will be big do's after the war.
I am still with a lot of the same crowd that I was pals with in Italy. The entertainment in this camp is excellent. We have about ten concert parties going the rounds.
His Best Billet
Stalag VIIIB. 19.1.44.
I AM at a working camp now, and it is a dark, dirty job, but the billets are very good. We have a room with ten men occupying it and a wardrobe between two. As much coal as we want for the stove supplied for heating the place. And it is the very best billet I have been in.
Post-war Reunion
Stalag IVB. Undated.
WE have started a Red Rose Club in the camp and I am on the committee. It is for all Lancashire men, and although I'm not actually Lancashire they made an exception in my case.
We play other clubs at football, rugby, darts, bridge and whist, and anything else that can be played.
I have made badges out of tins, with the name of the prisoner's home town underneath, and we are planning a big reunion dinner at Blackpool after the war.
Out in the Forest
Oflag VIIB; No VI coy. 20.1.44.
I HAVE now got an occupation which, if it continues, should make me reasonably fit mentally and physically before seeing you again.
Thirty officers go out to the forest daily to grub up tree-stumps for sending back to camp to cut up as fuel. I started on the job a week ago.
My daily programme is as follows: wake up at 6.15 a.m., get up and dress in the dark, meet the rest of the party at the camp gate at five to seven, march down to the station to catch a train at 7.25, which takes us to a place three stations out.
Here we have a room to ourselves where we can leave our things, and come back for our lunch. From this place we walk out with our tools to the area where we are working, which varies from 1/2 to 2 miles.
Each person in turn makes a fire to boil water for a mug of tea or cocoa all round, and when it is ready we stop to have our breakfast, usually at 9.30; work till mid-day, and walk back to the station for lunch, i.e., soup sent out from the camp. Back to work at 1 o'clock, and then catch the 4.30 back, arriving at the camp at 5.15. It is a long day but great fun, and the forest is lovely. One quite forgets the camp except to look forward to supper.
A Small Wage
Stalag IVG. 22.1.44.
THIS is the second form I have had since leaving Italy. Things are just a little brighter here at present owing to the arrival of three issues of Red Cross parcels – previously we had only two in four months; we are all hoping they will arrive better in future.
We are in a small working camp attached to the railway and really the billet is very good, but we see very little of it as we are working 5 1/2 days weekly.
Food is very poor; in fact, below the Italian men's working standard, consisting chiefly of potato water and a small bread ration.
We get paid a small wage monthly but the only thing we can buy appears to be a very indifferent kind of beer. However, I am still keeping fairly fit and well.
From a Camp Leader
Stalag XXB. 23.2.44.
I AM still in the main camp but my kit is all packed ready to move and I expect to go tomorrow.
I am going to a camp in this Stalag (a working camp) as camp leader.
The biggest part of my job, however, is the charge of a Red Cross food distribution store for a whole area (about 1,000 men).
You see, the area of this Stalag is very great and necessitates several distribution centres to ensure that each man receives one parcel per week with 50 cigarettes.
I understand, though, that it will be a good job and it will certainly be a change. It will take several hours' train journey to get there. I am going alone (with a guard of course).
[page break]
MAY, 1944 The Prisoner of War 11
[photograph]
STALAG IXC
[photograph]
STALAG XXID/9
Groups from the Camps
[photograph]
STALAG 383
[photograph]
STALAG XXB
[photograph]
STALAG XVIIIA
[photograph]
OFLAG IVC
[photograph]
STALAG IVA
[photograph]
ST. DENIS (SEINE)
[page break]
14 The Prisoner of War MAY, 1944
INCOME TAX RELIEF
The following statement as to income tax reliefs which may be claimed by a member of the United Kingdom Forces who is serving abroad, or is a prisoner of war, has been received from the Inland Revenue.
A MEMBER of the U.K. Forces is chargeable to tax on his U.K. service pay whether or not he is resident in the U.K. If he has no other income except his service pay, and his wife has no income of her own, he will be liable to the same tax if he is serving outside the U.K., or is a prisoner of war, as he would be if he were serving in the U.K.
If he has income apart from his service pay, or if his wife has income of her own, he may in certain circumstances be liable to less tax if he is serving abroad, or is a prisoner of war, than he would be if
he were serving in the U.K. The following note sets out, briefly, in what circumstances this happens and how relief may be claimed.
1. A person who is not resident in the U.K. is not liable to income tax on any income he may have from sources outside the U.K. (e.g., dividends on shares in a foreign company).
2. A person who is not ordinarily resident in the U.K. is not liable to income tax on the income from the following British Government securities: 4% Funding Loan, 4% Victory Bonds, 3 1/2% War Loan, 3% Defence Bonds, 3% War Loan, 2 1/2% National War Bonds, 3% Savings Bonds. All income from other British Government securities, or from any other British source, is chargeable whatever his position may be as regards residence.
3. The distinction between “not resident” and “not ordinarily resident” is, briefly, as follows:
[italics] If he does not maintain a house [/italics] or other place of abode in the U.K. he is regarded as not resident and not ordinarily resident in the U.K. for the whole of any period of absence from the U.K. which includes a complete income tax year (ending April 5th). Short visits to the U.K. on leave will not make him resident or ordinarily resident.
[italics] If he does maintain a house [/italics] or other place of abode in the U.K., then –
(a) He is regarded as [italics] not resident [/italics] in the U.K. for the whole of any period of absence which includes a complete income tax year; but if he visits the U.K. during that period, he is regarded as resident for the year in which the visit takes place.
(b) He is regarded as [italics] not ordinarily resident [/italics] in the U.K. if his period of absence from the U.K. is not less than 36 months. Short visits to the U.K. on leave will not make him ordinarily resident.
4. Tax is in many cases deducted at the source from dividends and interest. If a member of the Forces gets any payment from which tax is deducted, and is entitled to exemption from tax on that payment because, at the date it was paid, he was not resident, or not ordinarily resident in the U.K., he can get the tax back from the Inland Revenue. He, or his wife, or agent, should write to (or call at) the tax office which deals with his liability.
5. If a non-resident has income that is not liable to income tax, he gets a proportion of the personal allowances to which he would have been entitled if his whole income had been liable to tax. The proportion depends on the amount of his liable income as compared with his total income – for example, if only three-quarters of the allowances to which he would have been entitled if his whole income had been liable to tax.
6. If a husband is not resident in the U.K. but his wife is and she has income of her own, they may, if it is to their advantage, be treated for the purposes of personal allowances as if they were separate single persons. The tax office may not, however, know that the husband is not resident, and if the wife is in any doubt whether they have been given the right treatment, she should write to the tax office which deals with her liability or should call personally.
7. Anyone who does not know the right tax office to go to should write to Chief Inspector Claims, Marine Hotel, Llandudno.
8. The above paragraphs deal with the normal position of a man whose place of residence before joining the Forces was in the U.K. If he was resident abroad before joining, the tax office should be informed, as special treatment may be applicable.
[photograph]
Bringing in their food parcels to the camp.
How They Help
From his prison camp an Indian Sergeant has written to his Rajput Regiment asking that Rs.6s. should be deducted from his pay each month and sent to the Fund. Considering that his monthly pay is Rs.36s., we can share wholeheartedly the opinion of his adjutant – who sends us the news from India – that “this is a fine action.”
There is news this month of two other generous contributions from occupied Europe. Miss Dorothy Rolfe, lately repatriated from Vittel, has had sold for the Fund a wrist watch presented by her fellow internees, while an exquisitely hand-sewn Red Cross flag, the patient work of “Sister Patrick” at Liebenau Camp, has, on reaching this country, raised £24 in aid of P.O.W.s, thanks to Mrs Knox, of West Jesmond.
A Group of N.F.S. men in Havant, Hants, have made a dolls' house and sold it for £5 15s., while home-made dolls themselves have enabled Miss Barnard of Bexhill-on-Sea, to send £5, and Miss Partington, of Beeston, Notts, to send £4 to the Fund. “Not smoking during Lent,” a resolution carried out by Mrs. E. M. Williams, of Brow, Haworth, Yorks, accounts for a large part of the £2 10s. she has sent us.
Another good idea has been hit upon by an enterprising young woman at Guildford: a coiffeuse before she went to work in a munitions factory, she has been employing her spare time in dressing the hair of her fellow workers and has contributed the proceeds to the Fund.
Two other Surrey ladies have come forward with novel means of helping. One of them, a young bride, has sold her wedding bouquet; the other, married now for the second time, has given to Red Cross sales a ring presented to her by her late husband.
Dances, whist drives, bring-and-buy sales are as popular as ever. Among recent successes have been those organised by Mrs. Clegg and four friends at Blackpool, £175; Mr. Seetlin and Mr. Bryant at Trowbridge, £47 11s.; Mrs. T. M. Lee at Prickwillow, Ely, £124 10s; Mrs. Curtis at Grassington, Skipton, £65; Mrs. Lavington at Withyham, Tunbridge Wells, £6; the Girls' Social Club at South Ackendon, Essex, £12 10s.; the Civil Defence Committee at Kettleshume, Whaley Bridge, Cheshire, £75 3s. 6d.; and the Hospital Supply Depot at Tynemouth, £185. This depot, with an average meeting of fourteen, has raised a total of over £500.
“Red Cross parcels still regular, so neither you nor I have anything to worry about at all,” writes an officer who divides his time between producing plays and preparing for examinations, to his mother at New Milton, Hants, and she expresses her gratitude by sending me regularly a handsome postal order as her subscription for [italics] The Prisoner of War. [/italics]
[page break]
MAY, 1944 The Prisoner of War 15
Useful Gloves
KNITTED ON TWO NEEDLES
[photograph]
Reproduced by courtesy of Copley's
[knitting pattern instructions]
(continued on page 16)
[page break]
16 The Prisoner of War MAY, 1944
REFUND OF UNUSED COUPONS
IN cases of special necessity, next of kin who require more than 20 coupons for their current parcel may, if they did not use their full allowance for their previous parcel, apply to the Red Cross for a refund of any balance of unused coupons which they returned with it.
In view of the great amount of clerical work and correspondence already entailed in connection with the control of coupons issued for prisoners of war, next of kin are particularly asked not to apply unless it is absolutely necessary.
Read These Rules
The following must be observed:
(1) All applications to be sent by registered letter post and addressed to the Next of Kin Parcels Centre, 14, Finsbury Circus, London, E.C.2, or, if the coupons are issued by the Scottish Packing Centre, to the Prisoners of War Next of Kin Parcels Depot, 421, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, C.2. Envelopes should be clearly marked “REFUND.”
(2) The Prisoners of War coupon book must be forwarded with the application. If clothing has already been purchased it should be entered on the coupon account page, to account for the coupons used.
(3) Applications must not be made for a refund of unused coupons from any parcel except for the last one sent.
(4) Refunded coupons must be used with the coupon book with which the application was made and may not be kept for a later parcel. Clothing purchased with refunded coupons must be entered on the coupon account in the ordinary way.
(5) The prisoner's full name, regiment and Red Cross file number must be given in every letter of application which should on no account refer to any other matter. No reply will be sent to any other question included in these letters.
County Representatives
Please note the following changes:
CUMBERLAND: Mrs. du Boulay, P.O.W. Officer, Houssemayne, Keswick.
OXFORDSHIRE: The Hon. Mrs. Gore, Oxfordshire Branch, B.R.C.S., 41, St. Margaret's Road, Oxford.
[inserted] FREE TO NEXT OF KIN
THIS journal is sent free of charge to those registered with the Prisoners of War Dept. as next of kin. In view of the paper shortage no copies are for sale, and it is hoped that next of kin will share their copy with relatives and others interested.[/ inserted]
Any Questions?
Tins for Food
Do you use special for your food parcel contents?
[missing word] special lacquering is used for tins [missing word] Prisoners of War food parcels, [missing word] lacquering differing according to the commodity. Many of the foods sent are also canned in special sizes suitable for inclusion in these parcels.
Study Facilities
Can you tell me how the provision of study facilities for prisoners is governed? In view of the fact that work is compulsory for those under the rank of sergeant, and that working hours are often very long and days off very infrequent (in my husband's case there is only one day off in 21), how do some of the “other ranks” manage to study for exams., etc.?
Work is compulsory for Privates although not for N.C.O.s or protected personnel, but it is not necessarily continuous, and if a man is determined to study he usually does so, even though it be at the end of his day's work. One man worked for his B.Sc. after 10 hours a day in a salt mine, and a number of Privates have already passed examinations. In Stalag 344 (formerly Stalag VIIIB) the Germans have allowed men preparing for examinations to return to the base about six weeks before the examination is held.
Transit camp
What is a Transit Camp? I am anxious for news of my son who was a prisoner of war in Stalag and have been told he may be in a Transit Camp and not able to write for some time.
A Transit Camp is one in which prisoners remain for a comparatively short time before being moved to a permanent camp. It is for this reason that prisoners writing from transit camps often tell their next of kin not to write to them until they have been able to send a permanent address.
Papers for Switzerland
Can I send my husband, now interned in Switzerland, his favourite weekly paper?
You should consult a bookseller or newsagent who holds a Censorship permit about this.
P.o.W. in Italy
I have still no news of my son who was a P.O.W. in Italy. Does this mean he escaped and is still in Italy?
In the absence of news from your son, it is likely that he escaped from his camp and that he may still be at large in Italy awaiting an opportunity to make his way through to Allied lines.
Income Tax
Does a prisoner of war pay income tax?
Yes. For details see the article on page 14.
Pay on Their return
Do repatriated prisoners of war receive accumulated pay when they return to this country?
Yes, if it has not already been disposed of on instructions given by them to their paymasters.
Stage Make-up
Can I include a stage make-up outfit in my quarterly parcel for my son, who is a theatrical producer for his camp?
Yes.
Patterned Dressing-gown
May I send my son, who is a prisoner of war, a patchwork or patterned dressing-gown?
If you will refer to the leaflet of instructions sent out each quarter with the label and coupons, you will see that patterned materials are recommended for dressing-gowns.
Patchwork should not be sent.
USEFUL GOVES
(Continued from previous page)
[knitting pattern instructions]
[inserted]NUMBER, PLEASE!
PLEASE be sure to mention your Red Cross reference number whenever you write to us. Otherwise delay and trouble are caused in finding previous correspondence.[/ inserted]
Printed in Great Britain for the Publishers, The Red Cross and St. John War Organisation, 14, Grosvenor Crescent, London, S.W., by The Cornwall Press Ltd., Paris Garden, Stamford Street, London, [missing letters] 1.
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The prisoner of war, Vol 2, No. 25, May 1944
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IBCC Digital Archive
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1944-05
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Fourteen page printed document (two pages missing from original sixteen)
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eng
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MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-10
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Includes: editors comments; for sailors and seamen (Marlag und Milag Nord camps); official reports from the camps; the letters they write home; groups from the camps; [two pages missing] income tax relief; how they help (fundraising at home); knitting pattern for useful gloves; refund of unused coupons; any questions? Photographs throughout.
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Great Britain. Red Cross and St John war organisation
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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.
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Royal Air Force
Royal Navy
British Army
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1944-05
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Germany
Poland
Germany--Barth
Poland--Żagań
Germany--Hohenfels (Bavaria)
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Roger Dunsford
entertainment
prisoner of war
sanitation
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 3
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1259/17115/MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-06.2.pdf
e4c9170b45dc03ed4e57cacb98bbea7c
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Whitehead, Tom
T Whitehead
Description
An account of the resource
31 items and an album sub collection. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Tom Whitehead (b. 1923) who served as a rear gunner with 428 Squadron operating from RAF Dalton in Yorkshire. He was shot down over Duisburg and became a prisoner of war. Collection includes his prisoner of war logbook, official correspondence to his mother, official documentation, letters from the Caterpillar Club, German prisoner of war propaganda, 14 editions of the Red Cross prisoner of war newspaper and photographs of Royal Air Force personnel including himself.
Album in sub collection consists of 47 pages of prisoner of war related photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Pamela Hyslop and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2018-03-07
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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.
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Whitehead, T
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The Prisoner of War
[symbol] THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR DEPARTMENT OF THE RED CROSS AND ST. JOHN WAR ORGANISATION, ST. JAMES'S PALACE, LONDON, S.W.1 [symbol]
Vol 3. NO. 29 Free to Next-of-Kin September, 1944
The Editor Writes –
It has always been evident that as the war reached its concluding stages the route for parcels into Germany via Lisbon, Marseille and Geneva might be subject to interruptions, and, as we informed our readers last month, traffic by the normal route has been suspended. In conjunction with the International Red Cross Committee and with the American and Canadian Red Cross organisations, however, close consideration has been given for some time to the possibility of finding alternative routes into Germany. As a result two Swedish ships the “Mangalore” and the “Travancore,” which crossed the Atlantic with food and comfort parcels for prisoners, have been diverted by the American Red Cross from Marseille to Gothenburg in South Sweden.
Reserves of Food
We know that there are reserve stocks in the prison camps and that supplies have been getting through from the reserves built up in Geneva. All the Red Cross organisations concerned are doing their utmost to restore the regular traffic of parcels, and it may well be that the course of the war will bring about a rapid improvement in the transport position. A statement will be found on page 2.
Moved from Poland
Relatives of men in camps in Eastern Europe are anxious, as I well know, for news of what is happening to them as the Russian advance continues. It is likely that the Germans will have taken all possible precautions for the safe internment of these men; but rumours about movements of prisoners, as one might expect, are difficult to confirm. All that we know definitely is that prisoners at Stalag XXID at Posen, Poland, and Stalag Luft VI at Heydekrug have been moved to other camps. Letters have come from them from Stalags 344, VIIIB, Stalag 357 (Thorn), and Stalag Luft IV (Tychow).
Air Mail Reminder
In reminding us that letters from this country to prisoners of war and internees in Germany can again be sent by air mail, the Post Office authorities – who were obliged for military reasons to suspend the service shortly before the invasion – point out that the air postage rates are also once again “as usual” – namely, 5d. for the first ounce and 3d. for each additional ounce (postcards 2 1/2d.). Special stamped air letter cards can be obtained for 3d. each from all principal post offices.
[photograph]
EN ROUTE FOR SWEDEN. – Loading Red Cross parcels at Philadelphia on to the Swedish ship “Travancore.”
Our Camp Helpers
I mentioned a month or two ago the remarkable way in which prisoners at Stalag IVC, not to be outdone by the efforts of their families at home, are managing to put aside their hard-won earnings in aid of the Fund. News of this practice at other camps has since reached me – and wonderful news it is. At Stalag XVIIIA, writes one man, they have set themselves the astonishing target of £10,000, about £160 of which has already been raised among the twenty-four members of an outlying work-party. Two work-camps of Stalag IVD have also fine achievements to report. One of them, sixty-seven strong, has produced £87 in two days, while at the other – so a prisoner tells his wife in Edward's Lane Estate, Arnold – he and his one hundred and fifty-nine companions have between them collected in Reichmarks the equivalent of £1,000, “for the Red Cross, God bless them.”
P.o.W. Airmen's Promotion
A welcome reassurance on the promotion prospects for R.A.F. ground personnel now in captivity was given recently by Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air. Replying in the House of Commons to a Member who was under the impression that Regular airmen of this category were being treated unfairly in comparison with non-Regulars, he pointed out that there are two separate systems of promotion – one for air crew and the other
[page break]
2 The Prisoner of War September, 1944
for ground personnel, regardless of whether a man belonging to either of them has joined up for a career or merely for the duration of the war. A time basis governs the aircrew category, whose members are promoted in due course wherever they may be. But ground personnel depend for their rise on actual vacancies available for them in higher ranks, and it is therefore impossible to promote them to posts which, from a prison camp, they are in no position to fulfil. On the other hand, as soon as they come home, declared Sir Archibald, “they are granted the rank which they would have obtained but for the interruption of their effective service.”
After-Care
Speaking at Whitley, Surrey, about prisoners of war at a Bank Holiday fête, Sir John Jarvis, M.P., remarked that the war might be won before all the money subscribed to the Duke of Gloucester's Fund is spent. “That would be all to the good,” he said. “Indeed, I would like to see a substantial sum available, when those lads return, to help them in innumerable ways to find their rightful place in the England they love so well.” No decision can yet be taken as to the disposal of any surplus funds available at the end of the war, but it may be taken for granted that some part of them will be devoted to assisting ex-Servicemen, including ex-prisoners of war who have been incapacitated.
Better News from Moosburg
An indication that things may have improved at Stalag VIIA since the official visit paid it in April (reported in the Journal last month) is provided by a cheerful letter from the Officers' Section at Moosburg, which has recently come to my notice. The prisoners' removal in July to a larger compound, says the writer, “has doubled the living accommodation we had before, so we are now quite well off. We are starting a certain number of classes on different subjects, including art.” He adds, too, that Oflag VIIB, whose members had heard of their needs from men arriving from Moosburg, had sent them a most generous gift of tobacco and 50,000 cigarettes.
Exam. for South Africans
South Africans in captivity have distinguished themselves in a number of ways. To their talent for winning games and dancing Zulu dances must now be added another distinction, for in Stalag VIIIC recently seventeen of them underwent a self-imposed examination on book-keeping equivalent in standard to the National Junior Certificate as set in South Africa. Describing it, the camp education officer shows that conditions were as strict as those observed in any official examination: there were at least two invigilators in the room during the 2 1/2-hour session, and the candidates' papers were marked by qualified “strangers” to avoid the risk of favouritism.
An Indian Looks Back
From Cairo comes eloquent praise of the Red Cross services by an Indian re-patriate, Jemedar Moti Singh, who during his sixteen months as a prisoner in Italy, “Saw everything that the Red Cross did to help.” Many Indian soldiers know nothing of all this specialised assistance, he says, and goes on to confirm the good opinion of the Indian food parcel containing dhal (lentils) and atta (wholemeal flour), from which the men can prepare their native dishes. “Whenever Germans or Italians saw the things in the parcels,” he adds, “they were astonished and began to praise them; although they were enemies, they held the works of the Red Cross in high esteem.”
Tribute from New Zealand
I want to thank the lady in Tauranga, New Zealand, who wrote to tell me how much she looks forward to getting this journal. She and her husband find in it “so much of what we want to know – not only of our son's welfare, but of the colossal work the Red Cross has to do.” It's the personal, informal touch, she says, that makes such a difference. “I always feel happier when I have read the paper, and I know many others here who do the same.”
Clothes Conscious
The issue of a new outfit of battledress, shorts and boots to his work camp with the expectation of underclothes to follow has led a Stalag IVG prisoner to warn his wife in Bognor Regis not to bother about sending him clothes from home. These new additions to the wardrobe have evidently given him and his companion a great fillip to their morale, and they set out for the local cinema dressed up to the nines – even to the “collars and ties we made ourselves.”
Broadening Out
A comforting example of what captivity, despite all its disadvantages, can do for a man is provided from Stalag IVD by a prisoner of long standing. His wife in Diss tells me he now turns the scale at 12st. 2lb. as against the 10st. he weighed before his captivity; and it's not “idle fat” either, for he puts in a long day's work at a cement factory in addition to outdoor exercise at the weekend.
Northern Ireland Service
A Special Service of Intercession for Prisoners of War is to be held in St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, on Sunday, September 24, at 3.30 pm. Two reservation tickets for the service will be sent to each of the first six hundred next of kin who apply, giving their Red Cross Reference Numbers to: The Ulster Gift Fund, 2, Bedford Street, Belfast.
TO GERMANY – VIA SWEDEN
New Route to the Camps
REPORTS from Stockholm appearing in the Press have stated that British Red Cross parcels for prisoners of war in Germany and occupied countries are in future to pass through Sweden.
The use of this new route has resulted from efforts initiated by Red Cross and other authorities to open an alternative channel for supplies in view of the possibility that the course of the war would be likely to interrupt the Lisbon – Marseille – Switzerland traffic for considerable periods. Details of the onward carriage of supplies from Gothenberg [sic] have not yet been finally settled.
The two ships mentioned in the Press notices are fully loaded with American Red Cross supplies and a considerable number of Canadian food parcels for British Commonwealth prisoners.
The service via Sweden will be developed further as circumstances necessitate and conditions permit.
FOOD PARCELS RATIONED
THE War Organisation of the British Red Cross and Order of St. John announce that, as a precautionary measure, and after consultation with H.M. Government, they have requested the I.R.C.C. to instruct camp leaders in Germany to reduce the rate of issue of food parcels to one for each man every two weeks. This decision has been taken in view of the interruption in transport to Geneva and in order to ensure that the best use is made of supplies already in the camps and at Geneva. There is no immediate danger of any serious shortage of food in the camps, and every effort is being made to re-establish effective communication by one route or another.
NEW MAP OF GERMAN CAMPS
THE Prisoners of War Department has published a new map, printed in colours, showing the principal camps for British and Dominions prisoners of war in Germany.
A limited number of copies are now obtainable on application to the Prisoners of War Department, Accounts Section, St. James's Palace, London, S.W.1. The price is: small size, 2d. (by post 3d.); large size, 1s. (by post 1s. 2d.). Remittances should be sent with the order.
There have been unavoidable delays in production and the map itself is correct according to information available up to June 30th, 1944. Any additional information known at the time of posting will, however, be supplied with the map.
[page break]
September, 1944 The Prisoner of War 3
DISPENSING BY AIR MAIL
Through the Work of the Invalid Comforts Section Up-to-date Medical Treatment Awaits Newly Wounded Prisoners
TO the families of all wounded prisoners of war in Germany, as well as of those taken captive in earlier days, it will have been encouraging to learn that the Invalid Comforts Section has been able to start sending supplies of penicillin to German prison camps. The first consignment, despatched by air in July, went to the hospitals attached to Stalags IXC, 344 and VIIA, to which wounded prisoners from the Normandy fronts were being sent.
Penicillin is most needed for treating new wounds, and the British medical officers in these hospitals, who were warned by cable from the International Red Cross to expect its delivery, have thus been able to administer this remarkable new treatment to the most serious cases at the earliest possible moment.
Small Quantities of Penicillin
At present, however, only “small quantities of penicillin are being sent . . . for the treatment of specified prisoners,” as Sir James Grigg, the Minister of War, has told the House of Commons. Ten “standard” packs of it have in fact gone, each containing one carton of the preparation in tablet form, and twelve bottles of distilled water.
It is difficult to assess the average number of men that can be treated by one pack, for it depends, of course, on the severity of the cases.
Thus a new item has been added to the list of urgent medical supplies which now that communications are uncertain, take precedence of everything else being sent to European prison camps by the War Organisation. The list is a comprehensive one, and in spite of present difficulties the Invalid Comforts Section manages to continue its dispensing and despatching by air mail of a wide variety of “wants.”
Still passing through the hands of the Section's packers are the vital anti-typhus serums on their way direct to prison camp hospitals, with the anaesthetics and the supplies of blood plasma, and there are reserves at Geneva which have been prepared by the Section for emergency use.
Airmen shot down in enemy territory who may be suffering from severe burns on hands and face stand a good chance of escape from permanent disfigurement, for there are prison hospitals at which British surgeons are equipped to perform the necessary skin-grafting operations according to the latest method.
The work of the Invalid Comforts Section has made this blessing possible. In collaboration with Mr. Archibald McIndoe, head of the R.A.F. plastic surgery centre in Sussex, sets were compiled of the highly specialised equipment and dressings, and these have been sent with detailed instructions direct to the hospitals concerned. Not only is the patients' future recovery thus cared for; everything possible is being done to relieve their present pain. Special silk-lined gloves, for instance, are supplied by the Section for the men's burned hands, which are acutely sensitive until the new skin grows. Even cigarette-holders find their place in the hospital stores.
[photograph]
The education and amusement of blind P.o.W.s are helped by these devices.
Helping the Blind
Among the casualties in the present intensive fighting there must, inevitably, be cases of men blinded. When first captured these men are sometimes placed by the Germans, for the moment, in some hospital for general wounded where it is difficult for the Invalid Comforts Services to do much for them beyond helping them to start learning Braille and beginning rehabilitation and occupational therapy.
As soon, however, as they reach the Stalag IXB hospital they are in the company of their fellow-afflicted under expert and systematic care. Here at Bad Soden the Blind Centre was established earlier this year under the eye specialist, Major Charters, and to it have come all the resources that Red Cross and St. John can muster in the closest possible collaboration with St. Dunstan's.
Every member of the Centre becomes automatically a provisional member of St. Dunstan's and benefits accordingly from the well-tried methods and apparatus evolved by that world-famous organisation. He finds at the Centre rowing machines to exercise his body and talking books to amuse his mind. Gradually he learns Braille writing, typing and reading, and can take his choice in the well-stocked library; he may start training for a regular occupation, such as telephone operator, masseur, cobbler, or carpenter, to help to fit him for a self-respecting trade or profession on his return to civil life. He finds, in other words, the power to overcome his blindness.
(Continued at foot of next page.)
[photograph]
Some of the drugs, medicines and surgical instruments which are carefully selected before being dispatched to the camps.
[page break]
4 The Prisoner of War September, 1944
Greetings at Lisbon
WELFARE OFFICER TELLS OF THE WELCOME TO REPATRIATES
THE repatriation of 900 British civilian prisoners of war from Germany was arranged in exchange for an equal number of Germans from South Africa. The arrangements were made by the Foreign Office, which asked the Red Cross to provide two Welfare Officers. I was fortunate enough to be one of those chosen, and we were flown to Lisbon.
The repatriates came in two parties, the first train arriving on July 23rd, and were warmly welcomed by the British Community, headed by His Excellency Sir Ronald and Lady Campbell. Many people went along the carriages distributing cigarettes, and there was excitement when some Merchant Navy men appeared carrying bottles of beer on their heads which they bought with their own money.
Stretcher cases were the first to be removed from the train, and special permission was given to the Red Cross by the International Police to take sick persons direct to the ship. The other people were then allowed out of the train and taken to the Customs House, where they were allocated their cabins on the Swedish ship, “Drottningholm,” given forms to send free telegrams to England, food, drink, and a roll of newspapers and magazines each. Everyone had to wait there until 5.30 while the Germans were transferred from ship to train.
The second party did not arrive for ten days, so that arrangements were made to occupy the first party while they waited. Bathing parties, luncheons, cinema shows, shopping parties were organised. The weather was lovely and there were no rules and regulations! Everyone was free to do as he or she liked. 5s. a day was paid to each person – not riches, but useful while sightseeing. Clothing was provided for everyone in urgent need; letters, free of postage, could be sent, and a library and soft drink bar were opened.
As there were several ill persons, a sick bay was opened in the charge of English nurses, and it was wonderful how the patients improved with careful nursing.
Second Party Welcomed
The second party arrived on Tuesday, August 1st, and were given an equally good welcome. Amongst this party were 156 Benghazi Jews, who were left in Lisbon to be repatriated direct to North Africa.
We then thought we should be sailing for England at once. The Germans, however, demanded that fourteen named persons should be left behind as hostages for fourteen Germans who were being repatriated through Turkey and who had not arrived in Istanbul. As three of the named persons were ill, negotiations were opened with the Germans, who agreed that if three other people volunteered to stay behind, the sick could sail. Volunteers were easily found, and it was a dramatic moment to see the fourteen people leaving the ship at 3 a.m. Directly they had gone the ship sailed for England.
The first day was rough, and many passengers were seasick, but after that the weather was kind, and everyone enjoyed dancing, games, and the good food which was provided at all meals.
I gave a talk on conditions in England since 1939, which proved of such great interest to the passengers that it was repeated.
Home Again
On arriving in England special trains were provided, and those who had nowhere to go were accommodated in hostels until they could make plans of their own.
Everyone on the ship was most appreciative of the work which was done for them, while in camp, by the Red Cross, and particularly stressed that without the Red Cross Food Parcels it would have been difficult to exist.
It was a great pleasure to have this wonderful opportunity of bringing back to England such a large party of her citizens. It was most encouraging to see, even in the short time we spent with them, the enormous change in the repatriates, both physically and mentally, due to being free again, and the thought that they would once more be able to help their country.
Dispensing by Air Mail (contd.)
For the immediate necessities, then, of the burned, the blinded and the injured prisoners of all kinds. Invalid Comforts are thoroughly prepared; but the great bulk of the Section's work is devoted to patients later, more last support. Special medicines that cannot be dispensed from the supplies already sent to his hospital are provided at the request of the medical officer. Artificial arms or legs can be built to individual measurements from the components which have been sent out by the Section.
Similarly there are dental surgeries where dentures can be made for patients needing them from the equipment sent out from London.
If a prisoner's sight needs attending to, he can ask the qualified officer to prescribe the right lenses. In the last three months Invalid Comforts have had 421 optical prescriptions made up for prisoners, in addition to the many spectacles despatched on behalf of next of kin.
Personal Service
No service could well be more personal than these. In the records room at headquarters there are detailed medical records of some 30,000 men at the present moment, in the progress of each one of whom Invalid Comforts take a direct personal interest.
The needs of many others are covered adequately from the standard supplies issued to patients at the discretion of the medical officers without recourse to individual application – the energen biscuits for diabetics, for instance, of which 5,300 tins were sent out last year; the instruments for tubercular cases at Elsterhorst Hospital; and the carefully chosen Invalid Diet Supplement parcels of jellies, fruit juices and malted foods
Occupational Therapy
Many bedridden prisoners, too, have had cause to be grateful to the occupational therapy service for saving them from boredom, and helping them on the road to recovery. Most of the raw material for this work comes from such generous bodies as the Women's Institutes, and finds its way back to Britain astonishingly transformed into rugs, patchwork and elaborate embroidery by fingers that may previously never have held a needle.
Help in maintaining the handicrafts side has lately been given by the Ministry of Aircraft Production, who are able to supply large quantities of three-ply wood as well as perspex, the glass-like plastic used in pilots' cockpits and an attractive medium for modelling.
Some 32,000 pieces of occupational therapy work went to the camps last year, and we can be reasonably certain that there are still ample reserves for the convalescent.
[photograph]
Hearing aids have been sent to some of the camps in Germany.
[page break]
September, 1944 The Prisoner of War 5
The Letters They Write Home
[photograph]
Varied costumes were worn in a revue produced recently at Stalag XVIIIA.
“We Shall Return . . .”
Stalag IVF. 10.6.44.
WE have heard the news for which we have waited for four long years.
When in the dark days of 1940 we stood with our backs to the wall, with only a small badly equipped Army and Air Force, things certainly looked black. Then Churchill said, “We shall return.” And he's done it.
It must be a great day for Mr. Churchill, and we might well say “Heil Churchill!” now.
What a day for the British Army too; it has proved it can do it when properly equipped. How we all wish we could have been in it. What a treat to advance instead of fighting hopeless rear-guard actions.
Well, it really can't be long now, and I may get home before this letter. Who knows?
Nothing can get us down now.
Model Yacht
Oflag 79. 11.5.44.
YACHT design is a fascinating game you know. I've become quite an authority on the subject during the last two years – but up to the last six weeks or so it was impossible to test my ideas.
As we had a perfectly good swimming bath at the old camp we decided that we would build a model and sail it.
I got out a set of lines – applied all the theories – metacentric shelf, immersed wedges, etc., balanced the sail plan according to all the rules. She was perfectly balanced on all points of sailing and went to windward like a witch. I was no end bucked.
Woodcutting Party
Oflag IXA/Z. 21.5.44.
I SAID I would tell you about the woodcutting party. There were five potential woodcutters and two artists. Breakfast was at 7.15a.m., and we left the camp at 8. It was a glorious sunny day, and the six kilometre walk in the early morning freshness was very enjoyable although it was mostly uphill! Our first task was to collect firewood so that our “elevenses” could be got ready. We sawed up several trees and man-handled the logs to a stack. Of course, this was not accomplished without the very necessary stops for snacks, meals, coffee, etc. – very “hunger-making” work!
We were right in the heart of the woods, miles from anywhere, and except for the occasional song of a chaffinch peace reigned throughout. What a treat it was to get away from the camp and the crowds. Lunch consisted of fried meat roll and bacon, fried bread, biscuits, cheese, bread, margarine, honey and tea.
[inserted]PICTURES AND LETTERS
TEN SHILLINGS will be awarded each month to the senders of the first three letters from prisoners of war to be printed. Copies instead of the originals are requested, and whenever possible these should be set out on a separate sheet of paper, showing the DATES on which they were written. The Editor welcomes for other pages of the journal any recent NEWS relating to prisoners of war.
Ten Shillings will also be awarded for photographs reproduced across two columns, and five shillings for those under two. Photographs should be distinct, and any information as to when they were taken is helpful.
Address: Editor, “The Prisoner of War,” St. James's Palace, London, S.W.1. The cost of these prizes and fees is defrayed by a generous friend of the Red Cross and St. John War Organisation. [/inserted]
Variety Here
Stalag IVB. 17.5.44.
WE are still going strong with our wrestling classes and we hope to put on a show in the near future.
The other week we received some musical instruments from the Red Cross and our hut got a mandoline-banjo. [sic] You can guess the row the others put up with from me.
Our hut concert went down well – much better than we expected. We get some tip-top shows on in our theatre. At the moment there is a play, [italics] Dover Road, [/italics] running in the evenings, and a Dutch band in the afternoons. It takes about ten days for the whole camp to see a show, and the theatre is booked up weeks ahead.
“Civvy Street” – Almost
Stalag XIA. 7.5.44.
MY ways are more or less in keeping with “civvy street.” We work each day and spend the evenings either sitting around the fire yarning or sometimes, usually Saturdays, there is a “sing-song.” Sometimes on Sunday afternoons the German sentries take us to the village football ground.
Five Men in a Room
Stalag 344. 2.6.44.
THIS camp was rather overcrowded some while back, but it is not too bad now, five of us live in a room of our own with single beds, much better than the three-tier arrangement.
I am kept busy round the camp, quite happy tinkering about – carpentering, cooking, etc. They have not persuaded me to do any gardening yet; that never was much my line, but taking things all round I am doing pretty well as a P.o.W., so there is no need to worry about me.
I am getting quite brown as we have had some lovely sun this last week.
Walking in the Country
Stalag 344. 4.6.44.
TO-DAY was the turn of ten of us to go for a walk – not alone, of course. It was to me at least really wonderful to walk in the country again – a fresh breeze blowing, everything green, and the apple and lilac blossoms out. How much have I thought of our walks together.
Camp Cup Favourite
Stalag IVB. 17.5.44.
OUR team is favourite for the Camp Cup, which will be presented by the [italics] Observer [/italics] newspaper to winners of the knock-out. We won our first match last
[page break]
6 The Prisoner of War September, 1944
[photograph]
COME AND BUY!
Smiling faces as the exchange market opens at Stalag 383.
week and we play again tomorrow. We also have bookies.
There are 32 teams in for the cup. Some of them are 50 and 100 to 1; but our team is 6 to 4. Our team has white jerseys with a blue V on them and white shorts with a blue stripe down the sides. I wear my own shorts and they are great. When we play there are usually about two to three thousand Army and Air Force spectators.
Their Boxing Ring
Stalag IVB. 17.5.44.
TO-DAY the lads have made a boxing ring out of odd bits of timber. You'd be surprised at the things that have been made out of tins, wood and paper.
Nearly all the soccer teams have managed to make jerseys out of vests, and made them the colours of the “civvy” team they represent with the aid of dye and paint.
They run dog and horse racing, using dice, and giving the runners numbers, then they move forwards on squares. Bets are in cigarettes and everybody gets excited.
New Camp
Stalag 357. 12.7.44.
THIS camp is quite new; they started building it last March. It is the largest one I've been to so far. There are over 3,000 men here, and I am with men who have been captured since the days of France; some have only been prisoners three or four months. It is very interesting hearing from these lads about the events that have happened in the last four years.
[photograph]
A barrel of wine arriving at the civilian internment camp, Saint Denis.
“Bird-Life”
Stalag IVB. 22.7.44.
DESPITE the heat, sport is continuing, and on May 31st the South Africans celebrated the formation of the Union of S.A. with a very fine sports day, opening with a march past. The British M.O. followed with a P.T. display and then races and high jump. In the afternoon the South Africans drew at soccer with Wales, and then beat the rest at rugby in a hard-fought game by 9 points to nil.
This match was preceded by a Zulu pageant. It was an amazing and humorous sight, most realistic, as all the performers were covered in black grease-paint and dressed as, per Zulu pattern. Naturally enough, the Germans were busy with cameras.
You probably know that we have a stadium, etc., and have horses as we had a race meeting on Whit-Monday with wooden horse and dice.
We are in the midst of some glorious weather, and being in the middle of some interesting country, we have seen quite a lot of “bird-life” during the fine period.
Spit and Polish
Stalag VIIIB. 5.6.44.
RECEIVED my parcel yesterday containing all I really need, also 1,500 cigarettes, all in one week. To-day has been a field day – washed and pressed my suit, spit and polished my boots, made myself quite decent again. All I need now is my hat badge.
You see they are mostly Australians and New Zealanders in this hut, so must keep up the standard of the Grenadier Guards. I have got one of each of them spitting and polishing their boots already.
. . . In Better Times
Stalag 398. 29.5.44.
EVERYTHING looks beautiful here. The pale green of the beech trees and the dark of the conifers on the mountains are a picture. There are endless flowers in the woods and the meadows – buttercups, daisies, crocuses, anemones, lily of the valley, and dozens which are new to me and others whose names I’ve forgotten. Wild strawberry and bilberry are in bloom everywhere, and amongst all the blue lakes, waterfalls and torrents. Yes, I must come here again in better times.
Peat Cutting
Stalag XXA (176). 19.7.44.
I AM still on the same farm, been here since March, 1942. Do most of the repair work here – building, painting, roofs, tractor driving and maintenance, besides wagon repairs etc.
Weather is glorious, bags of work, too. We are at present peat cutting, but around the twentieth of next month start harvesting again. Hope it is the last.
Mail takes a little longer now there is no air service, but as long as we get a letter now and again we don't mind much.
[photograph]
Prisoners of war who escaped from Italy in the hospital grounds at the Military Internment Camp, Turbenthal, Switzerland.
Musical Interlude
Marlag und Milag Nord (Marlag O). 12.6.44.
THE news has cheered us up and I begin to think again of home – the focal point of all my pre-war happiness. Did I ever tell you we made home-made
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September, 1944 The Prisoner of War 7
wine in Italy from grapes? It was excellent. Plenty of fruit and sunshine were the only redeeming features of that half-starved existence.
These days I am starting to study harmony and music arranging, so don't sell the piano! I'm “resting” a bit, theatrically, after the big cabaret-restaurant show, which shook the camp! Now pit music for the melodrama [italics] Murder in the Red Barn, [/italics] then a Shakespeare quintet for [italics] Merchant of Venice [/italics] on Sunday, then a big orchestra for [italics] Pirates of Penzance. [/italics]
Even a Red Indian
Stalag IVB. 12.4.44.
AT night we have concerts and lectures, and I must say the lectures are good. I have heard speaking: a professional boxer, undertaker, artist, a movie-tone cameraman and men from all of our colonies – even a big-game hunter from Africa. There are twenty different nationalities in our camp. We even had a Red Indian here.
Building Work
Stalag IVD. 22.5.44.
THE work we are doing here is not so bad; just at present we are helping to put a roof on a building, and we work 48 hours a week. There is a sports ground to the works and we are allowed to play football three times a week; last week we had the account of the game printed in the paper, and also had our photographs taken.
Taking it all round, we don't have too bad a time.
[photograph]
P.O.W.s at Stalag IVD choose a picturesque setting for their photograph.
Austria - Not England
Stalag 398. 11.6.44.
I HAVE had some beautiful walks lately and I have never seen so many flowers growing wild and in such profusion. I took particular notice of them yesterday and in an area of approximately 3 square yards counted the following species: carnations, lupins, moon daisies, scabious, red campions,and heaps of smaller varieties such as clover, buttercups, vetches, etc. If you can imagine field upon field of such beauty, with forest-clad hills in the near distance, and the huge, majestic, silent Danube flowing at your feet, then you have a very faint idea of the true natural beauty in which I am living at the moment. But this is Austria, not England! I would willingly exchange it for any slum in London, because there I should be truly free.
The Invasion
Oflag VIIB. 20.6.44.
EVERYONE is excited about the invasion. The news of it we get from the papers makes us feel more in a complete backwater, or perhaps “Dead Sea” would be a better term, than ever, and though it makes us more hopeful, it also disturbs us more!
The flute practice has gone steadily on, with no great improvement, but a good deal of enjoyment. I was playing in the cellar this afternoon, and a sweep appeared to do the flues, so I proceeded to tootle away in a cloud of soot with no very adverse effects! I've been to one recital of Bach's harpsichord pieces – most delightful. Otherwise the flute and some lectures.
A very interesting series of lectures has started on the story of various British industries between 1919 and 1939.
We have had a lot of rain recently which has interfered with the games, and I have only been able to manage one game of badminton and a tennis double.
[photograph]
ENJOYING THE SUNSHINE
A well-earned rest after strenuous work at Stalag XVIIIA.
Tea in Style
Stalag XVIIIA. 2.5.44.
FIVE weeks have passed since I last received mail from you. I'm not unduly worried as we have expected this for some time.
The weather is glorious; we had our tea in style outside with Sid and his band playing for us. To-day I worked till mid-day, then went sunbathing with my mates just alongside a running stream close to camp.
Camp Clubs
Stalag IVB. 2.6.44.
THEY have started clubs here and I am in the Notts and Derby Club. We have a meeting every week and ask about home news.
Being full-rank N.C.O.s we don't have to work, and we spend our time playing football and other games. Yes, we are keeping ourselves fit for when we get back. One of my parcels was packed in New Mills.
Baker's Birthday
Stalag XVIIIA Undated.
THIS is how I spent my birthday. I procured the necessary drinks; got off work early to do some baking; and made over 100 doughnuts and a filling of butter creams. For dinner we had poultry soup, baked potatoes, peas and poultry and tomato sauce. For tea fruit and custard and doughnuts.
[photograph]
Artistic handicrafts made by civilian internees at Ilag Biberach/Riss, Wurt.
[page break]
8 The Prisoner of War September, 1944
Official Reports from the Camps
[photograph]
Stalag Luft I
This is run as an officers' camp entirely for Air Force personnel.
[inserted] In every case where conditions call for remedy, the Protecting Power makes representations to the German authorities. Where there is any reason to doubt whether the Protecting Power has acted it is at once requested to do so. When it is reported that food or clothing is required, the necessary action is taken through the International Red Cross Committee. [/inserted]
STALAG LUFT III
There was little change in the camp since it was visited in February, 1944. There are still six separate compounds. The middle and south compounds contain American prisoners of war. The west compound is still not ready for occupation. The East, North and Belaria compounds are entirely British.
The total strength of the camp is 5,229; of these 2,500 are British officers, 198 British N.C.O.s, 185 British other ranks, 1,900 American officers, 299 American N.C.O.s, and 57 American other ranks.
Very little improvement has taken place in the interior arrangements of the camp. In the East compound 37 officers are compelled to sleep on the floor. The division of the large sleeping rooms in the Central compound into smaller ones has not yet taken place owing to a shortage of wood and labour. Conditions in the North compound are fairly satisfactory except for leaking roofs, which the German authorities have promised to repair in the near future.
Washing and bathing facilities are satisfactory throughout the camps with the exception of the South compound where there are still no bathing facilities; men in this compound have to go to the West compound for baths and showers.
There has been considerable improvement in the patients in the two hospitals (one in the East compound and the other in the North compound). Many have received specialist treatment in the last few months. The drug position is still rather unsatisfactory. The beds in the sick quarters attached to the Centre compound were stated to be unsuitable for patients. The prisoners are to be allowed to make string supports and to restuff [sic] the mattresses with Red Cross packing materials.
Recreational and sports facilities in all camps are excellent. The sports ground in the East compound is not as extensive as in the other compounds.
The general feeling in this camp shows a considerable nervous tension following the recent mass attempts at escape and the deaths of many of the officers concerned.
The Balaria compound is situated five kilometres from the main camp. The bathing and washing and sports facilities here are unsatisfactory.
Another visit to Stalag Luft III will be arranged as soon as possible.
(Visited April, 1944.)
DULAG LUFT, WETZLAR KLOSTERWALD
This has been transferred from Frankfurt to a slightly elevated position north of Frankfurt. It was formerly a German Army camp and it is at present under reconstruction. It will be ready for occupation in three weeks, but in the meantime airmen arriving in this camp are accommodated in 18 tents in a large compound on the Eastern side of the camp area. Three of the tents are reserved for the permanent camp staff, seven for officers, seven for other ranks, and one as a sick quarters. The proper camp when completed should be adequate.
The tents allow accommodation for 318 men, and the new camp will hold 540 prisoners. On the day of the visit there were 10 British officers, 28 British other ranks, 37 American officers, and 46 American other ranks.
The men who form the permanent staff sleep on iron single beds with straw sack and three blankets. Officers and other ranks in transit sleep on the ground on sacks filled with wood shavings, 20 men in each tent.
A recreation room and dining room adjoins the cookhouse; it contains sufficient tables and forms.
When entering the camp the prisoners have a hot shower in the German guards' washroom. Daily washing is with cold water.
Excellent medical attention is given by a German doctor.
There were no serious complaints about the camp. As it is a transit camp the men seldom stay for longer than eight days. (Visited May, 1944.)
STALAG LUFT I
BARTH
This camp, which used to house N.C.O.s, is now entirely run as an Oflag (Officers' Camp) for Air Force personnel. Since it was last visited the strength has increased from 797, including 318 officers, to 3,464. All prisoners are British or American and they are accommodated in the same compounds.
The camp now consists of a North compound holding 1,242 prisoners, which has a large barrack still under construction, a South-west compound holding 1,100 prisoners, and a new compound holding 1,084 prisoners. All compounds open into each other during the daytime.
[photograph]
Cricket team at Civilian Internment Camp, St. Denis. Temporary lack of common rooms make indoor entertainments difficult here.
[page break]
September, 1944 The prisoner of War 9
[photograph]
Dulag Luft
A walk through the woods which surround this camp north of Frankfurt.
The capacity of the camp on the day of the visit was 3,000, the actual number of prisoners of war in the camp was 3,464 (597 British and 2,867 American), which resulted in bad overcrowding in all barracks. The North compound is, however, to be enlarged and in an emergency situation tents could be erected to accommodate a total of 5,000 men.
Whitewashing is badly needed in the South compound. A number of new barracks are not weatherproof, the roofs are leaking and are continuously repaired. Lighting and ventilation are inadequate throughout the camp.
Bedding is sufficient and beds are triple-tiered.
The food ration is felt to be insufficient and of poor quality. Only one hot meal a day is served. There is a lack of fruit and vegetables in the diet. The supply of Red Cross food is abundant.
Medical or dental treatment is given by two British medical officers under the supervision of a German doctor. The sick quarters are far too small for the increasing number of prisoners of war. The commandant promised, that it would be enlarged within five weeks. The senior British medical officer stated that although the camp was overcrowded, the general state of health was good, probably owing to the fact that the air from the nearby sea is so healthy.
The clothing position is satisfactory.
Religious activities are well organised. Educational activities have been discontinued owing to the lack of room.
The sports field in the compounds is large enough for any kind of outdoor games. The canteen supply is so small as to be considered practically nil.
Most of the deficiencies in this camp are the result of overcrowding. (Visited April, 1944.)
[photograph]
STALAG LUFT I. Five prisoners enjoy refreshments – a luxury at this camp where canteen supplies are very small.
STALAG VIIIA, GORLITZ
The situation of Stalag VIIIA is in the open country a few miles from Gorlitz. The camp consists of large, well-built brick barracks which are already rather old.
There are 1,056 British prisoners of war in the main camp and 2,082 British prisoners of war in the 41 work detachments dependent on the Stalag.
Interior arrangements in this camp are satisfactory.
The water supply for bathing and washing has been most unsatisfactory and was only turned on for half an hour daily. The pipes are, however, under repair and should by now supply all the necessary water.
On the day of the visit there were 20 patients in the sick room, 80 in the convalescent barracks, and 19 in the lazaret. No serious cases were reported. Medical attention is adequate. Dental treatment is fairly good, but there is a shortage of material for making artificial dentures.
A Church of England chaplain holds regular services in the camp; so far he has been unable to visit the work detachments.
Recreation and exercise are reported to be satisfactory.
No complaints were made regarding the letter mail, but several prisoners complained about the non-arrival of private parcels from home. (Visited April, 1944.)
STALAG VIIIC KUNAU
Stalag VIIIC is situated just outside the small town of Kunau near large pine woods, in a healthy district.
The total number of British prisoners of war in the main camp is 543 and 1,128 are in 19 work detachments.
All the prisoners in the main camp are accommodated in three brick one-storey barracks of the usual type, plus outhouses. Lighting has been improved considerably. Washing and toilet facilities are adequate.
The camp hospital and sick quarters contained 45 patients who were under the care of a Naval doctor and two British medical orderlies. None of the cases was serious. The drug position has improved and there is now a considerable supply of necessary medicines. Dental treatment is satisfactory.
Clothing and footwear is in good condition.
Indoor recreation and entertainments are well organised, but lately opportunities for playing football outside the compound has been greatly reduced owing to a lack of guards.
Regular church services are held in the camp theatre by a Church of Scotland chaplain. He has so far been unable to visit the work detachments.
The only complaint about the mail concerned to delay in the censoring of letters in the Stalag. Many letters which have been forwarded from Italy are still waiting to be sorted. (Visited April, 1944.)
(1) LUFTWAFFEN HOSPITAL, 4/ [indecipherable] (WISMAR), visited April, 1944. (2) HOSPITAL AT REGENSBURG, visited March, 1944. (3) KRIEGEFANGENEN HOSPITAL, STALAG IIA, NEUBRAN DENBURG, visited April, 1944.
These three large hospitals hold prisoner of war patients of all nationalities. At the time of the visits there were only two or three British in each.
All three hospitals are modern, clean, well equipped and well run.
Food is sufficient, special diets being
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10 The Prisoner of War September, 1944
given where necessary. Regular Red Cross food parcels are received.
Books and games are sent from the nearest Stalag.
HOSPITAL AT BAD SODEN
SALMUENSTER
The hospital is situated on a hillside facing south in the small spa of Soden. The building is satisfactory as it was built for a sanatorium.
Since November, 1943, it has become the centre for ophthalmic treatment of British and American prisoners of war.
There are two British medical officers, one of them an eye specialist, working under a German physician. Six British medical orderlies look after the patients.
Forty-three of the 103 patients are British, the rest are Poles, French, Serbs, Italians and Russians.
A Braille school has been established in a special room of the hospital. The two teachers have everything that is necessary for their work.
A Church of England chaplain from Oflag IXA/Z visits the patients each month.
The food question is good. Three diets are available for the prisoners, also Red Cross food parcels are distributed.
The general impression of the hospital is excellent. (Visited April, 1944.)
CIVILIAN INTERNMENT CAMPS
St. Denis
(Front Stalag 122)
Since the date of the last report on this civilian internment camp (see issue for April, 1944. page 6) the accommodation has been overcrowded owing to the arrival of 350 British subjects from the South of France at about the end of February. The common rooms, with the exception of the school and theatre, have been turned into sleeping quarters. It is hoped, however, that it will soon be possible to transfer some internees to a new branch camp.
The bathing and washing facilities are stated to be still adequate. Food and cooking are very satisfactory, the internees have a special kitchen with a large stove at their disposal on every floor of the building. Medical attention is satisfactory and the state of health is still good. The camp canteen is well stocked, and profits from sales are used for the welfare of the internees.
The momentary lack of common rooms makes it difficult to organise as many entertainments as usual, but twice a month there is a cinema show. The cinema equipment was bought out of the profits from the canteen fund. Weekly trips by motor coach outside Paris have been continued, an arrangement which gives the internees great satisfaction.
The incoming mail from England is said to be normal and regular, taking on an average about three weeks to arrive.
The delegate of the Protecting Power is still satisfied that conditions in this camp are, in general, satisfactory and treatment is fair.
Last visited by the Protecting Power on the 9th March, 1944.
Nag Dongelberg (Belgium)
Since the date of the last report on this civilian internment camp (see issue for April, 1944. page 6) there have been no great changes. There are at present 56 British internees at Dongelberg.
Conditions at the camp continue to be very satisfactory. The internees have been receiving the same food rations as the German civilian population since the beginning of March. Last Christmas a sheep was presented to the internees as a gift and recently two pigs which they had been allowed to keep were killed. There is a stock of Red Cross parcels.
The position as regards clothing is satisfactory. Early in March a supply arrived as a gift from the Red Cross, including some much-needed shoe leather.
The camp is now under the direction of the German Red Cross delegate, Frau Brueckann.
The German authorities recently published an order forbidding any kind of leave until further notice. As compensation for this restriction internees are taken for a walk to the small neighbouring town of Jodoigne every month.
No complaints were made by the internees to the delegate of the Protecting Power when the camp, which is stated to be one of the best, was last visited on 4th of April, 1944.
[photograph]
Vittel
Pause for a cooling drink during sports day for children.
Biberach
Since the date of the last visit to this camp made by the Protecting Power on 28th January visits have been made by the International Red Cross Committee's delegates on 28th March and by the Protecting Power on 2nd June.
There are still about 1,170 internees at Biberach. The accommodation in huts is in a good condition, having been kept in repair. During the winter heating was adequate. Food rations of potatoes and meat were reported to have been decreased, but the fish ration was increased.
The situation as regards clothes is good, although there is still a shortage of shoe repairing material. Health and general medical and dental treatment are satisfactory. Some losses of individual parcels were noticed in May.
The camp library constantly receives new books. Numerous indoor and outdoor games are provided. There is a good school which is adequately accommodated and has a staff of eight teachers.
Material conditions at this camp are not unsatisfactory, especially in the spring and summer seasons.
Last visited by the Protecting Power on 2nd June, 1944.
Vittel (France)
Since the date of the last report on this civilian camp (see issue for April, 1944, page 6) there have been no great changes. At the time of the last visit there were 1,800 British internees, and two more large hotel may be taken over as the camp is now full.
The general state of health is good, although there are a certain number of nervous cases among the older women, due to the length of time they have been interned.
The clothing situation is becoming a little difficult, especially as regards women's clothes. The food position is satisfactory and the vegetable garden has been extended.
Letters from England take about one month to reach the camp.
The camp was last visited by the delegate of the Protecting Power on the 14th and 15th of March, 1944, when no complaints were made by the internees, and by the International Red Cross delegate on the 23rd June.
CAMP LIST
Information has been received that prisoners at Stalag XXID at Posen, Poland, and Stalag Luft VI at Heydekrug, have been moved to other camps. Letters have come from them from Stalags 344, VIIIB, Stalg 357, at Thorn, and Stalag Luft IV, at Tychow.
The camp previously called Stalag Luft IV, at Belaria (map square F5) now forms part of Stalag Luft III. The name Stalag Luft IV has been given to the camp at Tychow (map square G3) mentioned above.
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September, 1944 The Prisoner of War 11
Groups from the [underlined] Camps [/underlined]
[photograph]
STALAG XVIIIA
[photograph]
STALAG IVD
[photograph]
STALAG 383
[photograph]
STALAG XXIA
[photograph]
MARLAG UND MILAG NORD
[photograph]
ILAG VII
[photograph]
STALAG IXC
[photograph]
B.A.B. 21
[page break]
12 The Prisoner of War September, 1944
The Brighter Side
[sketch]
A popular camp [indecipherable word] !
LIFE AT OFLAG VIIB shown in a drawing by one of the officer prisoners there.
UNDER a hot sun and a cloudless sky the men of Stalag 344 were rewarded on Whit-Monday for all the industrious preparations they had made for the day's programme. Nothing quite so ambitious had ever been attempted before, and their many letters home about it (“it's something I shall remember for many years to come,” is a typical comment) leave no doubt of its unqualified success. The morning started with a carnival procession round the main roads of the camp, headed by the military band and consisting of elaborate tableaux enacted by men in various costumes made from an even greater variety of material – paper, cardboard, towels, tin – anything that could be fashioned to their purpose. Thus arrayed on hand-drawn carts came a dramatised [italics] Tale of Two Cities, Antony and Cleopatra, [/italics] and the Pearly King himself . . .
The prizes, we hear, went to the South Africans for their realistic group of dancing Zulu warriors, and to the R.A.F.'s impressive entry of a model Lancaster bomber, followed by complete bomber crews representing America and every country in the Commonwealth.
Fun of the Fair
While the sporting events proceeded in the afternoon brisk business was being done in the stalls and side-shows of a fair in another part of the ground – with skittles, darts, “coconut” shies and, of course, the tattooed lady. “It meant a tremendous amount of work, but it was worth it,” writes one of the stall-keepers, who points out that the fair's total takings of 61,000 cigarettes and 4,000 P.o.W. marks have been given respectively to the camp's Comforts Fund for hospital patients and new prisoners and to the Welfare Fund for medical and musical needs.
Two Birthdays
With the Whitsun hilarities scarcely over, one man in Stalag 344 had to set about preparing for another celebration – his birthday. A great cake was the outcome, iced with whipped-up butter and milk powder, and made perhaps of ground biscuit and raisins. Those at any rate were the ingredients favoured by a young flight lieutenant in another camp for his birthday – his third in captivity and a quiet one, he says, although it luckily coincided with an excellent production of [italics] Philadelphia Story [/italics] in the camp theatre by an all-Canadian cast.
Green Thoughts
“Whatever sport, subject or other pursuit you care to mention I am convinced,” an inmate of Oflag VIIIF writes home to Scotland, “that you could find a first-class exponent of it in this camp.” But after supper nowadays, though free for theatre, music, reading, chess or a leisurely stroll round the camp, “I cannot help thinking that the peaceful summer evenings are ideal for golf” – and for that pursuit, of course, there would be little use in finding an expert on the premises. The nine-hole course laid out at Stalag IVB is a prison camp feature as rare as it is popular, though most players there admit that the wooden golf balls “take some getting used to.”
Alias Barmaid
Playing the middle-aged barmaid in a public house “is not exactly in my line,” confesses a Royal Artillery lieutenant in Oflag VA, now busy on the stage. “I was a bit nervous at first, but I'm used to it now – you should see me pulling the handle behind the bar. It takes me half an hour to get made up, and then I look like a cross between Nellie Wallace and the Widow Twankey.” During the day he compensates for these nightly performances by playing strenuous outdoor games.
Red-letter Field Days
While rugger affairs preoccupied Oflag VA at the time of the camp's International match, when Britain beat New Zealand by 11-8 (“the wettest June in history,” comments somebody, “made the conditions ideal”), the talk at Stalag IVB centred on soccer. League football there was getting ready for the cup competition, and with thirty-two teams in for it, each representing a barracks of about 170 men – many of them peace-time professionals – the enthusiasm ran as high as the standard of play. The eventual winners were entertained afterwards to a mammoth tea party and a concert held most deservedly in their honour.
Birds in Hand
Pets, too, are popular at Stalag IVB. In addition to some puppies, whose antics seem to be causing a lot of amusement, a few wild birds have now settled down here to a pampered domestic life. “We have nine of them,” writes a bombardier who forgets to mention their sort or size. “They have been kept by us since they were five days old and have become extraordinarily tame. They are fed by hand; can be picked up and scrubbed with a toothbrush; will perch on your arm or shoulder whenever they feel like it; and after flying off for an hour or so will always return. But,” he adds pessimistically, “they'll probably finish by trying to play with the cat.”
[cartoon] Birthday Greetings from Stalag Luft I. FIVE huh?
This birthday card was sent home by an R.A.F. sergeant to celebrate his small son's fifth birthday.
[inserted] The paragraphs on these pages are based on letters from prisoners of war. Most of them refer to activities in the big base camps and it should not be assumed that they are typical of conditions in all camps or in outlying working detachments where facilities for sport and amusement are much more restricted. [/inserted]
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September, 1944 The Prisoner of War 13
“SEND US BOOKS . . . .!”
How This Call Has Been Answered by the Indoor Recreations Section, Now on the Eve of its Fourth Anniversary
[photograph]
Games of all kinds are packed here.
[photograph]
The Section keeps in close touch with prisoners' needs by letters to relatives and camp leaders.
Lee Miller by courtesy of “Vogue.”
FROM the beginning it was apparent that libraries containing books of every category, indoor games, music, plays and materials for dramatic performances were a paramount necessity for the welfare of prisoners, once the vital needs of food and clothing had been provided.
It was decided that the main work of the Indoor Recreations Section of the Prisoners of War Department at St. James's Palace, should be to supply these needs for the use of the camps as a whole, rather than to individual prisoners – which service developed later. Consequently all parcels in the early months were addressed to Camp Leaders to enable them to start building up libraries, and to develop recreational facilities.
Books of All Kinds
Already the work of the Educational Books Section had been in existence for some months, but letters from prisoners containing such words as “Books are food and drink to me” made it clear that educational books must be supplemented by a carefully selected supply of fiction ranging from the classics to the latest detective and Wild Western novels, travel, biography, art, etc.
Requests began to pour in from camp leaders for books dealing with English country life, for plays to perform in the camps and for theatrical make-up and artists materials. Through the long and fluctuating fortunes of the war, these requests have steadily increased. It is difficult to recapture the atmosphere of the early days of the Section's foundation in September, 1940, and to believe that so much could have grown out of a beginning beset with so many obstacles.
First Parcels Go Out
At the end of 1940 when a permit was obtained, the Indoor Recreations Section was able to supplement parcels of books ordered by them but despatched from booksellers. All these consignments bore Red Cross labels, and were addressed to the Camp Leaders. Each parcel contained on an average 10 books, selected with the greatest care, so as to include reading matter of the widest possible variety. It will easily be imagined with what impatience the return of the acknowledgement cards included in every parcel was awaited.
Music Begins
The next adventure for the Section was to purchase and send musical instruments. In the early months of 1941, ten complete orchestras consisting of fourteen instruments, selected by the experts of the Services Musical Instrument Fund were despatched to the larger camps in Germany.
Gifts of second-hand music began to pour in to the Indoor Recreations Section as the result of next of kin and friends receiving constant requests from prisoners for music of all kinds – especially dance orchestration, light orchestral arrangements, and vocal scores and libretti of operettas and musical comedies. In addition the Section began to purchase music on a large scale. A special staff of workers was gathered together to deal with this very important expansion.
The service to individual prisoners of forwarding instruments either belonging to the prisoner himself, or procured on behalf of the next of kin, had been begun early in 1941.
Reserve at Geneva
Book parcels addressed to the Camp Leaders direct were taking a long time to reach their destination. To create an additional source of supply, arrangements were made with the Intellectual Relief Section of the I.R.C.C. to store a reserve of books. These could be distributed immediately to any new camp to form a basis for the Library, which would then be supplemented by books sent direct from this country.
Tribute should be paid to the wonderful work of the I.R.C.C. who immediately consented to take charge of this suggested reserve, and who have since that date looked after its storage and distribution with the greatest care and attention.
Out thanks are also due to the World's Alliance of the Y.M.C.A., who now took charge of the distribution of the indoor games and music addressed to Camp Leaders for the benefit of the camp as a whole – The I.R.C.C. retaining the distribution of any instruments addressed to individual prisoners of war.
By the autumn of 1941 the Section at least knew that most of the camps then in existence in Germany possessed the foundations of very good libraries.
During 1942 and 1943 the chief work of the Indoor Recreations Section was to supply camps in Italy. This was not achieved without difficulty. In fact, it was only just before the transfer of British prisoners to Germany in the summer of 1942 that adequate supplies of books, indoor games, and musical instruments were reaching Italy.
Difficulties in London
During this time supplies in this country were becoming more restricted. Book production was cut to a minimum, after millions of volumes had been destroyed by fire in the 1941 air raids. The manufacture of musical instruments and indoor games had also been much reduced. Private individuals could no longer send out these articles through permit holders, and it fell to the Indoor Recreations Section to make special arrangements for supplies to be made available for prisoners of war.
An allocation of games was obtained from N.A.A.F.I. and the shortage of musical instruments was gradually overcome by means of special appeals for second-hand musical instruments and by a system of regular quotas from manufacturers. A generous gift of musical instruments made by the Junior Branch of the Canadian Red Cross Society reached Geneva at the most timely moment – November, 1943 – when the new camps in Germany for men transferred from Italy were in urgent need of musical equipment.
At this moment, when the normal
(Continued overleaf.)
[page break]
14 The Prisoner of War September, 1944
How They Help
In addition to those mentioned below, we wish to thank the many kind readers whose help to the Funds this month we cannot find room to record here individually.
WORKERS in a factory at Aycliffe, Co. Durham, have distinguished themselves this month by their magnificent response to a Red Cross Week. In addition to providing 3,000 pints of their blood for the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, they more than doubled the Week's money target by contributing to the Fund a total of £6,100.
The fine weather of August Bank Holiday helped organisers of many garden fêtes throughout the country to raise bumper contributions for the Fund as well as give holiday-makers an enjoyable afternoon. In the grounds of Dunster Castle, Somerset, for instance, about £1,200 was taken, an amount equal to approximately £1 14s. per head of Dunster village's population. Among many ingenious prize competitions at Whitley Manor, Surrey, was one for “the man with the worst footwear.” Well over 3,000 people visited this fête, at which speeches were made by Gen. Sir Walter Kirke, Sir John Jarvis, M.P. for Guildford, Col. Tristram Harper, county director of Surrey Red Cross and St. John, and Mrs. Horton, the local chairman. The Fund will benefit by over £650.
Home Guards took command of the many games and side-shows at the sale organised by Mrs. A.J. Mann for the village of Avoch, Ross-shire, a few days earlier. The dance that followed in the evening had the triple advantage of good music, good food and good local transport, and the day closed with the Fund £800 to the good.
[photograph]
Highlight of the successful sale in Kingsdown, Kent, was a model destroyer which sold for £18 5s. and raised the day's total of £45. The model (illustrated above) was constructed by the sister of Mrs. Arnold, one of the industrious members of the St. Michael's Branch Mothers' Union, who organised the event.
There are about 460 people in the Devon villages of Exbourne and Jacobstowe, and in the course of their recent Victory Gardens Week of games, sales and concerts, they provided the Fund with a few shillings over £460. A similar week at Montacute, Somerset, brought in a very welcome £120.
Whist drives continue to be a favourite medium of helping the Fund. The £14 proceeds of one held by Mr. J. C. Glendinning brings to £165 6s. 6d. the total sum collected by him in Bampton, Cumberland. Mrs. Dixon and two friends have raised £8 10s. at Earby-via-Colne, Lancashire; while in Hertfordshire the people of Much Hadham have supported Mrs. Petts' effort to the extent of £5 17s.
By producing a “Gang Show” for public entertainment, the seven enterprising members of the 1st Horley (Surrey) Boy Scouts' Bulldog Patrol have been able to present the Fund with £10. At Northleach, two brothers, Geoffrey and Raymond Powell, have achieved the very creditable sum of £13 10s. from a dance they ran together; and a small concert at Clifton, Bedfordshire, has brought the Fund 8s. from Jean Sunderland and her three young fellow-organisers.
We are glad to acknowledge, too, the generosity of four Bedfordshire repatriates who have sent us donations amounting to £40 in appreciation of past services.
SEND US BOOKS . . .!
(Continued from previous page)
supplies of recreational facilities have had to be temporarily suspended, another consignment of musical instruments, presented by the Junior Branch of the Canadian Red Cross, is expected at any moment to reach Geneva. News has also come that a third large consignment of instruments, in this instance the kind gift of the British Community Council in the Argentine, has already arrived at Geneva and is being distributed.
Impressive Figures
Up to date almost 100 orchestras of various types have been distributed to prisoner of war camps, and in addition to this about 14,000 musical instruments have been sent to camps and to individual prisoners of war.
The number of books despatched direct to camps since the inception of the Indoor Recreations Section is to-day 153,547, while 71,000 have been sent to the reserve at Geneva, making a total of 224,547 books. The number of music and games parcels sent from this country amounts to 21,655. Large supplies of music and artists' materials are also held in reserve at Geneva.
Meanwhile the service to next of kin which has led to 16,616 letters being written will be continued.
EXAM. RESULTS
List Now Ready
A LIST of examination results for the period January to June, 1944, has been prepared by the Educational Books Section and will be sent to next of kin or any others interested. Applications should be made to: The Director, Educational Books Section, The New Bodleian, Oxford.
Where possible, 3d. in stamps should be enclosed to cover postage.
Some copies of the list for July – December, 1943, still remain, and can be had on application.
News of Examinations
Legal history has been made by Capt. J. C. Dennistoun-Sword, Gordon Highlanders, who has completed his Bar Final Examinations whilst a prisoner of war, and was called to the Bar in his absence, his wife acting as proxy. Mrs. Dennistoun-Sword took her husband's place at the calling ceremony, was presented to the Treasurer, and lunched with the newly called barristers.
Capt. Dennistoun-Sword completed Part I of the Bar Final in 1942, and took Part II in 1943, obtaining a Second Class on each occasion. The necessary books for his studies were sent out through the Educational Books Section, the New Bodleian, Oxford, through which all arrangements for the Examination of the Council of Legal Education to be held in this camp were made.
SEAMEN PRISONERS
Better Allowances for Large Families
AN increase is announced in the minimum allowance paid to the families of merchant seamen in the hands of the enemy.
The new minimum, which takes effect from June 1st this year, is in accordance with the rates now established for the dependants of dead or missing seamen. It will ensure that exceptionally large families will now be adequately provided for – a provision that was not always proved possible under the arrangements formerly in operation.
Under the Government's revised plans, in the cases in which this new minimum payment is made – the arrangement for payment of contributions to the Merchant Navy Officers' Pension Fund, or a private Pension Scheme, of which the seaman is a member, and of pocket money at the prison camp as well as the reservation of a small balance for payment to the seaman on his return home, will be continued, but without any charge to the seaman or his dependants.
[page break]
September, 1944 The Prisoner of War 15
Sleeveless Pullover
FOR COLDER DAYS
[photograph]
By Courtesy of Copleys
Worked in a ribbed stitch with 4-ply wool
[knitting pattern and instructions]
(Continued overleaf)
[page break]
16 The Prisoner of War September, 1944
PARCELS
DELAY IN DELIVERY
STEPS have been taken to explain to all British Camp Leaders that individually addressed parcels (both next of kin and permit), handed to the Post Office up to the beginning of March, 1944, should reach the camp normally; but that owing to a variety of circumstances there is likely to be a very considerable delay in the delivery of parcels handed in after that date.
Recreations and Sports Equipment
In view of the transport difficulties referred to by the Postmaster-General, it is no longer possible for this department to forward musical instruments, music, indoor games, artists' materials, theatrical make-up, exercise books etc., to individual prisoners of war.
Articles already sent in for forwarding will be returned to the senders if desired. Correspondence with regard to the above should be addressed to the Indoor Recreations Section, Prisoners of War Department, St. James's Palace, S.W.1.
The same conditions apply to equipment for outdoor sports, correspondence about which should be addressed to the department, and marked “For the attention of Mr. A. F. Cox.”
Transit Camps
Red Cross food parcels will, as far as possible, be sent by the International Red Cross Committee to any camps in which there are British prisoners of war.
PENGUIN BOOKS
The Penguin Book Co. regrets that is has had to cancel its service of new Penguin books to prisoners of war. The despatch of further parcels has, therefore, ceased, and any unexpired subscriptions will be returned to next of kin through booksellers.
SLEEVELESS PULLOVER
(Continued from previous page)
[knitting pattern and instructions]
[inserted] Please be sure to mention your Red Cross reference number whenever you write to us. Otherwise delay and trouble are caused in finding previous correspondence. [/inserted]
Any Questions?
When sending in questions would next of kin kindly always give their name and address so that their letters may be answered by post if, for any reason, it is not possible to reply in this Journal.
Labels and Coupons
As we are not now allowed to send next-of-kin parcels, what shall I do with my label and coupons?
The Postmaster-General has recommended that no further next-of-kin parcels should be handed in for the present, but their despatch has not at any time been prohibited. Instructions about labels and coupons were given on page 16 of the August journal.
Camps in Eastern Germany
There are rumours about camps in Eastern Germany being moved. If this is so, how soon shall I be informed of my husband's new address? He is a prisoner in Stalag XXB.
As soon as information is received about the transfer of any prisoner of war the next of kin is informed; but this news is frequently received in the first instance by the next of kin from the prisoner himself.
Soap for Parcel
Should the soap which I bought to send to my son, who is a prisoner in Poland, just before the parcel ban, now be returned to my next-of-kin centre?
The despatch of next-of-kin parcels has not at any time been prohibited. We would recommend you to keep the soap and all other articles which you may have ready for your parcel in case the Post Office should again be able to forward parcels to prisoners.
Taken Prisoner in Normandy
I have been notified that my son was taken prisoner in Normandy. How soon shall I receive an address where I can write to him?
It is impossible to say how soon his camp address will be known, but you will be told by the Red Cross how to address your letters to him until you receive his permanent camp address.
Musical Instruments?
It has been stated that a limited number of parcels, mainly music, books and games, is still being sent to the camps. Will my son, who is a prisoner in Stalag 383, receive the musical instrument for which he asked recently?
We have no knowledge of the statement to which you refer. If the musical instrument for which your son has asked was despatched before the recommendation made by the Postmaster-General that no further parcels should for the present be posted to prisoners, your son will no doubt eventually receive it, though its delivery may be delayed.
Examination Papers
Are examination papers still being sent to the camps in Germany?
Yes. The Chairman of the Prisoners of War Department referred to these in his message to next of kin in the August journal.
Clothing Coupons
When my house was bombed recently clothing coupons issued to me by my next-of-kin centre were destroyed. To whom should this be reported?
You should write to the Packing Centre at 14, Finsbury Circus, London, E.C.2, giving a full explanation of the circumstances.
Change of Camp Name
Why was Oflag VIIIF changed to Oflag 79?
The numbering of camps is entirely a matter for the German authorities. The change in this case was made after the prisoners had been moved from Maerisch-Trueban to Waggun in quite a different part of Germany.
New Camps
Will my husband, taken prisoner in Normandy, be sent to an entirely new camp or will he be accommodated in one of the camps which already exist?
So far the prisoners taken in Normandy appear to be going to already established camps; but it is impossible to say whether they will continue to do so.
Air-raid Shelters
Are all camps equipped with air-raid shelters?
The majority of camps in Germany are equipped with air-raid shelters. Should, however, the representative of the Protecting Power when visiting any of the camps discover that adequate air-raid shelters were not available, they would immediately bring this to the notice of the German Government.
Camp Location
Can you tell be the location of Stalag IVA?
Stalag IVA is at Hohenstein, south-east of Dresden. (Red Cross map, reference F6.)
[inserted] THIS Journal is sent free of charge to those registered with the Prisoner of War Dept. as next of kin. In view of the paper shortage no copies are for sale, and it is hoped that next of kin will share their copy with relatives and others interested. [/inserted]
Printed in Great Britain for the Publishers, THE RED CROSS AND ST. JOHN WAR ORGANISATION, 14 Grosvenor Crescent, London, S.W., by THE CORNWALL PRESS LTD., Paris Garden, Stamford Street, London, SE1.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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The prisoner of war, Vol 3, No. 29, September 1944
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1944-09
Description
An account of the resource
Includes: editorial matters, dispensing by air mail; greetings at Lisbon; the letters they write home; official reports from the camps; groups from the camps; the brighter side; 'send us books...'; how they help (fundraising at home); examination results; knitting pattern for sleeveless pullover; parcels and any questions? Includes photographs throughout.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MWhiteheadT1502391-180307-06
Creator
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Great Britain. Red Cross and St John war organisation
Rights
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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.
Format
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Sixteen printed pages
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Navy
British Army
Temporal Coverage
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1944-09
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Germany--Barth
Contributor
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Roger Dunsford
arts and crafts
Dulag Luft
entertainment
prisoner of war
sport
Stalag 8B
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 3
Stalag Luft 4
Stalag Luft 6
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1259/17109/BWhiteheadTWhiteheadTv1.1.pdf
5cdaf0868025b5eaa1e0fd6fda8aab10
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Whitehead, Tom
T Whitehead
Description
An account of the resource
31 items and an album sub collection. Collection concerns Warrant Officer Tom Whitehead (b. 1923) who served as a rear gunner with 428 Squadron operating from RAF Dalton in Yorkshire. He was shot down over Duisburg and became a prisoner of war. Collection includes his prisoner of war logbook, official correspondence to his mother, official documentation, letters from the Caterpillar Club, German prisoner of war propaganda, 14 editions of the Red Cross prisoner of war newspaper and photographs of Royal Air Force personnel including himself.
Album in sub collection consists of 47 pages of prisoner of war related photographs.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Pamela Hyslop and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-03-07
Rights
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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.
Identifier
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Whitehead, T
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
A WARTIME
LOG
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[Blank page]
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Is Now Prisoner
Mr. and Mrs. J. Whitehead of Jaum Fields Farm, Littlemoss, who [missing words] after. He also states he is in good health. Sgt. Whitehead volunteered for the [missing words] received word some time ago that their son, Sergt. Air Gunr. Tom Whitehead R.A.F. was missing, received a letter from their son yesterday morning stating that he was a prisoner of war in Germany and being well looked [missing words] R.A.F. in October, 1941. On leaving school he was employed at Messrs. Baxendales Furnishing Co. but later he took up farm work with Mr. Thacker, of Ashton.
[Photograph of man in uniform] Sgt. T. Whitehead
[Page break]
[Blank page]
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[Boxed] A WARTIME LOG
FOR
BRITISH PRISONERS
Gift from
THE WAR PRISONERS’ AID OF THE Y.M.C.A.
37, Quai Wilson
GENEVA – SWITZERLAND [/boxed]
[Page break]
[Blank page]
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[Boxed] THIS BOOK BELONGS TO
SGT TOM WHITEHEAD
B.P.O.W. 1051
STALAG LUFT SIX
YMCA symbol [/boxed]
[Page break]
[Blank page]
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[Boxed] CONTENTS Page
WHARE I went AND LAFT … 1
JOE 4
DIUT ON RETUNS – 9
DINNER – 11
WORDS BY Winston Churchill. 14
LAND OF MILK AND HONEY – 42
CAMP MONEY – 51
THE CAPTAIN UV THE BOAT WOT TAKES US HOME – 52
[Deleted] EXNG [/deleted] English lad Names – 55
CANADA - 59
NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA 63
DER JAG. MARCH 5. 70.
MARCH 6. 76
MARCH 7. 8. 9. 77, 78, 79
GOOD FRIDAY – 86.
APRIL 6th 90. [/boxed]
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[Blank page]
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1
SHOT DOWN DUISBURG ARIL 8th 1943,
ARRIVED DULAG LUFT FRANKFURT APRIL 11th 1943,
LEFT DULAG LUFT FRANKFURT APRIL 20th 1943
ARRIVED STALAG LUFT 1 BARTH APRIL 24th 1943.
LEFT STALAG LUFT 1 BARTH OCT 27th 1943.
ARRIVED STALAG LUFT 6 HEYDEKRUG NOV 1st 43
LEFT STALAG LUFT 6 HEYDEKRUG JULY 16th 1944
ARRIVED STALAG 357 THORN JULY 17th 1944
LEFT STALAG 357 THORN AUG 9th 1944
ARRIVED FALLINGBOSTEL AUG 11th 1944
MARCHED FROM STALAG 357 APRIL 6 1945
[Underlined] LIBERATED [/underlined] APRIL 18 1945
[Page break]
4
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“JOE” 5
On – on, the army rolled on,
Dawn – dawn, beautiful dawn,
Revealing – revealing, always revealing,
Healing – healing, deaths wounds healing.
Country – country, desolate country,
Torn – torn, conquerers crossing,
Gleefull – gleefull, yet ever manly,
Waves – waves, bodies are tossing.
Advance – advance, measured advance,
Close in – close in, give no chance.
Slash them – slash them, closer lash them,
Border – border, smashed in order.
The bug – the bug, the soil we hug,
Gunfire – gunfire, aircraft climbing higher,
Take & town – for the crown,
Red earth – red earth, once was brown.
Leningrad, Stalingrad, tremendous struggle,
Then swinging forward to german soil,
Millions of dead – in single – in mass,
Berlin in sight – so ends this toil.
On – on, Joe comes on,
This we build our hopes upon,
Freedom by soviet men,
To see our distant home again.
Thorn – Poland, 1944.
Butch
[Page break]
6
[Blank page]
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7
[Cartoon of a bird in an aircraft]
E.J. MARTIN
STALAG 357.
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8
[Blank page]
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Diet on Return 9
Diet recommended by M.O.
This is not necessary to be adhered to, but is to act as a guide.
7 a.m.
Coffee and milk – no sugar. Toast white bread
[Underlined] Breakfast [/underlined]
Porridge or other cereals with milk and sugar. (1 pint.)
Eggs, boiled poached or scrambled. Brown bread and butter.
Marmalade, jam, beverage as prefd.
[Underlined] 10 to 11 AM. [/underlined]
Custard or milk pudding. Ovaltine – cake or biscuits.
[Underlined] Lunch [/underlined]
Fish boiled or stewed. or cold meat – veg salad. tomatoes if available – brown bread.
Custard or milk pudding – beverage as preferred.
[Underlined] 3 to 4 pm [/underlined]
Milk or Ovaltine etc. biscuits cake and fruit
[Page break]
10
[Blank page]
[Page break]
11
[Underlined] Dinner [/underlined]
2 to 3 Potatoes boiled. 2 to 3 ozs meat grilled [deleted] or [/deleted] boiled veg including onions
[Underlined] Dessert [/underlined] Coffee brown bread, butter
[Underlined] Supper [/underlined] Cocoa biscuits and cheese.
Also as much fruit and chocolate as can be obtained fried food is not recommended for the first fortnight. It should be understood that food should not be taken in undue quantities or gorged. The times stated should not be strictly adhered to but the time between food should be as long as possible
[Page break]
14
It is a melancho compassion. You must obey his orders. Await his pleasure, possess your soul in patience. The days are very long the hours crawl by like paralyzed [sic] centipedes.
Moreover the whole atmosphere of prison, even the most easy and well run and regulated prison is odious.
Companions squabble over trifles, and get the least possible pleasures out of each others company, you feel a constant humiliation at being penned in by railings, and barbed wire, watched by armed men, and webbed about by a trough of regulations.
[Page break]
15
THESE WORDS WERE WRITTEN BY
Winston Churchill
POW
British East Africa
1899.
[Page break]
18
[Underlined] R.A.F. STATIONS [/underlined]
since 1941
R.A.F. PADGATE
10 S R.C BLACKPOOL
402 SQD WARMWELL DORSET
ACRC. LONDON
14 ITW BRIDLINGTON YORK
1 A.A.S MANBY. LINCS
11 OTU BASSINGBOURN
11 OTU WESCOTT OXON
428 SQDN DALTON YORKS
1 GRS DRIFFIELD YORKS
428 SQDN DALTON YORKS
[Underlined] GERMANY [/underlined]
SHOT DOWN 8-4-43
[Page break]
19
[Underlined] LANDED BACK 24 APRIL 45 [/underlined]
WING BUCKS.
6 PRC COSFORD
109 PRC WITTERING NORTHANTS
24 MU STOKE HEATH SHROP.
8 S-TT WEETON LANCS
[Page break]
42
[Map of North Island, New Zealand]
[Page break]
43
[Map of South Island, New Zealand]
The Land of Milk and Honey.
[Page break]
50
[[Blank page]
[Page break]
51
VALUE
15 MARKS – 1 POUND.
[Two examples of currency]
CAMP MONEY
[Page break]
52
[Underlined] THE CAPTAIN UV THE BOAT WOT TAKES US HOME [/underlined]
By PTE JOHN BURKE POW
Though I’ve never been no scholar
With no luvly stiff white collar
I’ve made me mind up – ere I go
A po-em – Sum’ll like it – others hate it
But I’m going to dedicate it
To the captain uv the boat wot takes us home
Now I’ve dreamt about this bloke
Like you often dreams o’ folk
Perfect strangers yet yer feels you know em
An’ the moment that I eyes im
Then I bet I recognise im
As the captain uv the boat wot takes us ‘ome
P’raps ees andsome like an actor
P’raps is dial would stop a tractor
P’raps e ‘asn’t got a air upon is dome
But the moment that I meets im
That’s ow I’m gonna greet im
The captain uv the boat wot takes us ome
[Page break]
53
E might be gay and full o cheer
I might say “Sonny now yer ere lets cruise around
Where would you like to roam”
If he does I’ll tell him straight
Yer the captain yer the mate
Don’t mess about this ship to take me ome
I’ll obey his slighted wishes
Scrub his deck and wash ‘is dishes
As long as e steers across the foam
An at last when we sight shore
Then I’ll shake the blooming pore
Uv the captain uv the boat wot takes us ome.
[Page break]
54
[Blank page]
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[Photograph of mountain scenery]
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[Blank page]
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[Photograph of a bridge]
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[Blank page]
[Page break]
Missing from Air Operations
Councillor and Mrs. G. L. Molyneux, of of 93, Newmarket – road, Waterloo, have been informed by the Air Ministry that their only son, Sergeant Keith Molyneux, is missing as a result of air operations. A keen sportsman, Sgt. Molyneux was well known for his interest in football which started when he was attending Christ Church School, Waterloo. There he played with the school team and was later chosen as a member of the Ashton Boys’ team on several occasions. He holds many cups and medals and had a trial with Bolton Wanderers. As a member of Christ Church Scouts, under (Mr. F. Leech as Scoutmaster) he attended many camps with the company. He was employed by Messrs. Stones, Ltd., Dukinfield, and in October, 1941, he joined the R.A.F. Volunteer Reserve. He has made many operational flights over Germany. He was also a keen attendant at Taunton Sunday School where he made many friends.
Councillor and Mrs. Molyneux have received many messages of sympathy and reassurance from their son’s friends and also from the chaplain of his station. The Rev. A. D. Johnson conducted a short prayer at their home for Sgt. Molyneux’s safety.
[Photograph of an airman] Sgt. K. Molyneux]
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[Blank page]
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55
[Vertically on page] England
C Price
The Homestead
College Lane
Woking Surrey
H. R Willis
42 Tedmarsh St
Reading Berks
T Darvill
28 Oxford Rd
Sidcup Kent
W. Frost
22B The Riddings
South Yardley
Birmingham 26.
G Semper
Midway
Ring Rd
Shadwell
Leeds
F Hocken
8 Agar Terrace
Bodmin
Cornwall
F Boyd
81 Bexley Lane
Sidcup
F Norris
3, Marathon Drive
Douglas,
Isle-of-Man
[Page break]
56
E.J. MARTIN
57, SHREWSBURY RD
LONDON N.W. 10.
W A Leslie
58 Leadenhall St
Everton
Liverpool. 5
R Betteridge
101 Elsan Rd
Elsan Gosport
Hampshire
J D Palmer
15 Easter Hill Place
Tolcross
Glasgow
S. H Greaves
12 Carmelite Terrace
Kings Lynn
Norfolk
F DOWLMAN
1 PARK ST
WIGAN
D Baker
102 High St
Thame
Oxon
F Calvert
Lordsfield Cottages
Whittlebury
Towcester
Northants
[Deleted] R HOLLOWAY
47 CASSLAND RD
SOUTH HACKNEY
LONDON [deleted]
C Wayte
170 Portland Rd
Hucknall
Notts
[Page break]
57
[Boxed] W NICHOLSON
2 MARBLE HILL PARK
TWICKENHAM
MIDDLESEX
[/boxed]
E Buckley
16 Birch Ave,
Hurstead
Rochdale
Lancs
Vernon (Taff) Gale
18 FREEMAN AVENUE
HAMPDEN PARK
NR EASTBORNE
SUSSEX.
G. S. Gold (Gaffer)
31, Murray Grove
London. N. 1.
Bob
30 Devonshire Rd
Palmers Green
London. N.
Jock Lee
30 Church St
Hemel Hempstead
Herts.
R Sluckey
83. Glens Road
Guildford
Surrey.
[Boxed] WAGSTAFF
BURNHAM RD
REDDISH
CHES [/boxed]
RG Saunders,
52 Boundary St,
Hulme,
Manchester.
[Boxed] 14503008
L/C Bootle K
MORTORS B SQD
15 Scottish [deleted] Div [/deleted] Recce Rgt
R.A.C.
B=L=A [/boxed]
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Bren Gallagher
C/o 81 Rosehill Terrace
Brighton (B 5051)
Phil Doherty
21 Fernside Ave
Winton
Bournemouth
M Megan
63 Burlington St
A-V-L
JOAN KNIGHT
63 LADBROOKE RD
ASHTON
[Boxed] J. R.
9 COY 7 Hut
THE DALE
CHESTER [/boxed]
[Boxed] J. INNES
15 SMITH. ST.
SPRATTON
NORTHAMPTON [/boxed]
[Boxed] M CLARKSON
BIRCH LANE
DUKINFIELD [/boxed]
Thelma Freeman
Highlands Rd
Lichfield
Fareham
Hants
[Page break]
59
[Diagonally across page] [Underlined] Canada [/underlined]
S. H. Allison
90 Kolfrey Ave
Toronto
H. N. Richards,
49 Maple Ave,
Oakville,
Ontario.
R. M. Buckham
28 Glen Manor Drive
Toronto Ont
Mr I McPhee
Sautt St. Marie
Ont. Canada.
Zeke
AD. WHILE IN ENG.
Hyde Park.
A Whitteron
519 William David St
Maisonneuve
Montreal
J. D. Fraser
Suite 7. Stephenson Blk.
Saskatoon, Sask.
N. W. Radin
R.R.2#
Clovendale,
B.C.
Murray Pratt
937 North Drive
Ft Garry Wpg
Canada
Miss M Warburton
176 Wellesley Cres
Toronto
[Page break]
62
V.C. Said “I Bomb – Whatever Happens”
BEFORE leaving for a daylight attack on Amsterdam power station in May, 1943, Sq-Ldr. Leonard Henry Trent, D.F.C., No. 487 (R.N.A.F.) Squadron Bomber Command told his deputy he was going over the target whatever happened.
Fifteen or 20 MEs dived incessantly on the Venturas – six of which were destroyed in four minutes. Two more soon went down in flames.
Finally Sq.-Ldr. Trent dropped his bombs on the target. The one remaining plane following him was shot down, his own plane was hit and broke up, and he and his navigator were made prisoners.
The V.C. is today awarded to Sq.-Ldr. Trent.
[Page break]
63
[Diagonally across page] New Zealand & Australia
W. K Mawson
47 Albany St
Christchurch
N.Z
E. G. Brown
915 Albany Rd
Victoria Park
Perth Aust
JACK SMITH
C/O CHRIS BROWN
GLADSTONE RD
GISBORNE
NEW ZEALAND.
Dick McLaren
Auckland
North Island
NZ.
F Mandelson
26 Selwyn Ave
Napier
N.Z.
J. D. Sharp
81 Richmond St
Petone
Wellington N.Z.
Doug Shears
Timaru
N. Z.
[Page break]
70
Der Tag March 5
Today March 5 1945 Starts the period of reduced german rations, and to commemorate this great day here is a summary of the past and a diary for the future. The camp is stalag 357 situated at Fallingbostel near Hannover in N.W. Germany. The district is heavily wooded and damp and the rain fall is ten times as bad as that ever experienced by the residents of Manchester. There are 8000 inmates at this so called holiday resort or “Morgue” whichever we call it approx 50% army and R.A.F. and the administration is rotten with disorganisation. The barracks are of brick each one containing 72 men in two-tier bunk. There has never been a [deleted] wood [/deleted] coal issue for the stoves, the only thing we get
[Page break]
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is a very small wood issue, the fires are inadequate, consequently the roof drips every minute of the day. The lighting system is that we call deadly oil lamps would do credit to these deutsch electricians, and during an air raid the lights go off at the main, and due to the fact that our comrades seem to have a rendezvous over here each evening we are invariably forced to retire to our beds in pitch darkness every evening about seven o’clock.
Now for a review of the main situation. There is very little mail coming into the camp, I have not seen any this year. The last cigarette parcel I received was on Christmas eve, when I recd. 200 Senior Service from Margaret, it was a very nice Christmas present.
[Page break]
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The last time I had a clothing parcel was the first week of February 1944 just 13 months ago, quite a while. Cigarettes are practically non-existent in the camp, and one never sees a dog end on the floor. Things in the smoke direction are grim, and make the camp unhappy on the whole.
The question of food in a very tricky one, until we came to this camp we always had a full Red Cross parcel per week, which was not too bad, a man could exist on it, plus the german rations, and feel fairly happy, play football occasionally, and keep fairly fit. Since we came here we have had approx 1/2 rations with a few gaps, but now the last
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month we have been without Red Cross parcels, living on our small reserves and “jerry” rations. These reserves being completely used up we are now “belting” on german rations. We were getting along on the most miserable existence when yesterday came the great blow out. Dr. Goebells [sic] announced the new cut in German rations. Our potatoes have been cut in half giving us about half a pound per day, our bread has been cut, as also every other commodity we are issued with. The prospects of us lasting the summer out on these rations looks very remote, nevertheless we shall see.
Now for the story of the beds the first sunday this year a german came into the biillet in
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the early morning saying that we all had to take our mattress’s outside where the german officer would inspect them and replace all the damaged and worn ones. This we knew to be a load of bullsh- as we say in the R.A.F. so he was promptly told what to do with his mattress check. On parade the truth became known, the German High Command had issued an order that we should lose all our tables, chairs and mattresses as a reprisal for the ill-treatment of german P.OW.s in camp 306 somewhere in Egypt. We were kept on the sports field all morning, by the usual business – like guards or “postens” as they say in german, whilst every other
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german took away our matress’es, tables, and forms. We were very annoyed at the time, and resolved to do the best we could we just put two mens bed boards on to one bed, and slept two in a pit from then to this day. I can assure my readers that since that day I have never lost a wink of sleep, and seeing that we have practically no food at all, why use a table, the only mistake we made was not burning the table before our hosts’ took them. Looking back on the whole thing we can laugh at their childishness.
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MARCH 6
Today the weather was not too bad – very damp and everyone was thoroughly cheesed off. I spent the whole day in bed, reading the finishing chapters of the “poisoned pen”.
Breakfast consisted of a cup of deutsch ersatz coffee, then a cup of Red & tea without sugar or milk at ten oclock, a pint of soup at dinner time consisting of swede and potatoes with another cup of tea, another cup of tea at 3 oclock and the soup and tea again at 4 oclock. All these were brought to my bed by Bobby who did the job admirably. At five oclock I was compelled to get up out of the pit so that we could be counted like a flock of sheep by our hosts. Supper at half past six consisted of still another cup of char with the days issue of bread, i.e. two slices of fairly thick toast
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and margarine, then to finish the day we climbed onto the bed, made it and at seven oclock, lo and behold the sirens went once again, compelling us to retire to our beds to imagine the great big meals we could be eating is only we were in blighty.
The highlight of the day came when it was announced that early this morning someone, nationality unknown, raided the cook house, pulling off a nice haul, which will entitle him to live comfortably for several days or perhaps weeks, good show we say so long as he doesn’t get caught.
March 7. Just the same as yesterday, only instead of spending the day in bed, I just wasted the whole miserable day while Bob hugged the blankets. I looked
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after the combines interests, and gave him his swede and potato soup. One sack of parcels arrived but our luck was out as usual.
[Underlined] March 8. [/underlined] Another damp day, so I stayed in the pit, had a read, and shivered in general all through the day. Roll call was in the billit [sic] at night so I was able to stay in bed until supper time, or half past six. Then I got up had my two slices of toast and tea, and just had time to shake the blankets when the sirens went, and out went the lights. Seem to be getting more accustomed to the rations now although our stomachs are yelling out for work all day long. By the way it is rumoured that there may be still a further cut in the
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rations, we ask what will they do next.
[Underlined] MARCH 9 [/underlined] A great day in the life of a kreigy, shower day. We had the first hot shower today since the 6th of January, it was very nice but not enough to get properly clean, only the top few layers of dirt came off. I guess it may be the last hot showers here. Todays German rations were two lots of potato and swede soup, a small piece of fresh cheese just enough for 1 slice of bread, about a 1/4 pound of Molasses (instead of jam) and we were able to get 2 1/2 slices of toast each which will be devoured for supper. No use trying to save any for breakfast. The spring sunshine came out for the first time and the birds could be heard singing, a very welcome sign. “Roll on Monty” is the wish of us all
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March 10. The weather is damp again and I stayed in bed all day. The menu was the same – two soups pretty weak ones at that, and 214 grammes of bread, issued with next weeks sugar ration, about 8 ounces, and next weeks meat that is just enough sausage for 1 meal, and a pretty small meal at that. I should say they’re fairly meagre.
Two prisoners have just arrived here, in a bad condition after having been marched all the way from Thorn in Poland without any food. They were on their way to Hamburg, but couldn’t just make the pace, so came into our hospital.
[Underlined] March 11 [/underlined] Sunday marks the end of the first week of the reduced rations, and with it came the news of still another cut. The lunch time soup was excellent, it could compare with a home made Pea
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soup. It was the only decent soup of the week, but it was worth waiting for! Evening we had the german [deleted] equal [/deleted] equivalent of rice pudding, it was just boiled barley, it is not such a bad substitute for rice, we just put sugar with it and it is very nice when one is hungry.
Here is the list of the weeks rations
14 pints of vegetable soup
1700 grammes of bread
1/4 lb sugar
160 grammes of margarine
1 meal of sausage meat
1/2 lb molasses.
A German officer has just left for Lubec to attempt to obtain Red Cross food for us. We have all got our fingers crossed.
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During the past few days six tents have been erected on the sports field, so it looks as if we can expect new “kriegies” in the near future. Yesterday bobby acquired two dog ends, and I caught him and “Goldie” rolling them in a sheet of the bible, it was the only paper available, and public opinion doesn’t matter here.
[Underlined] March 14 [/underlined] Today big things have happened, the weather is lovely, and the german officer has arrived back from Lubec brining with him 200 American food parcels, and enough cigarettes to issue each man with six each. I wish I could explain what it feels like to be without a smoke for two months any how the feeling towards one another has altered 100%
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The food was divided 20 to a parcel, it was only a small portion, but very acceptable, with a promise of more to come in the near future. It seems disgusting to think that food comes all the way from America to Lubec and then it is kept there through lack of transport, and here we are only 60 miles away living on rations that would not keep a decent sized dog alive. We are looking forward to the future now, a little more hopefull [sic]. Bobby had a letter yesterday, first one for four months, lucky devil. We changed 4 ozs of tea today for 3 lbs of bread, we no sooner had the bread, than the marg was on the table, and Bob, Zeke and Goldie and myself “killed it”
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The word kills is one of the most common expressions, when we get our rations, we very seldom allow anything to lay around, we just get them and bang its gone. It makes no difference what it is, it all goes the same way, we cannot even save a slice of bread for breakfast. Our motto is eat when you can and never mind the future, the same with cigarettes. Bobby has just been promoted to Warrant Officer, so I expect mine will be coming through shortly.
It is now MARCH 21 The first day of spring is lovely, the sun is quite strong, and with a bit of imagination it feels good to be in spring. There is no food in the camp and we are really getting weak, this food
[Page break]
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is good enough to keep us alive, and that is about all. We are hungry and its no joke, and without a smoke it is really grim. We are backing on Monty to do his stuff now. There is still no chance of getting food from Lubec, only 60 miles away our camp has got 22,000 food parcels there and its impossible to get transport the last few miles. The boys we left behind at Ledicrug have just arrived here after marching from a camp at Tichan near Danzig. They have had a terrible time which can only be told by the boys themselves. Most have suffered from bayonet wounds, some serious, others not so bad.
[Underlined] MARCH 27 [/underlined]
Our Camp Leader, yesterday
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managed to persuade the hosts to transport him to Lubec in a lorry and at night our popular “Dixie Deans” one of the most famous camp leaders in Germany drove back into the camp with enough cigarettes for 48 per man, a great deal. He always has been popular, and needless to say he has been in some very awkward positions. After all this time we can once again smoke. It seems funny to see a chap smoke a cigarette and go dizzy, but its true. The best bit of the day is that is will only be a couple of days and we shall have some food here, two waggons having already left Lubec.
GOOD FRIDAY.
Today has been the happiest day of our lives, firstly we are counting the days to the end, and then
[Page break]
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secondly the food has arrived this morning. We have got to a stage where, a slow stroll round the camp at night, a distance of less that a mile is as much as any man on the camp can manage, it is pitiful to see the chaps trying to drag their weary bodies round the camp.
The parcels are new Canadian Red Cross ones, and it makes us englishmen feel ashamed of our own British Red + when we compare the parcels, the english ones are a disgrace to send out to us. They are the same weight but the british stuff is such poor quality the meat roll being the worst I have ever been expected to eat.
Here is a list of the Contents of a canadian parcel
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1 – 16oz tin Klim milk powder
1 12 oz Bully
2 – 12 oz Spam meat roll
1 8 oz Best Butter
1 4 oz Cheese
2 tins dehydrated apples (4 pints sauce)
1/2 lb sugar
6 oz Coffee
5 oz best Milk Chocolate
8 oz Quick Quaker Oats
1 large pkt biscuits
1 lb raisins
1 lb best strawberry jam
Each man recd 1/2 each and we are looking forward to the end of the war quite happily, with a little more strength in our bodies. We give it three days now.
[Page break]
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Last night an aircraft kept up a regular patrol near the camp and then dropped a lovely cookie near the camp, and were we happy. A few of the boys had mail from home yesterday, lucky chaps, needless to say it was at least six months old.
The food has all gone now, the day is April 3 we got stuck in and everyone can feel the benefit even though it was only a good days food. The cigs have run out but as things are in the area these days we are happy, and looking forward to seeing the white cliffs of Dover very shortly.
We are all planning the great leave now, and what a time we are going to have.
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90
[Underlined] APRIL 6 [/underlined] Early this morning we got the news that we are to move at 8 PM however we are not too pleased to hear that we march to “some joint”, even the germans don’t know where it is. All the Red Cross invalid parcels are distributed and we all got stuck in, “none for the road” we all say. We made a lovely big porridge for the four of us, 1 tin condensed milk, 1/2 lb oats, 1 tin creamed rice, and a pint jelly, lots of sugar, and what a meal. The four of us each had 1 cup of Ovaltine out of a tin so you can guess the strength of that one. We ate up all our food which was a lot, and well, we know that the vitamins would do us well. The Red + food that we have had this last few days has already done us good and we feel stronger, by far now. By the time we got out of the camp we felt a bit cheesed. I left nearly all my kit behind taking with me, two good blankets and a small box 12” x 8”
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with my possessions in it. Our travelling rations were 1 loaf and 2 1/4 lb marg. Our guards seem to be all old men with all their kit so were happy. The camp was soon left behind and we headed east at a slow pace, dusk came and we were still marching, then darkness came. By this time the guards were getting tired some of them even couldn’t go any further, so they dropped out one by one, it can be imagined what things were like, we were going through very wooded country, and believe me the boys were really jumping out. We eventually reached a main road, a little scared cause there were lots of intruder aircraft knocking around bombing and machine gunning, when all of a sudden down came a Mosquito cannons and all, lucky for us it was late when we were spotted so he did a tight turn to come up the road at us and hit a tree and crashed about fifty yards from where we were on the ditch. It was a good job he did crash or we would have been killed
[Page break]
[Pages 90 and 93 repeated]
[Page break]
94
by one of our own aircraft. Two bodies were pulled out the next day. All we said was, “Well, they shouldn’t have joined.” About a mile from the incident we were billetted for the night in a barn. This was what we were really in need of, so we just put straw on the floor and out with our blankets and slept. The next morning I was up early with Zeke, and we went after food, we got it how I shall not say here. By the way yesterday was bobs’ third wedding anniversary, all in the country. All the day we spent in eating and in one day we have eaten more than we would on camp rations in a fortnight, and for the first time in ages we felt full. So ends our second day.
[Underlined] APRIL 8 [/underlined] We left the barn at ten oclcok marking 7 Kilos’ to a wood where we were told we would sleep the night, we had another feed
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95
and got our bed ready, damp leaves for a mattress and the heavens for a ceiling. We had very little sleep. I might say, the aircraft were busy all night and we really welcomed the dawn. We had tea and roast potatoes and toast for breakfast then set out on the road once more.
[Underlined] APRIL 8 [/underlined]
As so it goes on we are kept on the march by day and all the food we get is a few potatoes at night, and if we get a chance to slip our guard we knock off eggs or anything handy.
This life went on until the 16 of April, a lot of the boys were ill about 50% escaped and on the 16 April along with five pals I stayed with a party of sick fellows.
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We were not really short of food ourselves, and for the last few days we had two unarmed guards for 150 prisoners. During the last two days we collected at least seven machine gun attacks from our own typhoons so you can imagine our feelings when the 11 th Armoured division came to the rescue on the 18 of April at five oclock in the afternoon on the outskirts of Luneburg. Just short of Hamburg.
[Underlined] Thats the end. [/underlined]
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[Blank page]
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Tom Whitehead's Wartime log for British prisoners
Description
An account of the resource
Belonging to Sergeant Tom Whitehead, B.P.O.W. 1051, Stalag Luft 6. Contains newspaper cutting with news of Tom Whitehead as prisoner of war. Main dates of events and locations from shoot down to liberation. Includes a poem 'Joe', cartoon, diet sheet, words by Churchill as prisoner of war, list of his postings to RAF Stations, outline map of New Zealand, camp money, poem 'captain of the boat wot takes us home', photographs, newspaper cutting on Sergeant E Molyneux, addresses in England, newspaper cutting concerning Squadron Leader Leonard Trent Victoria Cross. Continues with diary of events from 6 March 1945 to 8 April 1945 gives details of camp and conditions with reduced rations at Stalag 357, Goes on to describe march to Hamburg including being strafed by own allied aircraft.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
T Whitehead
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Cover and 35 double page handwritten booklet
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Text. Poetry
Text. Diary
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BWhiteheadTWhiteheadTv1
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Poland
Poland--Toruń
Germany
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Barth
Lithuania
Lithuania--Šilutė
Germany--Fallingbostel (Landkreis)
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Lübeck
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943-04-08
1943-04-11
1943-04-20
1943-04-24
1943-10-27
1944-07-16
1944-07-17
1944-08-09
1944-08-11
1945-04-06
1945-04-18
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1943
1944
1945
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Anne-Marie Watson
428 Squadron
Dulag Luft
military living conditions
prisoner of war
RAF Dalton
Red Cross
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 6
the long march
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/545/11672/PSmytheE1701.1.jpg
742a20ab96dbb7a32a4f6a88b5935e69
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/545/11672/ASmytheE170802-02-AV.1.mp3
564622d6738bc4ef131d52efeaf58930
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Smythe, Eddy
Eddy Smythe
E Smythe
Description
An account of the resource
Four items. A photograph and two oral history interviews with Eddy Smythe about his father, John Henry Smythe (1915-1996, 144608 Royal Air Force) who served as a navigator in Bomber Command.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-02
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Smythe, E
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
Good afternoon. My name is Eddy Smythe. My father was John Smythe. He was a Sierra Leonian who came over from Sierra Leone to join the RAF in 1941. At that time Sierra Leone was part of the British Commonwealth and he had absolutely no hesitation in volunteering to join the war effort to fight for his country and to fight for his Queen. He saw service for two and a half years. He was shot down and was a prisoner of war for two years. When he was finally released he went back to London and he studied to become a barrister. He qualified and went back to Sierra Leone and set up a legal practice there. He went on to act for most of the embassies in Freetown at that time being as his firm was one of the largest practises at that particular time and he quite often attended cocktail parties and various other functions held by these embassies, most notably the British Embassy. And there was one particular occasion when he was at a party and ended up chatting to the German Ambassador. They both established that they were in their respective Air Forces during the war. My father was in Bomber Command and the German Ambassador was in Fighter Command. So they chatted for quite a while and they shared various stories and my father said his flying came to an end when his plane was shot down over Germany on a particular day, a particular month and a particular year. And the German Ambassador went silent and he said, ‘Can you tell me the exact date again and the exact time?’ Which my father did, and he said, ‘Can you tell me exactly where the plane was shot down? Are you able to tell me the coordinates?’ And of course, my father did. You know, he’d never forget those sort of details. And at this point there was silence and the German Ambassador paled visibly and he said, ‘You’re not going to believe this but at that exact time I was flying in that location and I shot down a British bomber and it is logged as a kill to me.’ And my dad said they both looked at each other. They were both speechless for a few seconds and they threw their arms around each other, hugged each other, went off and had a drink and celebrated the event. When he told me this story I was much younger and of course and I thought, ‘Well, how could you react like that? Surely you were cross being shot down.’ He said, ‘No. Not at all. He did what he had to do. I did what I had to do.’ He said, ‘We actually celebrated the circumstance.’ So, as I said I could have told you a few stories but that’s one which I think is quite a nice story to tell and I am really pleased to have the opportunity to tell the story. Its not very often that I can do and I think it is important that the story is told because it helps to demonstrate the significant effort that was made by people like me dad from all over the Commonwealth towards the war effort. So thank you very much.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Eddy Smythe. Two
Description
An account of the resource
Eddy Smyth’s father was John Smythe. John left Sierra Leone to join the RAF during the Second World War. He was shot down over Germany and spent two years as a prisoner of war. After the war he trained as a barrister and returned to Sierra Leone where he established a law firm. At a function at the British Embassy he conversed with the German Ambassador and to the shock of both of them they realised that it may have been the German Ambassador who had shot him down. They hugged each other and went for a drink to celebrate the event and talk more. Audio Track from video interview
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Heather Hughes
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-02
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
ASmytheE170802-02-AV, PSmytheE1701
Conforms To
An established standard to which the described resource conforms.
Pending review
Pending revision of OH transcription
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
00:03:55 audio recording
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Julie Williams
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Sierra Leone
Germany--Barth
Sierra Leone--Freetown
Coverage
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Civilian
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Second generation
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
African heritage
aircrew
bombing
navigator
perception of bombing war
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/1069/11525/APeelPAG170831.2.mp3
5b6150f7cc72cd0cfb86b61f26afc8e6
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Title
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Peel, M G
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Philip Andrew Gervase about his father, Michael Gervase Peel. He flew operations as a pilot with 44 and 227 Squadrons.
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2017-04-05
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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.
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Peel, MG
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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CB: My name is Chris Brockbank and today is the 31st of August 2017 and I’m in Southampton with Philip Peel. We are doing a proxy interview about his father Jarvis, although during the war he was called Mike. What are the earliest memories do you think your father had of life?
PP: He grew up in West Kirby, I remember him talking about going on holiday to Anglesey, they were quite, his father was a, had been a cotton broker and had been pretty wealthy but lost his money in the Depression, in the crash. He tells the story of getting the very first phone line, private phone line between Manchester and Liverpool, something like that, but I think they’d been quite, the Peels were associated with cotton there, but they lost money in the Depression. From looking at photographs of him he had, seems to have had quite a nice time, a family of, three of them he was the youngest.
CB: And where did he go to school?
PP: He went to prep school [unclear] which is local to the, funnily enough my brother ended up probably through that teaching there, many, many years later [laughs] but he went there I don’t know that much about what he did there.
CB: And how did he come to go to St Edward’s Oxford?
PP: Because it was a tradition, I think he was the eleventh or twelfth Peel that went there and his mother knew, or grandmother knew the original warden or something like that so there’d been quite few generations that had been there so it’s totally automatic, both his brother went there and he went there.
CB: And how did he get on academically and from a sport point of view?
PP: He’s always liked sport, so there’s pictures of him doing steeplechases, photographs rather, I, he was a sportsman right the way through into his nineties, I mean, he was playing squash in his eighties and still continues to play, no, I mean, he might have stopped squash in his late seventies I think, but he continued with tennis, and presumably it was his eyesight wasn’t good enough, so my guess is that he actually enjoyed sports there and recently he went on eventually to do PPE at Oxford so he must have done reasonably well.
CB: Now, before the war, when he was at school, he would’ve been preparing for civilian life, what sort of career did he think he was gonna go into before the war started?
PP: I’ve never asked him that, I know what he did afterwards, which was to become a health and safety inspector, I don’t think, I think his father was quite old when he had him and I think that stopped the stock broking, the cotton broking rather had disappeared cause even the family had gone bust so he, whilst he was at St Edwards everybody had to do the cadets and so there was the army and the navy and the, what was the officer training corps then I think, now called the ATC I think and he told me that he chose the RAF because they appeared to do less squad bashing and he thought the uniform was slightly nicer. And so obviously high ideals there [laughs] and he does tell, told me some wonderful stories about there, being there on air raid duty, they had pupils that, you know, to stay up all night looking for air raids. But the other thing was he remembers that the, after Dunkirk, the BEF or a large number came back and camped on Port Meadow in Oxford and there were many, many thousands of them and he remembers St Edward boys were chosen, the cadets were chosen to guard the BEF but they had, I think each squad had one rifle and one bullet and he thought [laughs] these battle hardened thousands of soldiers were being, were being guarded by seventeen year olds there, youngsters, apparently if you were sixteen you couldn’t have a rifle I think when you were seventeen you could and they also had to guard the armoury and he remembers there that seeing a rat and one of the other cadets got it with a, with a bayonet which he thought was a very good shot.
CB: So, he’s going into extermination.
PP: Well, he wasn’t [unclear] that did it was, somebody else who got it with a bayonet cause so.
CB: So, he’s born in 1923. The war started when he was seventeen effectively, near enough, sixteen.
PP: Yeah, September, he was, his birthday was September.
CB: And what did he do then?
PP: Uhm, he told me that he, this squadron leader or somebody came round and uhm, and talked about that the, they were offering a subsidised, not subsidised, free pre-university course at Aberdeen University, where you studied navigation and I think a couple of other subjects, I don’t think it was solely navigation and this was a sort of offer. And he thought that was a pretty good idea that they would pay for him to go to university so that’s what he chose to do. He went straight from there into to do this so it wasn’t a conscious decision, it’s a series of little things that happened so this wasn’t a great conscious decision to, you know, to go off and be a hero or something like that, it’s a gradual sort of, things like this and initially the uniform and lack of squad bashing and then this, they offered this and so then ended up, you know, getting into the RAF. So, he did his course in navigation, cause I think there were a couple of other subjects and he finished that and he was then interviewed for what he was going to do next because obviously the war on you need to join so interviewed by the RAF and they said, what are you gonna do? And he said, well, navigation, I enjoy navigation and you know, you just spend this money training me. So they decided to make him a pilot which he thought was [laughs], it amused him that they should waste all that but he did however because he had a friend I think who was a navigator, who’d had been on the course, who became a navigator and I think within a few months, within six months or was on ops whereas he went, it took a couple of years I think from then on for him before he was on ops, which is probably a good thing because I’m not sure I would be around if, if he spent longer flying [laughs] with the casualty rate. So, then
CB: So, he would’ve done his initial training
PP: Yes
CB: [unclear]
PP: So, Tiger Moths, certainly the early stuff was Tiger Moths.
CB: But he was in Britain to begin with.
PP: Yes, he was in Britain.
CB: Then what did he do?
PP: He was in Britain, we got the logbook actually but, so he did the, in Britain he started off
CB: Yes. Well, it looks as though what he did was ACRC in other words his initial Aircrew Reception Centre and that was in Brighton.
PP: Alright.
CB: Although the ACRC was actually in London but the logbook says that. And then he went to Desford, so that’s what it says in here.
PP: Yep.
CB: So, then he did some initial stuff there, then what did he do?
PP: Well, I know he ended up going to Canada, the various bits and pieces, I think he went from one centre to another, going through the bureaucracy but he ended up going over to the Canada, to the Rockies. He, I’m not that sure about the order but I think it was that he went to Prince Edward Island initially that might have been later on but certainly at one point and he made his way up to this particular base in King, St Edward Island, no, not St Edward Island, King Edward Island, wasn’t it, and it was the wrong, it was, it was an American base and he then had to try and find, work his way. Let’s have a look at the logbook here, just read it, Macloed, I think that’s High River, Queen Mary, ok, he went over on the Queen Mary, it, which he said was amazing, he [laughs], he was very lucky, because you had to work your way, you couldn’t, you didn’t just sit there as a loaded troop ship and it went very, very fast, they could outrun the U-boats, the speed was, it just went on its own, faster than anything else and they were sorting out what he should do and they decided that as he was RAF, they would put him onto anti-aircraft batteries, not that he’d knew anything about firing guns at all, but and therefore he didn’t need to swab the decks or do the food or everything else like that, so they gave him a bit of training but then they were joined by seven specialist gunners, anti-aircraft people who then said, no, we don’t want you there [laughs], so basically him ended up just doing absolutely nothing, he just had this very nice cruise going over and he does describe, there was a continuous rainbow over the front cause of the speed they were going and he says, and he remembers one night where he went up on deck and it mirrorlike, it totally, totally calm and he said, this looked amazing with this completely totally still and they were just going at the high speed through the water and so he was quite lucky with his trip over. Yes so, Charlottesville, yes, Charlottetown, that’s right, I do know this Prince Edward Island, isn’t it, is it Prince Edward Island?
CB: Yeah.
PP: Yeah, Prince Edward Island, that’s right that he arrived and it was quite tricky, you know, nowadays and all that, in that time and he eventually arrived after a long, long journey and they were rather mystified because he’d arrived completely, he’d arrived at America, oh, that’s right because he’s Royal Canadian, he’s in the Royal Canadian Airforce at that point and they said, no, this is American one, he had to go to the other end of the island and anyway, so he did listen to a lot of shuttling around I think where first of all he wanted to be pilot, then navigator and that so he was got pushed around from one place to another but anyway he eventually ended up over in the Rockies and he trained over there and he says, they basically flew seven days a week. And I think one of the days, Sunday was just only half day but they basically just flew continuously [unclear] they right away through I don’t think [unclear] days or anything, I think he said on Christmas day they actually maybe possibly had a day off but it sounds absolutely continuous, and he seemed to have quite a good time there. I have a photograph of him training on that. He, I can’t remember the details but he then having got through that I think then he got his, he would have got his wings, yes, uhm, and they were gonna send him down for flying on Liberators and I’m not quite sure, I do know he ended down in the States but they’d been having serious crashes there with Liberators and they decided he was an inch too short because they thought it might be due to the fact that they needed to put strong rudder on and if people were a bit short they weren’t able to push it sufficiently so having gone down there and he started doing all this he then, they changed their minds. I do know he went on, he, we had a relation Ruth Van Anders, who he sent a postcard to from a prisoner of war camp in New York, and she, and he had some leave I think after finishing and she said well come down, he said I don’t have any money, and she said, oh, I’ll wire you some money wide fifty dollars which is a huge amount of money at that time, cause they were quite wealthy [unclear]. And he went to New York and one of the things he did there was to go and see this new musical, the first week of this new musical called Oklahoma on Broadway, which he very much enjoyed and we had the full seventy eight set later on when I was young, of Oklahoma. And then he went on down to Trinidad because again there was another relation there so he does, but he seemed to be quite wined and dined and faited because he was in uniform and the American girls seemed to like him I think. Anyway, he then came back and he came back on the Queen Mary again and it’s just been the Quebec Conference because the Peel family my, the, his uncle or great uncle Reg, Reginald Peel, was Commodore of the Cunard fleet, he had been captain of the Titanic sistership, actually, and so was known, the Peel were known as a family. He got introduced to the something like the deck captain or something, it’s not the captain of the ship but the person who organised the passengers and said, oh, you must come along, there’s some, you know, there’s someone of the managery people, RAF people, you know, you must come along and be my guest and he went to this and he was a very, would be just, would it be pilot officer, that he just
CB: Probably.
PP: Yes.
CB: If he was commissioned immediately.
PP: What
CB: Otherwise he would have been a sergeant
PP: No, he, I think he was commissioned immediately, but I, anyway and he went in and it was this cocktail party and he said the most junior other officer cause it, oh, what it was, it was after the Quebec Conference which was the Churchill-Roosevelt, was it, Roosevelt conference where they decided I think D-Day wasn’t it? And so was the really, really senior people and they were all track and [unclear] so this is the most senior people and the most junior person there was an Air Commodore and then him [laughs], uhm, so he, he felt slightly, slightly out of his depth there. Anyway, so he appeared to have quite a nice trip back. He then may well have gone onto various places here but I do remember that he, he was about to go to, I think operational training, and he came out in a rash and they probably took him off to an isolation hospital there’s an isolation hospital there so this would have been what, ’43-’44, anyway they got all these facilities for people coming back to the, you know, from desert warfare and he was the sole person in there and the medical officers [unclear] you know two, I think it was a sergeant or something, medical orderly, you know, what do you think he’s got? Smallpox. No, it’s chicken pox, or measles or whatever it was and so he, he, and it was quite some time you know so he was all ready to go and he just had to sit on his own in this completely empty hospital but I think again he probably quite enjoyed the fact that all the nurses to look after him and he was in isolation. So, then he went to operational OTU on Stirlings I would guess
CB: We’ll stop there. Right, we’re restarting now.
PP: Ok, so
CB: The point he got his wings was when?
PP: Ah, June 1943. So then he, he moved around America a bit, he went to the, in August ’43 he, I think they considered him for flying on Liberators but his, he was too short, but anyway he, eventually he came back and then was, at advanced flying unit at South Cerney, in brackets it’s got Bibury here, funnily enough very close to where he ended up living and where actually I did glider training, then he moved to Market Harborough in March ’44 to Operational Training Unit and he was there for a couple of months, flying Stirlings I understand,
CB: He would have been on Wellingtons there
PP: Wellingtons, was it?
CB: Yes
PP: Ok, there we are, yes, Wellingtons
CB: So, they were crewed up, did he ever describe
PP: Yes
CB: The experience of crewing up?
PP: Yes
CB: What did he say about that?
PP: Well, basically they put them all in a hangar [laughs] and let them sort themselves out which he thought was a, again a rather wonderful RAF way of doing it, and you just sort of wander round and, and they said, again going back to the public school thing, it was like, choosing, you know, people for a game, and just left to sort each other out basically. I can’t remember any actual stories he told us about that, but he says, let them all in and you wonder round so if you liked somebody and put, you know, put it together like that.
CB: Yes. As the pilot, he was the captain. Did he feel that the polarity was on him, in other words people needed to come to him?
PP: He didn’t say, he basically just said people talked to each other and sort of, it was quite almost like a social thing, it, yes, he just thought that that whole process put him in but he didn’t talk about him, himself organising if he had done he probably wasn’t that sort of person that would but he always said that he was the bus driver, the navigator was the one who did the interesting work and he just, he just drove them there [laughs] and drove them back so he was very dismissive of what he, well, maybe not dismissive but he, he played it down.
CB: So, was an informal arrangement but very effective.
PP: Yes, yes, I mean, they mainly just basically left people to sort each other out which is interesting, it’s very interesting way of doing it if you think about it, so they were doing it on gut feeling, I think, to see how well they got on, another thing he did say about flying was that that because he was the only officer, I wonder whether I should say this later on,
CB: Well, say it now and we can [unclear]
PP: Ok, and you can [unclear] later. Was the fact that actually he always felt in war films that, you know, the crew went back and you know, share drinks and stuff like that, and he said the rest, there were no other officers in this crew, and so they had a different mess, they didn’t share stuff, right, and so because the NCOs were in a different mess to the officers, I don’t think that totally held true to, they must have done certain stuff he talks about having parties and things like that, but it is interesting that it wasn’t the, the way I’ve always seen it in films where they had this gang of people who were all equal, it was very much the officers and the NCOs even though they were, you know, they were very much, you know, fighting together.
CB: So effectively there was a social and rank divide but when they were in the air,
PP: Yes, yes.
CB: How did that?
PP: There it was very much and there’s a story about coming back this, well this is when they were on ops, I’ll tell it now then. They were, it was September the 27th, we can see from his logbook where they were coming back from but anyway they were coming back across the North Sea and it got to midnight and the rear gunners to skipper, go ahead rear gunner, happy birthday skip! Cause it’s his 21st birthday. Radio operator to skipper, go ahead radio operator, happy birthday skip! And they went right the way round the crew and they all wished him a happy birthday on his 21st birthday. Now they had it from when they got back, they had either a hang up or some reason, something, you know, they didn’t get back when they thought they were going to get back, so they, there had been a party planned because there was a, one of the squadrons I think was moving out and so they were having a final leaving party and so they’d gonna combine it with his birthday party so they got back in, because they were late he said, they got into the where the party was the mess and the crew must have come along cause all there was, was completely empty and there was just a sign saying free drinks for you and that was it so he went to bed and flew the next day. That was his birthday, 21st birthday.
CB: Yeah. A hard time.
PP: Yes, yes. Uhm,
CB: So you point,
PP: We, yeah,
CB: The point about the rest of the crew being NCOs, and him being an officer would be for the formal meeting process but what about when they went out socially?
PP: Well, he told me they didn’t particularly go out socially and again this is, I was surprised because they did, he said because NCOs and officers didn’t particularly mix, I don’t think he was a great drinker, well later on he did drink quite a lot of vodka when he was in his nineties but that’s different, he sort of moderation in most things, what he [unclear], twenty year old I don’t know, but he doesn’t talk about going out socially with the crew I say because I asked him about that and he said, well, we were, you know, it was NCOs and it was officers, so he said, we didn’t particularly.
CB: Let’s come back to that in a minute. So, at the Operational Training unit, it was Market Harborough,
PP: Yes.
CB: Then where does he go from there?
PP: He goes to Winthorpe, this is Heavy Conversion Unit where this is where he would go from the two engine Wellington then on to the four engine Stirlings, and he was there from July ’44, he was there, right the way through till September so this was you know, two more months so again there’s a long, long process of going from one place to another cause if he’d been navigator, he would have bene straight on, this process continues and then he moved in September ’44 and this time it’s only a couple of weeks and this was then conversion to Lancaster, Lancaster Finishing School and that was at
CB: At Syerston
PP: Syerston, ah, Syerston, can’t quite read it, no. Ok. So and then finally and then at some point during here he would was about to go onto one of these ones where he ended up with his chickenpox or measles, I’m not quite sure which one but eventually then on the 14th of November 1944, he then joined 44 Rhodesia Squadron, Dunholme Lodge and he always said he, within the short time because he was actually flying for three months and he actually he moved around, he moved four different places he moved round in the, he was in two different squadrons and so he actually had, he didn’t really have a sort of permanent base, he got attacked to all permanent squadron really.
CB: Difficult to settle.
PP: Yes, so, he was with 44 Rhodesia Squadron for two weeks and then, and then they, at Dunholme Lodge they moved to Spilsby and that was for 39, 10, that looks like only a week they were there and then he is moved to 227 Squadron where they spent a couple of months before he finally got shot down. So, would you be interested in me telling you some of the stories he’s told me?
CB: Well, I think so. The, it’s intriguing that he was such a short time with 44 Squadron and so he went from the OTU with six in the crew to the HCU on Stirlings with seven in the crew because the flight engineer would have joined.
PP: Yeah, yeah. Flipping through his logbook here, so Syerston there we got [unclear] course and there we got, 44 Rhodesia Squadron, right, so, so his first, so, he was a passenger, he flew down and he got to Dunholme, so his very first operation on September the 18th, Bremerhaven and he was second pilot on that so basically the first operational mission and then there’s four more things HLB, not sure where that stands for, basic training things as in and x cross country and then the first time he flew was on the 26th of September operation Karlsruhe. That’s right. Then the 27th was then operation Kaiserslautern and that would’ve been the one which I, he came back and it was his 21st birthday, so, that was his third mission and then on the 30th he moved to the, the squadron moved to Spilsby. Uhm, right.
CB: Ok, we’ll pause there for a mo. So, we’re back on ops now, a significant raid was on Norway but again, what was that?
PP: Yes, no, that was, Bergen. He said because it was occupied territory, therefore you had to be a lot more precise, with the bombing, and you, and unless you could identify the target, you didn’t drop bombs, so he talks about this and the, you can see the, he says no bombs dropped, cloud over target, his description was though as a very large number of bombers coming in he thought probably and the Pathfinders had dropped flairs [unclear] or something like that, had dropped it, but had problem with cloud and they had all the bomber paths were coming in with different heights, more or less simultaneously, and they went round and they could sort of partly see it and as they got it, got to it, the bomb aimer said, you know, can’t see it, sorry, abort, so they went round again, again came in and the bomb aimer said, we can’t, sorry, sorry, we can’t do this, so my dad decided to go round for the third time, I think the crew getting a little bit worried because all these other, they were quite low down, all these other bombers, hundreds of bombers, all coming in at different levels and bombs, they could actually see slim pass, but they went round a third time and he said, after the third time [laughs], he said, they really and they couldn’t do it the third time, still cloud so they came back with the bombs but he said that the crew, he didn’t feel he could ask them to get around a third time, he’s not sure they will [laughs], he would’ve lynched him because it was a very, very frightening experience. But on the way back, it says back over the North Sea, and he said that it was, it was, you know, the most stressful time and going back, coming back and he fell asleep and it’s on autopilot, what they call it, Archie, was it or? Anyway
CB: That’s the Anti-aircraft
PP: No, no, yeah, but there’s
CB: Yeah
PP: Anyway, the nickname
CB: George
PP: George, yes, that’s right, the and they were coming back and he, you know, they were on autopilot, and he woke up suddenly, ok, and so he thought he better just check out with the rest of the crew, you know, pilot to rear gunner, no answer, pilot to radar, no answer, he went round the whole of the crew, the entire crew were asleep, including himself [laughs]. So and he thinks it was probably due to the stress of this because, you know, this flying at night. Now, whether it was that mission or another mission, I’m not quite sure, but they, I think it must have been another mission, that’s right, when they did drop the bombs, they came in and they were coming round in a, on, near the airfield and suddenly there was a [mimics the sound of an explosion], and the whole aircraft shook, what’s that? What was that? And member of the crew looked in the bomb bay and one of the bombs had a hang up and has dropped into and is rolling around in the bomb doors, so they called up and said, we’ve got, it’s not a hang up, you know, we’ve got a bomb in, running around the bomb bay, and he said, where are you? And he said, well, you know, we are on our final approach to board, and he said, and then he said, there’s another call, plane two call, saying, we’ve got two in our bomb bay from another aircraft, where are you? We’re on the perimeter track [laughs]. Anyway they went off and they had to go off to the North Sea to drop the bomb, they just basically go off and open the bomb door so there was a designated area to do this [clears throat] and they went off and but when they got back, said obviously the control tower hadn’t told anybody so they’d assumed because they was hours over, they were lost. So, their names had been scrubbed off, there they, you know, they no longer existed, he think, thought some of the crew had their rooms cleared, you know, they started doing this basically, everybody just assumed they’d gone. One of the things that I asked him about how he felt about, well, people not coming back, you know, and he said, well, I mean, it wasn’t that bad, it was only one or two a mission, who didn’t come back and then I started doing the maths, and I think there’s twenty in a squadron, it’s twenty in a squadron
CB: Twenty to thirty, it depends
PP: Yes, ok.
CB: Yeah
PP: Something like that, so one or two a mission and you have to do thirty missions, and if you’re losing one or two out of twenty, who are not coming back, the statistics of and so he said to me, wasn’t that bad, it’s only one or two who didn’t come back.
CB: So, what were they told to do with the bomb?
PP: What, with the bomb that was rolling
CB: They got the bomb in the
PP: Oh yeah, well, basically, they were told to go off and drop it over the North Sea, over there. That’s what delayed them, you see, so they just, they went off and just opened it and dropped it over the North Sea and that then was why they were delayed and couldn’t come and had been written off effectively by the time they got back. So those
CB: So the first, the normal tour would be thirty operations.
PP: And he got
CB: And he didn’t get that far,
PP: No, he
CB: So, what’s the next bit?
PP: Yes, well, he would, as I said, he was pretty much average [laughs] and pretty much on average if you got half way through, and this was oh, they did three missions on the Doms, Dortmund- Ems Canal which they did that three times and that was quite [unclear], and one of the Lancasters that they flew which I identified, I’m not sure which mission it was, was one of the Lancasters that went on to do over a hundred missions, very few of them identified one of those, was one of the ones that they flew cause they did, the planes seemed, changed from, you know, they went on mostly the same one but often changing, now he said they’d had a virtually brand new plane, D Dog, he told me was actually the first mission but it’s actually the second mission and they were going to Giessen, so uhm, they’re on the, they, on their bomb run in when they were attacked and the rear gunner thought that he’d destroyed, had destroyed the [unclear], I’ve got it, I’ve got it, and then they were also attacked again and then the mid upper also thought, you know, said, you know, I got him, I got him, you know and it’s down a claim here one destroyed and one damaged and, so they were feeling, he said, they were feeling pretty good actually because they got two enemy aircraft and they saw this aircraft ahead of them, they thought and the front gunner said, there’s one ahead of us, shall we go for it? And so they decided to go and attack the fighter which probably wasn’t a terribly sensible thing to do because they had a backward firing gun and actually the fighters apparently did that, they flew beneath so that they could fire up into the Lancaster, so they went down, and backward firing gun went [mimics the sound of a machine gun] and got right well on the bomb bay, now the odd thing was because they’d been attacked on their bomb run in, he’d forgotten to close the bomb bay so it was still open, so they were on fire, they closed the bomb bay doors, they started to evacuate some of them, some of them jumped out but I can’t remember quite which order, I mean, the rear gunner did, the rear gunner actually never opened his, he died, he was killed, he never opened his parachute and my father always thought it was cause it was a different sort of parachute and it was a seat type rather than a clip on one and he thought that he was, always thought that he, and this is a memory he had right the way through to his nineties, he always thought that he was eyes shut reaching for this rip cord because it was completely unopened. Anyway, so some of them bailed out but then the smoke appeared to clear and they thought, maybe we are alright, so the crew’s been a bit depleted and so they then decided oh, they’re ok, we’ll hold off and they kept going. Second mistake of the night, was there was still a lot of smoke around so he decided, well lets clear the smoke by opening the bomb bay doors, just to clear the smoke cause they thought the fire was out at which the fire started up again, now, so, yeah, ok, then the, it was, what was his name, Andre, anyway, one of the crew was Spanish, and he didn’t want to bail out because he’d fought in the Second World War,
CB: That was the bomb aimer.
PP. It was the bomb aimer, yes
CB: Yes
PP: Yes, he’d fought in the Second World War, ah sorry
CB: Spanish civil war
PP: The Spanish civil war and he’d always said he could never bail out because the Germans would, you know, would take, you know, he was different to the RAF because he’d been in the civil war so he was very, very frightened, he didn’t want to, didn’t want to bail out. And the bomb aimer, I don’t know the radio operator, was sitting on the and he heard this later when they, cause they met up at the interrogation centre they and two of them, I think eventually he got pushed out basically, the bomb aimer just got [unclear] somebody pushed him out, right, gotta go, [laughs] and there were two others and they were sitting on the main hatch about to bail out, and beneath them was the German fighter, who was just flying along, he said so close that if they’d jumped out they would hit it and this fighter wasn’t doing anything, he was just flying along beneath alongside them and they’d been going some time and my father always thought that the, he wondered whether he, you know, the fighter had seen they were stricken, they were on fire, you know, they were bailing out and he was just watching them and counting to see whether everybody they got out but he wasn’t, he was just really, really close, so close that he could see the face, he, I mean, my father know this, I mean this was later on he, but anyway they jumped out and he said he was so close they would outright hit him, anyway my dad jumped and he said, basically and I said, how did you fell, and he said well, relieved because it was hot back there and I was jumping out in for cold you know, it’s nice and cool and it’s really pretty, he said, it felt [unclear] whether he could feel it but it was feeling was, you know, far behind so he jumped out headfirst and one, two, three and he was looking down and there seemed to be lakes, these clear patches and woodland and he thought they were lakes and so and he was heading, he was trying to steer and he kept on going right towards these lakes and he didn’t want to end up in the lakes so he’s frantically steered away from these, these pale patches of water towards the dark patches and he ended up landing, slap banging in a pale patch which he thought was a lake and discovered it was a field so was actually very lucky that he didn’t end up in a tree because that was not, I think one of other crew broke an arm or something like that. Anyway, he ended up, he was on a run for about a week, and he hid in a farmhouse, at one point he was in a barn, and a German guard came in and he just had to keep very, very quiet and he made his way, he was trying to make his way to Switzerland I think it was, and it was December, it was very cold, and he said some people were actually seemed quite nice or just sort of ignored him you know, he didn’t, somebody he
CB: Is it German people?
PP: It must have been German, it must have been German but he, I mean, it wasn’t specific, I mean, they didn’t make a fuss, just sort of let him stay or they didn’t make a fuss. This was of course during the Ardennes offensive I think it was because this was December. Right, anyway he got to what was presumably the Rhine and to get across he decided he wasn’t going to swim across in December so he, there was a bridge across and there was [unclear] farm wagons and things going across and so he snug in behind and he had this torch, there’s a battery in the torch and it had a wire across and he walked across and he just tried to hide and he got across and the German guard saw him and saw this wire and was very worried about the wire, anyway so that was it, he was caught. He learned later when he met up in interrogation centre with two rest of the crew that the Martines, that’s the name of the Spanish chap, had been, was executed by the Germans and it became, it was a war crime that was investigated after the war and I’ve discovered quite a lot of information about that, exactly what happened and where he was executed, whether it was actually cause he was Spanish I don’t think because I was very surprised at the number of RAF that were being randomly killed around that time
CB: Just to interrupt [unclear] killing particularly do you think?
PP: The Germans
CB: Yes, [unclear]
PP: Germans, and it wasn’t, it wasn’t like an organised thing if you see, it appeared to be, I’ve done some research into this, and I, I was surprised that it was, I mean, it was the height of the bombing, they would just, sometimes just killing aircrew quite a few of them, I’m really quite surprised at the numbers that, those that happened, my feeling was that actually it wasn’t particularly that he was Spanish but he was always because it was, it wasn’t like it was an organised thing, it was just, he was unlucky. Two other members of the crew however or rather one of the members of the crew had told him how after they’d landed and he was pinched up and was crawling along this hedgerow and he heard something on the other side of the hedgerow and he stopped and the noise stopped on the other side and he crawled along and this noise started and he eventually came to a gap in the hedgerow and he peered through and you can guess what was happening [laughs] and find another member of the crew [laughs] looking at him, which is fairly amazing they’d ended up that close when consider how long this plane must have been flying for after, fairly recent, a couple of years ago, a German chap who was trying to locate where the Lancaster had actually ended up, was asking me because they didn’t, hadn’t found that wreck and it sounds like it was flying for quite some time.
CB: It’s interesting that sometimes the crews bailed out of the aircraft which carried on
PP: Yeah
CB: And landed a long way away
PP: Yes, it’s, well it was, I mean, it was on fire and they decided that this was flying straight and level from what I can go because they spent some time arguing about, you know, how rather try and push Martines out and watching this other fighter that was just flying along beside them you know
CB: Yes
PP: The interesting couple of stories from the interrogation centre. Ok, he’s been interrogated and the technique was that they told you, my father said, the Germans basically knew quite a lot from [unclear] information are you with 277 Squadron? You know how is so and so, you’ve got the new Lancasters, haven’t you? And would tell you all this information with the idea that they know everything to try and get you into this thing, you know, so you give away another morsel of information and so this was happening and, and the German had really very good English, my father’s being interrogated and he said, my father said to him, he said, look, why are you bothering? Said, you’ve lost the war, it’s obvious you’ve lost the war, why are you asking me all this, why are you bothering? The German classically said, I’m asking the questions not you [laughs] and got quite cheerful [unclear]. Later on when they were taken up to, right the way up to Germany because they went up to Stalag Luft I, Barth which is right up cause he went right from the Swiss border, right the way up through and he said he was with two Americans in a train and they had a single elderly guy with them and it was an all passenger train and they had this long, long journey and they decided they were going to try and escape and so they discussed amongst themselves that one was going to overcome they guard who was not, you know, was not first line troops and then what they were going to do and they worked it all out and every time they were just about to do it, it went over a bridge or a viaduct and so they said, oh no, [unclear] and so in the end they didn’t actually do anything and my father said it was probably quite good I did, they didn’t because this was of course, this was getting round just before Christmas I think and fairly six, no, it would’ve been, yeah, it was, it was probably 10th, mid-December anyway. Ok
CB: Ok, we’ll stop there for a mo.
PP: Yeah, ok. So, whilst he landed, he dug a hole for the parachute and he took off his epaulettes and military stuff and they had flying boots which could convert to shoes so they looked like civilian but the other thing they had was their escape maps which were these maps on silk and so he had this torch and so he figured out where he was approximately and there to try and make his way across to Switzerland.
CB: So, the German experience interrogation, what did he say about how that was carried out?
PP: Do you want me to repeat that story?
CB: Just the attitude of the interrogators.
PP: Well, the attitude of the interrogators was always the thing about telling them, we know everything about you, we know everything about your squadron, what you were doing, the names of people, the type of aircraft they’ve got, all this information.
CB: But they, were they passive, aggressive? Did you?
PP: It’s sounds like.
CB: Friendly?
PP: No, I don’t think friendly, I think they were bureaucratic I think from the response when my father said, why bothering [unclear], we ask the questions not you. So I think it was this and this sort of relaxed, sort of well-spoken English, oh, we know what we are doing, you know, we know what you are doing, but giving lots of information or rather the Germans giving information to try and pick up or you might agree that the, my father might agree with something but that would confirm what they thought so
CB: Difficult trap part of the trade
PP: Yes
CB: So, they go by train to Stalag Luft I
PP: Yes
CB: Then what?
PP: And well basically, well I asked him about, you know, when did you try to escape? And he said, well, at this point of the war, December, the allied armies were just about to cross the Rhine I think at this point, I mean, it was very clear the war was coming to an end and so they weren’t doing any escapes at this point because the war was, they were going to be free fairly soon in some circumstances rather. The camps that were very, they were [unclear] jammed in their rooms, they had formed, he seemed to sort of a have a notebook that he had there and he seemed to spend quite a lot of his time, attending lectures, there was all sorts of skilled people there and they gave different lectures on different subjects, I think my father learned German and car maintenance and so there’s lots and lots of people, they formed sort of mini universities because there was a lot of highly educated people there. He shared a, in his hut there was some and I can’t remember the name, there was a chap who after the war I think was quite famous and became a woman, sex change, but anyway they, I said most of this thing was organised their time and his book, his notebook which I have here, which I thought would, from the very faded, round, cause paper was very scarce which I thought would have a wonderful diary is actually mostly [laughs] car maintenance and things, remove the cylinder head and this, that, the, it was very cold, they had, he told about they would saving up for Christmas day and they’d been making this alcohol so they could have it on Christmas day and it was a great big [unclear] of alcohol [unclear] something else like that and when they drank it on Christmas day they discovered at the bottom was a dead rat [laughs], the it was cold, it was depravation it, but basically they were safe at this point, it was a huge camp, there was American side and the British side and the but with the, with the thing of certain you know RAF officers, they, a lot of them would’ve come to public school would have been going to university so they were actually a very intelligent group with a lot of knowledge and then the main thing was that they took their time to be running lectures for each other because at that point there was no point in trying to escape, that would be foolish, the Germans were getting tougher about escape, they had been at Stalag Luft III so this, they had this sort of quite organised
CB: What about food parcels?
PP: Yes, they got a few parcels through and particularly they were saved up particularly for Christmas because he was arriving, he had arrived about two weeks before Christmas, so they were godsend, I think in the postcode I have here he actually talks, he talks about food parcels
CB: Is it a postcard sent to a friend in New York?
PP: Yes, the friend that he, that he had stayed, shall I read this out?
CB: Please do.
PP: Dear Ruth, as you see I really have done a silly thing now, just before Christmas to, this is the eighth of January 1945, I apologise for not writing for so long, but circumstances have prevented it. I forgot whether I wrote to thank you for the razor blades, the cake and the writing pad. The letter was just what I needed and the cake, and the cake just what I wanted, there is still some cake left, and I dream about it so, this cake has obviously back at the [unclear] base and I dream about it now. It was so rich and filling. Then there’s two lines that have been crossed out by the censor, we have enough coal to keep the fire going during the day, at the moment I’m quite enjoying myself as long as it does not go on that long. Love, Jarvis.
CB: [laughs] fascinating. And that was recovered from Ruth, an American
PP: Yes, that’s got through, it may well have arrived after he was liberated so flying officer MG Peel this number Stalag Luft I, via Stalag Luft III, that’s interesting so at that point in the war it still got through from Stalag Luft I to Stalag, via Stalag Luft III and across to Scarsdale, New York, despite the fact we are only three months from the end of the war. Ok, one of the things they did have was they had a sweepstake for when the war was going to end and everybody put in, signed a check I don’t know what it was for, it might have been five pound, no probably it wasn’t that much, maybe it was a pound, I don’t know what it was but everybody signed a check or gave the promissory note and this was quite so that the amount was going to be really quite a large sum amongst the people that were doing this and it was certainly going to be adding up to a year’s wages and, and he was I think only a day out, I know what happened, they were going to end the war officially and then for some reason there was a delay before it was officially ended so and so he, cause otherwise [laughs] whoever won that actually ended up with, would be set for at least a year’s pay if not several years pay. So, shall I talk about when they were liberated?
CB: Yes, yeah.
PP: Ok. Basically they, I know they were quite lucky actually in a way because some of the other camps the Germans court-martialled them away and when the Russians were getting fairly close, the Germans talked to the senior officers cause the both American and British and they had different compounds, they had many thousands, the, and said, right, you’re all going to move, you know, we are going to move you out and they basically said, no, you will [unclear] what you gonna do, there’s thousands of us, there’s only, you know, I don’t know, a hundred of you so the Germans gave up for that point, which and I know some of the other camps that didn’t have a lot of the POWs, you know, that died as a result as they went on this.
CB: This camp was at the bottom of the Danish peninsula
PP: Yeah
CB: While some of these other ones were in the east
PP: Yeah
CB: Germany or Poland
PP: Yes, yeah
CB: So, they were moving them away from
PP: From, yes, yes
CB: The Russian advance
PP: So, anyway so the Germans disappeared and some of this I know about because I have a copy, they of, they produced a newspaper, so the, basically there was this period where the Germans disappeared and so they had to run the camp and so they took over the German printing press and they printed their own paper which was number one, first one, last one, it says on it. I should get you a copy of that. And basically they went out, the, they knew the Russians coming closer basically the Americans I think did most of this cause went out and to try and find the Russians bit, you know, a bit tensions at this point but they eventually met up with the Russians and, and took them back to the camp and so they were liberated. My father recalls the Russian [unclear] the man in charge saying to the British-American commanders, would you like some women? You know, your men must, we can arrange to get some German women and so, you know, you can have sex with them, which the Americans and the British politely declined but that was the, very much the attitude then and my father was horrified when he discovered what the Russians had been doing and he writes about it very poignantly in a letter that I only saw a copy of the first time recently, how he felt that the Russians were far worse than the Germans so I’m trying to remember anything else about
CB: On what basis was that observation?
PP: From what it would have been based on, I would imagine cause he doesn’t say and I, he never told, he did tell me that story about offering the women and he told in the way I just said which was quite humorous but actually it’s not humorous and but he told it in that way and it was very recently, very, very recently that my sister discovered this, in this pile of letters that he sent from Paris in 1947, to his girlfriend who later became his wife and my mother, about how he felt about it and this was a complete revelation to me how he felt about that, is that worth me reading that out?
CB: I suppose
PP: Yeah, cause I mean, in which case we’ll stop there cause I’ll then have to read it from
CB: Yeah. Ok, we’re talking about letters.
PP: No, yes, this was how he felt [unclear] the Russians and how he felt about them and it was very, very recent that my sister discovered in a pile of old letters, a letter that he wrote in June 1947 because after the war and this describes how he felt, after the war he was working in Paris and this letter to my mother, it’s written at four o’clock in the morning, on 16th of June 1947, and I’m just gonna read it out, ok, it’s a little difficult to read, so bear with me, ok, my disillusionment has an entirely different source I think from yours. After being for five months in POW camp and living for the day when we would be released, I was expecting something far removed from reality. What happened was that an army just as if not more brutal and definitely more barbaric than the Germans were, was our saviour. The thought that we were their allies, this is the Russians of course,
CB: Yeah
PP: The thought that we were their allies and therefore should approve of their actions are utterly repellent, was utterly repellent. All my ideals for which I personally was fighting meant less than nothing to them. Another cause was the fact that our own mode of fighting was just as bad and that I had allowed myself to drift into it without making any objection. At the beginning, [unclear] at the beginning of the war, I did not think that and I just have to go through the next page here, bear with me, at the beginning of the war, I did not think that any of the RAF would bomb towns indiscriminately, yet that is just what I myself did. I found I could enjoy dropping bombs without bothering to think of the results, I’m therefore not merely disillusioned by the state of mankind but in myself, all of which is going to take some time to mend. Good night my darling, I must get some sleep. With all my love, Jarvis. Now that’s really, I think and inevitably I think that to me and so that was his views immediately after the war which is interesting because he said his, I must, it will take some time to mend. And I think basically it, you know, it mended but he didn’t talk about it, he put that away
CB: Parked in the subconscious
PP: Yes, I mean, how do you cope with that so my feeling is that he would, he was not terribly emotional, I mean, he was brought up to be unemotional, he was brought up by a nanny basically, I mean, his father was really quite old, so and then very early to prep school so he definitely was somebody that did not believe, you know, in showing emotions but it’s interesting because in that letter he was revealing them, and I think that came from, where would he have got that from, my feeling is that would’ve been from what he gathered from other POWs who, the Americans and you know, from what they discovered cause they, they spent some, there was some time, I don’t know how quickly they repatriated but they would’ve been very aware of what was, how the Russians were treating the locals and I think that would’ve been him being told you know, what was going on and he was horrified at that. I think that’s where he would’ve come from because I don’t think this was public knowledge at that point because the Russians were of course our allies so this would been him hearing from others the stories of, you know, what they’d heard and seen around the camp, I think that’s where it’s come from, and of course his feelings about the bombings were, I asked him about that, how, you know, and he said well, that’s what I trained to do, that’s what I, that’s what we were trained to do, so he did what he had to do, you followed your orders. He was always unhappy about the fact that Bomber Command weren’t thanked after the war, he felt, he never made a great fuss about it cause he, he didn’t [unclear] about anything but I think that that was hurtful.
CB: Was he a member of any of the associations like the RAF association? Royal British Legion?
PP: He, I don’t think so, no, he, I mean, he had his Caterpillar badge, which and he would always go to the remembrance day, right the way through to his very, you know, final year, he would go to remembrance day, in the local village so he always did that but he never joined any of the associations or anything like that.
CB: And when the Bomber Command memorial was unveiled, did he go to that?
PP: No, he didn’t go to any of those things
CB: He wasn’t invited.
PP: No, no, which was a shame actually because he was actually very, very fit right through to the end, I mean he was losing his memory and we did arrange personally to take him over to the Lancaster that can still taxi, and we took him on a taxi run, I managed to sneak his uniform on without him realising but he took it along and I said oh, you are a bit cold, and put his jacket on and he didn’t particularly notice that it was this RAF jacket and then flunked it on his head, oh my new uniform, so and he was very self-deprecating about it and he did when they described at the beginning, you know, they did the audience thing about saying all about how, what the Lancaster, what the bomber crews did and they made it a bit melodramatic, a bit exciting and he sat there apart from falling sleep half way through [laughs] as we walked away, [unclear] load of old rubbish [laughs] cause he, they, he didn’t see it as, you know, that exciting but he, when people came up to him and did say, oh, I want to thank you, you know, shake him by the hand, he did actually quite enjoy that, it’s the last time he ever went out actually really.
CB: Was it? Yeah
PP: Into any sort of [unclear], yeah
CB: But to what extent after the war, are you aware of his keeping in touch with crew members?
PP: Don’t think he did at all. Don’t think he, immediately after the war, he stayed in the RAF and he worked in Paris and then he went to Cairo and he was involved with the setting up of air traffic control that and he did that for some and what he did do, he was in the reserve, auxiliary RAF, that’s right, so he stayed in the RAF for quite a few years and he did, you know, summer
CB: [unclear], did he?
PP: No he didn’t fly, he was in air traffic control
CB: Right, air traffic
PP. Because any flying would be in his notebook and there’s nothing in there, so he used to go on these camps and I remember him going to the camps, but you know, and he would do so this each year, so he stayed in the, associated with the RAF for a long time so I mean, certainly I would say [unclear], maybe early sixties I don’t know.
CB: So he was working for the RAF on air traffic.
PP: Yes, as I say, yes so his fighter, he
CB: Fighter control
PP: Fighter control, so he did, he would go up to the east of Scotland and he would be doing fighter control off the intercepting Russians coming over so uhm and he did that as member of the Auxiliary RAF but I’m not aware, I mean, the only, it wasn’t a crew member that he stayed in touch with but the only RAF person that he stayed in touch with, I think he did have some friends, I think my godfather is possibly an ex-RAF man, was my mother’s, he was friend with his, this chap, Trevor Richard, who said, oh, I’ll, you know, they were meeting up and he said, oh, can I bring my sister? His friend said and his sister was a very glamorous, young woman who then became his wife and became my mom and they met actually in Piccadilly Circus, outside the restaurant there, I don’t know what it was, famous restaurant, anyway, and my father’s usual state [unclear] joking about him being late, he was late the very first time we met, and they went on honeymoon to Normandy which [laughs] was a totally disastrous honeymoon, they went in an old MG which totally broke down and they didn’t get any further than Normandy and of course Normandy had been completely demolished in the war so, and my mom on her, the day that she, they went off on the honeymoon, she was under the car [laughs] trying to hold the exhaust on cause the exhaust fell off but anyway.
CB: It was a memorable event.
PP: Yes, memorable.
CB: So, the war’s over, but he’s in the RAF. How long did he stay in the RAF for?
PP: I think
CB: The late forties.
PP: I’ll tell you what, he stayed for a bit, I think a couple of years, then went to Oxford.
CB: Yeah
PP: He went back to his, he went to Oxford to Worchester College and where his tutor was Asa Briggs who became very renowned
CB: Historian, yeah
PP: Yes, and what was interesting I cause Asa is, I think still alive and I said, well, he said, well your tutors were the same age as you, so they were both the same age, cause everybody had been in the war.
CB: Yeah
PP: And he did that and completed his degree PPE and he came out and he was looking out, oh and I was born whilst he was a student, and he came out and he [unclear] got a job at a few hundred a year as a factory inspector as they were called then and they were very, very poor and they actually sold the car to buy a pram [laughs]. And he, that’s what he did, until he retired early due to stress and then took up sort of farming really, sheep and cows and horses and things like that.
CB: Where did he do that?
PP: Well, we moved into, as a factory inspector he was moved every seven years so my childhood, I was born in Oxford and we moved to Lyndhurst up to Leicester and back to Lyndhurst and then up to Glasgow and then down south and then we moved to near [unclear] farm house which they stayed in then for, I don’t know, forty odd years, a long, long time.
CB: So, you have a younger brother.
PP: Tony, who also went into St Edwards, yes.
CB: And a sister.
PP: My sister, she, yes, who’s, yes, Nicki, Tony, my brother and Nicki.
CB: What did they do?
PP. Nicki is a paramedic, she’s on fast cars, and so she actually is right on the frontline of emergency staff, and funnily enough meets a lot of ex, cause a lot of people who deal with the quite elderly and so she meets actually a lot of people, quite a lot of RAF people and she’s always interested in that and chats about it, and my brother was a teacher and is now retired.
CB: Well, Phillip Peel, thank you very much indeed for a most interesting talk about a most interesting man.
PP: Aren’t you going to ask me which record I like best?
CB: Yes
PP: Which, which [laughs]
CB: What about?
PP: [unclear]
CB: Yes, what about dancing on the ceiling?
PP: [laughs]
Dublin Core
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Interview with Philip Peel
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Chris Brockbank
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IBCC Digital Archive
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2017-08-31
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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.
Type
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Sound
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APeelPAG170831
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Pending review
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01:23:27 audio recording
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eng
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Second generation
Description
An account of the resource
Mike Peel was a Lancaster pilot and served on two squadrons before becoming a prisoner of war late in 1944. He was an active sportsman and played tennis in his eighties but unfortunately is no longer with us. Using his logbook, letters, and recollecting his father’s anecdotes, Mike’s son Phillip gives a detailed account of his RAF career. He describes Mike’s amusement at being awarded a scholarship from the RAF to study navigation, but when he enlisted, he somehow ended up as a pilot. Phillip describes the path taken from gaining his “wings”, to operational training, before finally joining 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron in September 1944, and then onto 227 Squadron. Various operations are described, including one in which his crew was mistakenly declared lost. As they were returning to the station a thump was felt throughout the aircraft, as a bomb had failed to drop and was rolling around the bomb bay. Air Traffic Control instructed them to return to the North Sea to drop the bomb, however, no one told the squadron, and upon landing they discovered they had been removed from the squadron boards. Eventually, Mike’s aircraft was shot down. He evaded capture for several days and headed for Switzerland. Unable to swim across the Rhine river because of the cold temperature, he was captured when he tried to cross via a bridge. Interrogation was followed by transportation to Stalag Luft 1, where he remained until the arrival of the Russian army. Letters describe first hand the brutal and barbaric behaviour of the Russians, which was far worse than anything the Germans had undertaken.
Contributor
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Peter Schulze
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Canada
Germany
Great Britain
Poland
Atlantic Ocean--North Sea
England--Nottinghamshire
England--Lincolnshire
Germany--Barth
Germany--Bremerhaven
Germany--Dortmund-Ems Canal
Poland--Żagań
Prince Edward Island
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
1944-11-14
1945
44 Squadron
aircrew
bombing
evading
Heavy Conversion Unit
Lancaster
Lancaster Finishing School
navigator
Operational Training Unit
pilot
prisoner of war
RAF Spilsby
RAF Syerston
RAF Winthorpe
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 3
Stirling
Tiger Moth
training
Wellington
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/937/11294/ALyonJK180202.1.mp3
741ac5d555a5640deb1186b8e219f3a1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lyon, Jack Kenneth
J K Lyon
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Pilot Officer Jack Lyon (1917 - 2019. 903044, 62667 Royal Air Force). He flew three operations with 58 Squadron before being shot down and becoming a prisoner of war.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2018-02-02
Rights
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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.
Identifier
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Lyon, JK
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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CB; My name is Chris Brockbank and today is the 2nd of February 2018, and I am here in Bexhill with Jack Lyon, to talk about his life and times, now he’s aged a hundred. So Jack what is your, what were your first recollections of life?
JB: Well I think a baby in a pram, and I remember going past a hoarding in Sydenham and I must have dropped something, yeah that’s my first, I was only about five years old I suppose then, apart from that I-
CB: What did your parents do?
JL: Sorry?
CB: What did your parents do?
JL: My father worked in the Smithfield Market, connected with the wholesale bacon trade, that sort of thing. He was a clerk in, George Bowles Nichols was the name of the firm. It had a, you know, a stake in Smithfield Market but they didn’t deal much in meat, mainly in products like ham and that sort of thing. George Bowles Nichols it was, he was a clerk in there. And he was a, oh right from a young child he had a, he was, had a bad health, in fact he had three brothers and they all did except one: they had a hereditary disease which gave them this hump back sort of thing. He nevertheless managed to work, to travel up to London every day, until in 1932 he had a, well he had a, and he died in 1932, anyway, of this, it was while we were on holiday my memory, in this town of Cleve. He didn’t die there, but he was in a very bad way and we only got home, a few days later he died. Well that was, what did I do then.
CB: And you lived in Sydenham then.
JB: I, we was living in Sydenham, and I attended Brockley County School. I’d passed what was the equivalent of the eleven plus from a, I began my school at five years old, in a, they call a church school I think it cost me, cost my mother about a shilling a week to get to, for this, a good education though, very good. I was going to say I passed this, the equivalent of the 11-plus and I went to this Brockley County until, well, I left school at sixteen and I went to work with a London gas company, the South Suburban Gas Company, which had an area extending from Lewisham right down to Tonbridge. I worked in their admin department. At the same time I was studying night school and, let me see that takes us up to, oh yes the, I left, I passed that what’s called the 11-plus and I was at the school and then the South Suburban Gas Company, I joined that in February 1934, and at the same time I tell you I was night school at a place in Knights Hill and I remember on the 30th, sorry on the 30th November 1936, somebody rushed in and said the Crystal Palace is on fire and of course that was the end: we watched that happen. Great pity because it, well it had, anyway I continued to work. In 1939 when I was still working for the South Suburban, I was studying night school as well - accountancy and that sort of thing - I passed stage one of the Royal Society of Arts bookkeeping, and the tutor was, worked for Shell and he poached me. He said, ‘you’re, you have quite good knowledge of accountancy and that sort of thing, would you be interested in transferring from the gas, from the gas company to Shell?’ Well I thought about it, and financially it didn’t, in fact it was slightly worse off I had to pay my train fare to London, but I thought well, it’s a good thing to be a small fish in a very large puddle and you couldn’t get much larger than Shell, could you? It was world wide then, Royal Dutch Shell, and I agreed. In fact I joined Shall about the 1st August 1939. I remember Shell opened an account for me with Lloyds Bank, 39 Threadneedle Street, where they banked themselves; they opened this account for me. But as I say, at that time we were working in St Helen’s Court and there was another famous RAF person also working there, Douglas Bader. He, when he lost his legs in a flying accident, he was invalided out of the service and he joined Shell as a management trainee, I remember that. Well, as I say on the 1st of September, Shell began, operated their wartime programme and that involved closing the London office. So they said well Mr Lyon we shan’t require your services during this present emergency, but in the meantime we will bring your salary up to parity with, what until it’s parity with what you’re earning now, and [emphasis] at the end of the emergency you will be free to rejoin the company if you so desire. Well that’s what, on 5th, war was declared on the 3rd of September, wasn’t it?
CB: Yes.
JL: That was a Sunday, wasn’t it.
CB: It was.
JL: On the 4th of September, I and a friend of mine, we made an effort to join the army because we had a connection with the Royal West Kents. They used to invite us to their annual, the Aldershot Tattoo, and we used to be entertained in their sergeants mess so we decided to join the army, but when we got to Parish Lane, Penge where their office had been, it was closed! [laugh] I suppose part of the war, we said well that’s a funny way to run a war but still, that’s it, there’s nothing we could do about that. And the next day, the 5th of September, somebody said oh they’re opening an RAF recruiting office at, in the Yorkshire Grey pub so we took a 75 bus from Sydenham High Street to there. We were examined and my friend was rejected because he had flat feet. I said he would have been more apt if he’d been joining the army, but still, that’s the way they work. I was accepted and I was told to go home, get overnight things and come back and I would be taken to RAF Uxbridge. I did that and, as I say, I was examined and accepted for, in the air force. They asked me then what trade I would like to be in and I said well what can you offer me and they said well cook and butcher well that didn’t ring any bells with me so I said hmm what else, and they said you could join the secretarial branch. Well I’d been pushing a pen for the last five years and in those days I think I want a change. They said well what about aircrew? I said well what about it? They said well if you complete your training satisfactorily you’ll be automatically promoted to the rank of sergeant, receive twelve and sixpence a day I think it was, plus so much flying pay, so there was really no contest was there. And that’s how, I passed the medical for flying and I was given a uniform which I must, was told to wear at all times because I was still actually in the air force. I was given two books to study. One was called mathematics for engineers and the other one was practical mechanics. Neither of them had much bearing on flying training, but there it was. Now this was the phoney war. I went back to my house, we were living in, oh, we had a little flat, my mother and I had a little flat in, just near the Sydenham Road, well as I say the phoney war dragged on until the 30th of December 1939. I had a telegram, “proceed to number one initial training wing, Downing College, Cambridge,” and that is where I went. Now the course was supposed to last for six weeks. In fact it dragged on to nearly four months. The reason was there were still no training facilities available. It had its up side. We were billeted in the, well what used to be the students home in, when they were there because when they were students there in Downing College, some of the colleges did have students as well, but we didn’t have that, we were permitted to use the clubs, that the College’s silver, yes, and we took turns at serving and washing up. So as I say, that relieved the monotony a bit. But this dragged on until as it were, what they say the nemesis, on the 10th of June, 10th of May 1940 the Germans invaded the Low Countries, Holland and Belgium, yes. I was, I was on fire picquet that night and the admin had been headed by a, well I must go back a bit. Before the second world war, Brigadier Critchley, his name was, was chairman of the Greyhound Racing Commission. Now when the war started he was given the rank of Air Commodore and he recruited quite of his old associates for various posts. Our adjutant was a name of Shaffey and I believe in peacetime was a tennis coach, he came and he was in a terrible state, he said LAC – we’d been promoted to LAC by the way after a number of weeks, which meant our pay was a bit better, Leading Aircraftman - what do I do with this LAC Lyon? I said well you must call, as soon as it’s light you must have a general, a roll call of all the students, all the would-be airmen, check for deficiencies in kit and that sort of thing, and the instructions were: ten recruits and each, name, not by name but by number, to various RAF stations, not necessarily air training stations and I and nine others were posted to RAF Kinloss which was not, at that time it was called 45 MU I believe, there was no flying directly from there, because as I say it was mainly material. Well we made the journey up, I had to stay, we stayed overnight I remember in the YMCA in Edinburgh, we managed to get a billet there. We travelled on the next day and we arrived at RAF Kinloss to be viewed with a certain suspicion because at that time it was stories of nuns in parachutes, coming down by parachute and all the rest of it, we were not exactly given a heroes welcome. However, they found us a billet where we could lie our heads for the night and after a day or so they received some sort of confirmation of our status and we were trained in air station defence. I think we, they, the weapon we had was interesting: it was a 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannon which had to be what they called “cocked” before it could be fired, the great thing is not so much the strength, dexterity because the story was if you lingered a bit you could lose a few fingertips, however we were trained in the use of it. And we were going to have a read out, two read outs, five of us in each, in each one, but the cannon was, overnight was requisitioned for service in the south of England where it was thought would be far more useful in the event of an invasion. It was replaced with a, I recall it was a 1912 Lewis, Lewis gun with a pan for ammunition.
CB: A drum.
JL: And even then it was a bit of a situation. We were told we must not open fire under any circumstances without consulting the Station Defence Officer. Well first of all we didn’t know who the Station Defence Officer was and even if we did we had no means of contacting him. So therefore, as I say it was perhaps a good thing that our skills were not called into account. This went on for a few weeks and the only outstanding thing I can remember is that one night, or one morning, we woke up to find on a stretch of uncultivated area in the camp were prone figures. They were guarded by normally armoured personnel and we were instructed not to attempt to approach these people in any [emphasis] circumstances. Well, they were in fact refugees from the evacuation of Dunkirk: they were up there because they were spread all around the country, they didn’t want too many in the same place, bad for morale. They stayed there, one night they disappeared and that was that. Not long after this, I was, we, yes, I and one or two others were posted to RAF Elementary Flying Training School at a place just outside, where the beer, Burton. Burton, that’s right, you know, there’s a sign he’s gone for a Burton, well that’s there. Burton on Trent. I was trained as a, in those days all aircrew were first of all trained to be pilots. I failed the pilot’s course – so the failure rate was quite high, something like thirty per cent - and then I was asked what I wanted to do, they said well the only question is becoming a navigator bomb aimer. The senior, the officer in charge of training there, tested my knowledge of mathematics, it was not a big test, it was comparatively simple, just sort of fourth fifth form geometry and that sort of thing. I satisfied him I was intellectually capable of becoming a useful navigator and bomb aimer and then I was then posted to RAF Manby, Number 1 Air Armament School, at a place near Louth in Lincolnshire, where we went through, wait a minute, no, no, one of them, sorry I’m jumping the gun, I was posted to RAF Prestwick, in Scotland for a navigation course. That went on until, that’s right, we completed the course in I think it was September 1940, and I was then posted to, wait a minute, that’s right, I was posted from Prestwick to this one, this Number 1 Air Armament School in Louth in Lincolnshire, that’s right. I satisfactorily completed that course and I was called to the Station Commander, or Training Commander in charge of aircrew training. He said, ‘LAC Lyon, in view of your passing out at the top of the class and your past service record you have been awarded a commission,’ pending what they used to call well, you know, gazetting, whichever, whatever the wartime equivalent of that was, where I would be promoted to sergeant, and I was posted then to, oddly enough, RAF Kinloss! But by that time it had become Number 19 Operational Training Unit, well, it gives you, it tells you, the name tells you what it did. That’s right, this, this was in, this would be about November 1940. I completed the course in early January and let’s see, I went to, oh yes, that’s right. Nothing particularly, well, you cut all the bits and pieces short. The course was completed in, oh yes, in about, I think it was, March of 1941 I was called to the admin office in Kinloss and said that your commission has been confirmed. I was given a week’s leave to get myself a uniform and that sort of thing and then I would return for operational training. I bought my uniform, I managed to stay with a family I knew, their name was Truss, I think it was, and he was an engineer and he was working actually I didn’t know turned out it was the largest, there was an article about it the BBC Channel 4 some time, it was the largest armaments factory in the whole of the country. I didn’t know the extent of it then, but he was employed there. I got my uniform and whatnot and returned to RAF Kinloss and after, in a few days, I was posted to RAF Linton on Ouse which at that time was, it had, it was unusual, a brick building very good accommodation. It was built in the intermediate war years. It also had the other squadron was, they had Halifax, they were being converted to Halifaxes but they were not operational. So that’s right, I stayed with them and returned. Right, well I completed at RAF, at RAF Linton on Ouse I remember I was taken a very bad cough and cold and I remember the medical officer said, ‘Oh, Pilot Officer you have a nasty sounding bit of congestion there.’ And within half an hour or so I was ensconced in this local nursing home to be treated for this congestion. After about ten days there I think, I was released and my training continued. Right. Now, here we come to our, first of all I was to join with a man named, was it Flight Lieutenant Walker, who I think he had the nickname Johnnie, well he would wouldn’t they, that name, but then that order was countermanded for some reason unknown to me, the rumour had it that he was getting a little too fond of his namesake, sort of rumours that are rife in war time. I was then teamed up with a crew the first pilot was Sergeant Roberts. I was the only commissioned member of a crew. Now I don’t know what you know about, can you see any particular reason that that would cause difficulty, you probably don’t now, but it did then. As I was commissioned and they were not I could only converse with them socially or otherwise, in two places: either in a crew room or of course in the aircraft itself, otherwise it was actually forbidden to associate with me as commissioned officer to associate with non-commissioned personnel on the camp area, so it did make things a little awkward, didn’t it. Very unusual situation, that. Anyway, on the, was it on the let me see there, the 1st, of, was that, would be May 1941 we were allocated a new aircraft and told that the, in the crew room, we were told that the target was marshalling yards and adjoining railway station in Dusseldorf, Germany. Right, and we were going to do a pre-flight air test, as you were operations rules insisted. We were in the aircraft waiting to start and well, Roberts, the captain, started the engines but calamity intervened: there were no chocks in the wheels, under the wheels and the aircraft rolled forward and collided with what I think was called a Huck starter.
CB: Oh dear.
JL: No one weas injured but the propeller blades of one engine the Whitley, they were, it was a Whitley 5 was the actual classification of the aeroplane. Well, there is, chaos reigned and it just about did because, I didn’t mention, but shortly after my arrival early at RAF Linton on Ouse, one night there was an air raid. Now I looked around and there were no instructions of what to do in the event of an air raid, I thought well, what do I do? I thought it was a question of Jack you’ll have to play it by ear and wait and see what happens. Suddenly there was an almighty bang! My bed lifted off its, it seemed about lifted about a foot in the air and came down well what do I do? If I rush out to find a shelter I may be going the wrong way. I thought no, I’d better stay put, so I did. The next morning I got up and I went into the Officers Mess and there was no hot water, well that was not unusual, what I didn’t know, overnight a shelter had received a direct hit and quite a large, I think about twenty airmen were killed, including the Station Commander, so that was not a very auspicious beginning to my stay at Linton, was it? Anyway, I did, I, well nothing I could do there then, just hold on. We, I, the station was in a really, a terrible, the pilot was confined to quarters, told he would face a charge of gross negligence and we were told that we would not be flying that night, so we returned to, the rest of the crew, returned to our quarters. Not two hours later there was a change once more. Group, you see it was Headquarters at 4 Group, Group wanted a full number of aircraft involved, no exceptions. They said you, we have allocated you another aeroplane. You must be ready within two hours for take off and your pilot will be Sergeant Roberts. Now there’s a volte face isn’t it, one day he’s considered not fit to fly and next moment it’s all over and he’s fully qualified to fly as captain again. Well, that aeroplane that they gave us should never, in my opinion, should never have been used. We’d only, we took off with the rest of the squadron, but after about only an hour and a half flying, the port engine began to overheat and the, Roberts could do nothing about that, we had to reduce speed, it meant we cut our speed by about ten knots. That in itself was not particularly of great concern, but what was far more important was that we couldn’t get above ten thousand feet. Now the previous briefing the recommended height had been fourteen thousand so theoretically we could have been knocked out with one of our own bombs, but I don’t think that that’s very likely. There was no, well there wouldn’t be any fighter aircraft, they were also using anti aircraft fire, in any case, I think all the fighter squadrons in that part of Germany had been withdrawn and were sent to the, what would be the east front in Poland and regroup and practice for the, what the plan, what was it called - Operation Barbarossa – which was due to and took place on the 21st of June, yes 21st of June 1941 so there were no. Well we, I, we flew on this and almost immediately [emphasis] we were caught in that blue light which locks on to you and it is so dazzling you cannot see your own instruments, it’s so, it’s, you’re virtually as good as blind. We, I released the bombs at what I considered, though I had no idea really where it was, but I knew we’d got to get rid of them, they went down, and we immediately turned and I gave, I gave Roberts a course for home, although we never had any time to check the variation from magnetic to compass course, but let’s hope it was alright. But not long after we turned on for home, the port engine caught fire! The extinguisher didn’t work so therefore we flew on. Now, then the pilot said to me, ‘look Jack I can’t contact the rear gunner. Do you think you could crawl along the fuselage and see whether he’s all right?’ I said, ‘yes I’ll try.’ I opened the door behind the wireless operator and I was immediately assailed by a cloud of fume and flame. I really thought my, my time was up. I didn’t feel particularly frightened, I don’t know why, but then of course the adrenalin snaps in, doesn’t it. I seized an oxygen mask, took a few gulps of it, and Rob looked around, and he said, ‘oh my gawd, abandon aircraft.’ Now, it so happens that the exit is, in that particular aeroplane, was right beneath where I was sitting, so I had to be the first one out otherwise I’d block the exit for the remainder of the crew. I opened the hatch, I jumped, I don’t actually remember pulling the cord, the release, parachute release cord, I obviously did otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here, would I? I came to and I could see by that time the aeroplane below me and it was like an enormous [emphasis] torch in the sky, the entire plane was burning. Now how this happened, I don’t really know, but that was a fact. I saw it hit the ground with one tremendous kind of smoke and flame. I landed, and it was a windless night, so much so that the canopy covered me. I looked, I got it off and I looked around. Now I’d either landed in what was a probably a recreation ground, or what might have been a sports field, but I think it was a recreation ground. I know in the escape books they scurry around and bury their, bury their parachute. Well, you needed a power, power digger to make any impression on that soil: it was hard as a rock! But within less than a minute a German soldier turned up and well he didn’t, although he didn’t say it, had he done so I’d have been inclined to agree with him. “For you the war is over.” Well I wouldn’t have got far in the old fashioned fleece lined flying boot with no proper heel to it and in British battle dress, so there was little I could do but accept it. Now, this one, I could have walked in front of him and he could have walked holding on one hand on his rifle and the other hand his bicycle, so we accepted that the only other alternative: I sat on the cross bar and he did, we proceeded on a bicycle. Now either way, he stopped. Now it was, I wasn’t quite sure at the time, but depending on whether Germany had double summer British, double summer time, but it was well past midnight, he knocked on the door of this house, at that time I could understand a fair amount of German because I’d been studying German at night school, but that’s another, that’s another. He said I have a wounded British officer here, I’d like you to give him a little help. The lady produced some warm water. Head wounds always bleed a lot although they’re really only superficial and this was only a superficial cut, she bathed all the dried blood away, and believe it or not, she also made a cup of tea. Tea not coffee. I thought that was very impressive and I knew enough German to say vielen danke, kneidiger frau: thank you dear lady for your kindness. We then proceeded on for the rest of the journey to a town called Goch, G-o-c- h, not far from the Dutch border. Now for some reason that I never discovered, I did not end up, oh, first of all the policeman, he said give me your pistol, I said ich habe keine pistol, I have no pistol, which I didn’t, the sort of thing I didn’t want to be lumbered with that. He thought maybe a bit odd but he accepted it and that was it. I didn’t spend that night in the cells, he put me in the telephone exchange of all places. And all night, it was a manual exchange in those days, you hear the thing going up and down to finding its correct slot to go in to, anyway I can’t say I slept much but still, that was, I was dry and I’d saved my life so I couldn’t really grumble. The next day the, a Luftwaffe officer turned up and he said would you please come with me, and together with, at some stage or other, we picked up the rest of the crew so I must have had, I think, a slight case of concussion, but anyway, we ended up, he took us to the Luftwaffe base at Duisburg, and he said, ‘oh by the way, your comrade, the rear gunner is quite safe, but when he landed he broke his ankle and he is receiving treatment in a clinic near here, but he is otherwise he’s safe and well.’ And now believe it or not, these, they were extremely polite these Luftwaffe officers, very high standard of education I’d say, in fact some of them could speak English; some of them had spent time in England. We were entertained in the officers mess. There was no attempt made to extract information from us. We talked about cricket or the weather or something like that, and then they said, well we now have to hand you over to a representative of the German Air Force POW body and we went, we, they duly took us in hand and we went by I think it must have been a sort of a mini bus I think, yes it must have been. It wasn’t a, wasn’t a truck, it had seats in it, I know. Well, where do you think they took us? Believe it or not they took us to Dusseldorf and we got out of the thing there, and we stood on the platform. There was absolutely no sign of any damage whatsoever. [Emphasis] We were not the object of any kind of well, abusive attention from the Germans. They looked us up and down and took no, virtually no notice, in fact we had, it was a corporal with us, and he came back with some sticky buns for us. Well, so that was the, from we entrained at Dusseldorf and we travelled to Frankfurt, that is Frankfurt on the Main, the river Main, which at that time was the prison, the Luftwaffe prisoner of war body as what they called the Dulag dursrstadtlager’s transit camp. Now we, when we reached this transit camp, this is where we, they put me in the, I suppose they did with the other, rest of the crew as well, in the interrogation cell, which was really not much different from a second or third rate boarding house the only thing is there were bars over the window. Now before we’d had no instructions to what to do in event of being taken prisoner, of course they do it now, but they didn’t in those days, in 1941. But anyway, a Luftwaffe major came in and he gave me a form to sign and he said if you complete this, your details will be sent immediately to the Red Cross in Geneva and your relatives or whoever you’ve asked to be notified, will know within forty eight hours that you are safe and well. Now, we had [emphasis] oddly enough, been briefed about this. It wasn’t anything to do with the Red Cross in Geneva, it was actually prepared by the German Intelligence Service. I read it and I said, ‘I regret, Herr Major, I am not allowed to divulge some of the information that you require.’ And he accepted this without argument: that was that. And the next day I was released into the compound there. Well of course they had got far more on their hands to worry about than a rather insignificant crew. The last Sunday I think it was, in May, which used to be called Whit Sunday, there was a break out, there was a tunnel, the permanent staff at the gulag had been building this tunnel which they broke on I say, on the Whit Sunday. All were subsequently recaptured except for Roger Bushell, and that’s another story. So you might well say that I wasn’t the only failed bomb aimer, was I? We know that now. Anyway we travelled by normal train from Frankfurt, after Frankfurt. There were some guards there, but they were, they didn’t make themselves too obtrusive. We arrived at a place called Barth, which was the site of Stalag Luft I. Stanlager all that means is it’s a permanent camp, Stan means permanent, as opposed to Durst means transit. So that’s all. That was Stalag Luft I we found ourselves in. Now at the entrance to that I went one way because I was a commissioned officer and the rest of the crew went the other because they were not, because at Stalag Luft I there was an NCOs compound as well as an officers compound and that was in fact the last I ever saw of any of them. Any of them. Peculiar isn’t it, never mind. We were only there, well I stayed there until about April of 1942 and that was when Stalag Luft III was opened. The journey there was uneventful. We got to Stalag Luft III and I was allotted a, well a billet obviously, a room, [sigh] how much more of this do you want from me?
CB: Just keep going. We’ll stop for a break. I think you deserve it. So, you said you were shot down on the 3rd of June 1941.
JL: Correct. Yes.
CB: You had been in the squadron since, for a couple of months, by then.
JL: Oh, no.
CB: Three months was it?
JL: I think it was.
CB: April.
JL: So much happened, air raid and whatnot. I think it was about the mid April when I got to Linton on Ouse, yes.
CB: And you talked about the crew, but in the air, what was the cohesion like?
JL: Well, we could fraternise.
CB: Were you all on christian name terms in the aircraft on operations? When you were flying?
JL: Well, the only one I knew quite well was Robbie, that’s all, the pilot. I don’t remember. If they told me I, it didn’t sink in.
CB: No. Then you already mentioned, that in, outside the flying period, if you were, time, if you were going out and socialising, that was different.
JL: Some of the better class, you know the real, the nice hotels in Linton on Ouse, didn’t like too many non-commissioned ranks in there, they were fussy.
CB: They only wanted the officers in.
JL: They only wanted officers, yes.
CB: Yes. I suspect times changed quite radically later.
JL: Oh, they must have done.
CB: When the heavies came. Yes.
J: They must. But in the early days it was a, it was strict, I was given, no doubt about, I was given strict instructions I was not to fraternise.
CB: Yeah, that was the early part of the war.
JL: They were very particular about it in those days, the air force.
CB: Right. And because you were shot down so soon into your tour, you didn’t have a lot of time to get to know your crew well, did you.
JL: I had very little time, Robbie was about the only one I knew.
CB: Yeah. Fast forward again into Sagan, Stalag Luft III. How was that organised? You had the officers and NCOs. But in the officers’ side.
JL: There was an officers’ compound, and an NCOs compound.
CB: And in the officers compound, how did that work?
JL: Actually I went in to a the, they were quite small huts, and there were only two more in the room that I was in. I was billeted with a man with, a chap named Jules Silverstone, who was in fact Jewish and also this chap Pop Green, who in fact had served in the first world war. He was a, interesting history, at the beginning of the first world war he held a commission in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry.
CB: Right. We were in that. We were in that.
JL: Really. Yes well, he had a commission in that but he later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps because the Germans hopelessly outclassed us in that, in those, in weaponry. He survived the war, but he was told that he was only allowed to fly on training missions, but being that sort of man he probably got himself on an operation and he was flying in a Hampden and they were shot down, and he survived, without, he wasn’t injured, and as I say I was billeted with him. He said that Passchendaele was the worst he had ever [emphasis] encountered. People died there not in action, but in a mass of filth and slime. He said it was, it was appalling. What happened was, he said the Germans withdrew to higher ground and left us in these swamped trenches. He said, as I say, he hated it. And of course, well he, [laugh] he was the only man who was rather sorry when the war ended. The reason was he’d have to go home and rejoin his wife whom he hated the sight of, [laughter] and last I heard of him he was running a taxi service in Bray.
CB: Any reason why he hated his wife?
JL: I don’t know, but he did. He didn’t go into that. [Chuckling]
CB: Yes. What, you said there were three others. So you had Jules Silverstone, Pop Green, who was the other?
JL: Jules Silverstone. His father was a solicitor in Birmingham, but he didn’t follow in this father’s footsteps, he moved heaven and earth to join the RAF. Now I think he was, at age, I think he was thirty four. He was too old to join as pilot or navigator, he had to be classed as a gunner. So, that was it, he was a -
CB: Was an air gunner.
JL: Pilot Officer Silverstone, gunner. Interesting him, because he knew all about this stuff they used to call window, the one that, when they released it, it had black, black on one side and a sort of reflective surface on the other. It played hell with the tech -
CB: With the radar.
JL: With the radar, yeah. And it wasn’t, he said they won’t use it, he knew this, he said but they won’t use it till they’ve found a reason to overcome it. And it was in fact, it wasn’t used until that raid on Hamburg, that firestorm they created.
CB: On Hamburg.
JL: Hamburg. In 1943. Yeah.
CB: Who was the third person with you?
JL: Sorry?
CB: Who, you mentioned two people, who’s the third one?
JL: There was only Pop Green and Silverstone. Three in the room.
CB: And you. Oh, just three in the room, sorry. Yeah, okay.
JL: They were quite small huts. There were only, I think there were only four, only four huts in the officer’s compound, certainly not many. I tell you what we, did happen one day, do you remember that story of the one who got away?
CB: The German.
JL: The German, yeah. Well he turned up, he was in, dressed in ordinary German uniform, he was a major, major, and I remember seeing he was on the doorstep to one of the huts chatting to a man named talking to Squadron Leader Mac Dunnell [?]. Of course he was, actually, the German, he was shot down during the Battle of Britain wasn’t he.
CB: Yes. Yes.
JL: That’s right. And of course Mac Donald [?] was part, flew a Spitfire I think. They were chatting quite friendly, and he was not accompanied by any other German personnel. he just wandered around chatting to people.
CB: Amazing.
JL: He had a sad ending, he was killed in a flying accident. He was testing new fighter apparatus I think, but he had engine trouble or something, he was lost at sea, never found, they never recovered his body, in November 19, oh, 1940 41. That was the one that got away.
CB: Off the Dutch coast.
JL: Yeah. He was there.
CB: Well. he escaped in Canada.
JL: There was obviously, you know, a bond in the, between the two air forces at that time, later on they didn’t, but there was in the early days.
CB: A Chivalry.
JL: Yeah. Chivalry. That’s it, chivalry of the air.
CB: Extraordinary really.
JL: So well that’s my story. Long before, Douglas Bader, who was, he was taken prisoner wasn’t he.
CB: Yes.
JL: When, something, either his plane collided with another one, anyway but he was taken prisoner.
CB: He was shot down.
JL: Whether he was shot down or not.
CB: By one of his own people, he was shot down by one of his own people it turned out.
JL: Ah well that’s. By one of his own people?
CB: Yeah. They met in prison and the chap had to own up.
JL: Oh, I met him personally.
CB: But he didn’t admit.
JL: Because he was also Shell.
CB: Yes, he was.
JL: Well anyway, That was a. When he was in the camp he used to play golf, he would try to. And because of his, he lost his legs you see, I mean his prosthetic legs,
CB: Yes.
JL: I think they replaced them, they threw them out or something like that. He would sometimes fall over but god help you if you went to assist him, you know he would swear at you, he was determined to get on his feet unaided. Anyway, he had a bit of a falling out with the powers that be there. Because he didn’t like the way they were treating the guards and whatnot as if they were friends not enemies. it was decided he would be better off in another camp and the last I saw of him, well not the last, the last in the prisoner of war camp I saw him, he was being escorted out, he turned it into his own advantage inspecting as if these as a company.
CB: Oh you saw hm doing the inspection did you? Of the guard.
JL: He was inspecting the, yeah. That’s typical Bader, isn’t it. Now! I retired, I left the air force in something like well, October 1945 but I remained on as a, I was paid by the air force till I think it was January ’46 and very soon after going to, where did we work to? Very shortly we, I was asked if I wanted to go to Venezuela because Venezuela still had most of its wells, oil wells and I agreed, and I was, I went out to, we didn’t go out on a ship I went out on a tanker SS Luscia, Luscia I think she was. She was imbalast so she rocked about a bit I’ve never been seasick or any other sick in an aeroplane. We finally docked at Aruba, in, which belonged to, was a Dutch possession then, Aruba, in the West Indies and I was only there for a night and then we got a, I was flown to Maiquetia, which was the airport for Caracas. Caracas itself is about five hundred feet above sea level, the capital of Venezuela. I was, from Maiquetia I travelled by a bus on a road which they say was built by convicts in the Gomez, when Gomez was a dictator of Venezuela, you could sometimes look down and see where you’d been ten fifteen minutes before. I reached Caracas, or I might say that they charged me, I had to have what was called a certificate of identity, and I had to pay for it in the local currency. They took a, all I had, was a, I had an English, I had a five pound note I think, they gave a stamp and it was probably worth about one tenth of that in the local currency, the so-and-sos. That’s how it happened. When I got to Caracas, I found a billet in the Hotel Majestic and I knew enough Spanish, I’d, interesting while I was in the prisoner of war camp I had lessons from of all people Tom Kirby Green, why he should be a good Spanish speaker, mind he served with the Republicans, didn’t he, in the war in Spain.
CB: In the Spanish Civil War.
JL: Lord Haw Haw announced it, didn’t he, yeah. So that was that, yes. I had enough Spanish to say I’m in the employ of Shell, they were called the Caribbean Petroleum Company then, they didn’t, Shell, enter into the name although they used the, what it is, the, oh it’s a scallop isn’t it, that’s the Shell sign isn’t it, the scallop, and oh I think it was the afternoon of Christmas Day, a chap named Swinson turned up, he said, ‘Oh Lyon, I’m glad to find you,’ he said, ‘I know you, we were advised you were on your way but then we sort of lost track of you.’ But then of course I served in the, on what they called internal audit, that is not, not, as opposed to the exterior audit, was actually Price Waterhouse in those days. They did the proper auditing of Shell’s possessions there, I went round to these depots making sure their equipment and whatnot was properly registered and that sort of thing. It was quite interesting work. Well, while I was there, who should, that was having travelled down to the fields the main producer in the Maracaibo, while I was there on this what they call internal audit, who should turn up but Douglas Bader. Now he was on a, well they say he was just, reviewing his position, he was visiting, but what he was really was doing he was trying to push the company to try to use British aero, aircraft rather than all American, and I was introduced to him as: ‘oh this is Mr Lyon from our head office in Caracas.’ And he said, ‘oh, hello there.’ I said, ‘but sir, we’ve met before haven’t we. He looked, I said, ‘last time I saw you, you were acting as a kind of inspector of a -.’ ‘Oh my gawd yes!’ And we kept in touch quite a lot afterwards, I’ve known him for quite.
CB: Did you?
JL: Yes. Bader, so.
CB: How did you find him, outside Stalag Luft III?
JL: I got on with him very well. He certainly wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but he had a, he was shrewd. One of the airfields in the concession area, was at a place called Mushi de Suleman [?]. It’s at five thousand feet and in the hot season the pilots were having great difficulty in taking off because of the rarefied air. Now in those, this was the days before computers, I didn’t get a, I got a file across my desk one day, and this was, Bader had seen this problem that they had and he had written in the margin, “let them take off with half tanks”, and he knew that in emergency they would still have enough to reach wherever necessary to safety and yet still travel with only half a tank. He did very well as a, in Shell. He finished as the President of Shell Aviation with a private jet to fly. So he did very well there. But he certainly, he had this, being able to see the, you know little bit further through a brick wall than most people. I had great admiration for him. But I agree he wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I always got on with him quite well. Yeah.
CB: Where did you go from there?
JL: Sorry?
CB: Where did you go from there?
JL: After I returned home by 1950, April 19. By the way, I flew the Atlantic in, at a time when there weren’t many transatlantic flights. I was staying in Montreal at the time, I had some relatives there and I was booked on this, it was little more than a souped up DC4, the aircraft we flew in. We were due to call only at one place: Halifax, but I remember the pilot made a special landing somewhere, he wanted to pick up, I think they were Catholic priests I believe, the look of ‘em, there was snow on the ground, I think we were lucky to take off again, but anyway we did. But flying at that, of course in those days you only flew at probably about twelve thousand feet, something like that, looking on down this unbroken mass of well pine trees I suppose, you wouldn’t have stood a dog’s chance of anything if you’d had to make a forced landing in a plane in there. Anyway we did we, I got home and 1950, in April 1950 and I, [pause] I met my future wife. Now, now I had known her as a schoolgirl because I was friendly with [chuckle] her half uncle, it sounds like carbuncle, doesn’t it [laugh] but he was a half uncle because they’d been, the father grandfather [unclear] had married twice, but that’s all I, we met again and well we decided to get married, Hazel and I. Our, our union, we didn’t do too bad: sixty three years exactly because she died on our wedding anniversary.
CB: Did she really.
JL: In 19, sorry, 2013. So we’re not bad was it.
CB: Fantastic!
JL: So , and then I, well I continued with working. I had the opportunity to leave about the end of. You see they formed what they called Iranian Oil Participants which was agreement hammered out with the Shah as he was then and when they kicked out Masadic [?], he agreed that concessions could be opened by this consortium of oil companies, and there was the BP had a forty per cent interest in it, the major oil, American companies had another forty, Shell had fourteen percent and the Company Francaise de Petroleum the remaining six per cent. That was how Iranian Oil Participants, and I was senior financial, financial assistant in, seconded to Iranian Oil Participants and I held that post for seventeen years. At the end of it I was getting a bit tired of it. I had a man that I’d no respect for: a man named Hoppen. Let’s say he shafted me once, he fed me to the, he tried to feed me to the lions that’s it; fortunately I was set, I had no respect for him after that. He said, ‘I’m not going to make you redundant, Lyon.’ I said, ‘thanks very much, I don’t want to be called redundant, I think I’ve done a pretty good job for seventeen years. Thank you.’ All I asked was that they brought forward the, at Shell you retired at sixty, that was before, and then there was also a reduction made for overseas service which I had, so it would only mean bringing forward my pension date by three or four years, not too much to ask, but that served me well because you see it’s an index linked pension.
CB: Yeah.
JL: Now, my monthly salary is worth, worth much more that I was actually paid when I retired.
CB: Yeah.
JL: So I made the right decision there.
CB: You did, yes.
JL: Staying with, staying with Shell. So I have some things to worry about but money is certainly not one of them.
CB: What made, what brought you down to Bexhill?
JL: Ah! Shortly before I retired, I’d lived in St Leonards. We had a, I had, we had a small bungalow in what they called the Links. It was actually originally it was a golf course, because I, it wasn’t being used as a golf course then but nothing else. I used to walk across this links to West St Leonards where I picked up the train for, used to take me to Cannon Street. But so, that brings it well, I’ve been with them ever since.
CB: But you decided to leave St Leonards and come to Bexhill.
JL: Oh yes, well, I made the right decision there.
CB: What made you do that then?
JL: There wasn’t much there for me in the air force: a failed navigator. I mean. They don’t even have them now anyway do they?
CB: Well, It’s different.
JL: No, no I made the right decision there. I knew I would. No, I couldn’t go wrong.
CB: You mentioned air force again. Going back to your flying times in the Whitley.
JL: Yeah.
CB: What navigation aids did you have in those days? We are talking about 1941.
JL: Well you had a thing called a CFC, whicb you set your, you set your, the course you would want to follow, and then you fed in what the, the wind direction, and you fiddle around with it and that gave you your course to fly. They did have, you could have, some of the Whitleys, not the one I was shot down, didn’t have one, they had an astrodome.
CB: Oh yes.
JL: So if you’d been trained in the use of the [unclear] mill, polar, star charts you could theoretically fix your position by air, star sight, but certainly the one we flew in, the old one they trundled out, that didn’t have one, didn’t have a - there was only one exit there, and that was downwards.
CB: Oh right.
JL: So that was the only navigation instrument we used to rely on, and dead reckoning as they called it.
CB: So in the daylight you could more easily see where you were, but flying at night, what did you do there?
JL: Oh yes it was. I did in fact, have use of, while I was waiting for this, at Cambridge, Downing Cambridge, Downing College Cambridge, I used to read Air Publication 1 2 3 4 and this was the navigational training of a pilot,
CB: Right.
JL: Because we were all supposed to be trained as pilots to start with in those days, they didn’t have different courses then. I was able to use it one day because I know we took off and the mist came down, I was pretty certain we were drifting off course, well it did tell you what to do. You flew halfway to your, half the distance that you’d previously calculated and then [emphasis] you gave the pilot orders to fly twice the distance that you were, you think you’d been going off course, twice that distance and that should give you a course to your original. It really, all you’re doing is flying the two sides of an isosceles triangle, and I tried it and we did, and out of the water, out of the thing, saw this, it was just an island.
CB: You’d got it right.
JL: So it certainly, it worked, I know.
CB: This is doing the maximum drift calculator isn’t it.
JL: Sorry?
CB: This is the maximum drift calculation.
JL: Yes, it’s for, they call it pilot navigation.
CB: Yeah.
JL: Yeah, oh yes. Because he couldn’t take bearings and all that sort of thing could he. As I say, it’s a simple, simple, it’s just geometry really, that’s all you’re doing, flying the two sides of an isosceles triangle. Yeah.
CB: So how many ops did you do before you were shot down?
JL: Only a couple, that’s all.
C: Right.
JL: We had to, they call them nurseries, they were using them to bomb an occupied port like Calais or somewhere like that. How they arranged it so that the, you weren’t dropping bombs on German and French civilians I suppose they had some means of contact in, I didn’t know what it was but that was all, a couple of those and this was just our third trip, that’s all.
CB: How many aircraft were there in the squadron?
JL: That I don’t really know. It was not public information anyway.
CB: And when you went out on a raid, on an operation, did you go with other aircraft or did you go as individuals, as singletons?
JL: Each one took off, you got the, from the Control Tower you get the take off clear, that’s it, one by one.
CB: But you weren’t in any kind of formation or cohesive?
JL: Oh no, it was only Americans that did that, formation flying. Oh no, quite impossible at night.
CB: Yeah. And before you went on the op how did the briefing go?
JL: Well as I say, it was quite clear. The marshalling yards, and the adjoining station: Dusseldorf. That was in the briefing, that was the target.
CB: But they got you all together in a room where everybody was briefed together did they?
JL: That was, yes, well not the second time, we were only given about a couple of hours’ notice to, there was no second briefing, we were just told to fly the original course. Yeah.
CB: Were, when you went off on the ops were all the crew together or were the briefing only for the pilot and navigator?
JL: Well, the pilot and navigator, myself, or bomb aimer I was acting as, we were there and the second pilot, and of course, but the rear gunner was at, well where he should be, the rear gunner. What he, you see he was getting, he was getting fried, there’s no doubt, because the whole aeroplane was on fire and we didn’t know it.
CB: Ah!
JL: So he, what he did, he just rotates his, rotates his, turret, pulls the ripcord, and the airstream takes him out, clear of the, the Whitley was built so that you were clear of the tail, the rear gunner was clear of the tail, twin tail, it just pulls him off and that’s it, that’s what he did, yeah, but as I say he broke his ankle, that’s all.
CB: So all the crew survived.
JL: All the crew survived, yes.
CB: And all of them were captured.
JL: All of them were taken prisoner, yes.
CB: Taken prisoner. What about after the war, first of all how did you get back? Were you flown back or did you come on a ship? Or what happened?
JL: Well at the end of the war, I was here wasn’t I.
CB: No, but you were flown back were you? Or did you come back by ship?
JL: Oh I see what you mean! Well, we by the I think it was the 1st of May 1945, we heard a bombardment and we guessed that was to cover the crossing of the Elbe by the British forces. The next day, the 2nd into the, we were billeted in a farmyard, well we were told that it belonged to a German, well he was in the tobacco business we heard, I don’t know how true that it was, but anyway, the accommodation was fine, we managed to get, it was good weather then, quite warm, no problem there. Into this compound the, came a, there was a British light armoured vehicle. There was a Captain I think, and a corporal. He didn’t say it to me but apparently he said to somebody, I believe there are quite a number of POWs here, and they said yeah, about six hundred if you look around. And that was the end of the war. What we didn’t know was, that as of the 30th of April all German forces in North West Germany surrendered to the British. Well they obviously, they’d rather surrender to the British than the bloody Russians wouldn’t they, that’s what they did. So actually the war ended in that part of the world a week before the main alliance. So, I remember the guards, they neatly piled their arms as you should do and that and they went off to what was called the cage, which was, that was the name the British gave to it, where they, and then they’d be taken ordinary prisoners of war. We’d only been there a short while and a convoy of American Mac trucks turned up and we were loaded on to these and this convoy set off. We got to a place called Rheiner, where we exchanged the American transport for British, well they were only yes, British RSC vehicles and we finally, we crossed the Elbe, I know. They had, well they had one of these revolving things and all the searchlights on, the idea because the war was still on theoretically, as protection as we crossed the Elbe. We, that’s right, we stopped at Luneburg, which was the place a week later the official German surrender took place, and they flew us on, then they drove us on next day to this Rheiner, this airfield at Rheiner. And we waited and we, I was flown home, most of them were, in the, it was a Douglas DC3.
[Other]: Dakota.
JL: They called it a Dakota. And we landed at Dunsfold in Surrey I think it was, where they gave us tea and biscuits you know, the Women’s VS, and we were really then rushed high, as quick as possible up to RAF Cosford which was the gathering centre for POWs, and there we were stripped bare, I don’t think, I never had any, they were thinking of lice. Actually, interesting thing I never saw a louse all the time I was in Germany, let alone getting infected with them, lice so that was. We used to get showers occasionally, but that was, that was certainly not getting rid of lice, it was merely to get a bit of, clean ourselves. We had a quick turn around. I was given fresh clothing, battle dress only with an officer’s stripe on it and I was home on the 9th of May 1945. We were living, my mother was living in Wallington. She had a flat which was a house owned by a relative. Wallington it was, yes.
CB: In Surrey.
[Other]: Surrey.
JL: Yeah, in Surrey, yeah. That was it, that’s my war story.
CB: So how did you actually get to the Elbe? Were you in the Long March?
JL: Oh, I, you look at my book, I never called it a march, it was a, I called it the long walk home.
CB: Yeah.
JL: Yeah well, in those days the incurable optimists thought that when the Russians turn up: oh they’ll be brothers in arms and we’ll celebrate their victory with liberal tots of vodka. [Laugh] We didn’t think that! We refused to countenance the story that Hitler, and he did actually give this order, all, all commissioned personnel, ex-prisoners of war to be shot. But fortunately in those days his writ didn’t extend much beyond his bunker. So we refused to accept that. The one that we thought would happen and in fact it did that we would be put on the road and have to leg it to wherever we were supposed to be going. That is why I used to do at least five circuits a day on foot.
CB: In the camp.
JL: In the camp, yeah, in preparation for this, and of course it paid off. It wasn’t, the Germans never pushed the pace. The only thing is, our first night I couldn’t find any covered accommodation. Everywhere I went I was politely told to shove off [laughter]. No room at the inn. So I crawled into a great pile of hay, or straw I suppose it was really, covered myself entirely and I went to sleep and next morning I got up and I was all right. From then it was really dead easy, because a thaw had set in. These people who had built themselves sleighs – they were useless. Similarly those people that had got trollies, they were useless because they didn’t have any hard wood for a bearing, it went through and that was their trollies and their sleighs were useless. I went, I just plodded on. I had a little suitcase I remember, made of fibre. The first, the second night, after the, when I settled down to the straw or hay, or whatever it was, we were billeted in the stable. I believe it was actually, the stable was owned by General von Arnim. The man who replaced Rommel when he was repatriated on grounds of ill health, wasn’t he. I don’t know, that’s the story, it belonged to General von Arnim. Anyway, I was bad enough to get a dry place to sleep. I admit I was a bit close to the horses, but I don’t think they’re any particular menace. I was awakened by a terrific bang! I thought oh my goodness that’s a shot first of all, isn’t it. I thought no, not a shot. I looked, I was using my little fibre suitcase as a pillow, and there was a bloody great hole in it, it was the hoof of a, it must have been within inches of my head! [Laughter] But from then on it was dead easy because the, we stopped at a place called Spremburg. Now there was a glass factory operating and it was still working. We managed to get a, I did manage to get a bit of a wash down and the girls were decent enough to look the other way. I managed to get myself a bit of a clean up. From there we went on to a place called Spremburg, which was a rail head. Now here our column was split in two, why, I don’t know. One, we were loaded on to, on to, they weren’t cattle trucks, they were the old fashioned you know, these Eschable carourdon [?] variety from the first world war, we were loaded in to one of these. The others they went to a place called Luckenwalde, I think was, actually that was liberated by the, by the Russians, and from all accounts they weren’t too well treated to start with by the Russians until they found, were sure who they were. But we were lucky, we were loaded into this. Well, it was crowded, yes I grant you, but the real reason was that we were in pitch dark, everybody wanted, for some unearthly reason to sit as near the door they could. I don’t know if they think it was suddenly going to open and they were going to be wafted away to safety, but they wouldn’t move. When daylight came we were able to sort ourselves out. Now I grant you the toilet facilities were not all that good, but no worse than a ordinary soldier in the field in action has to cope with, a sort of open latrine, and above all, I’ve virtually I’ve experienced worse crowding in London’s underground. So it wasn’t all that bad. We trundled along, we, I remember we did a very slow stop-start circuit of Berlin, course there was a raid going on at the time. We arrived then at a place called, what was it, oh it was a little village, small settlement, not far from Bremen. We, it was, I remember we stopped outside this camp, and look up at it and miserable rain was coming down, there was this thing over the door, well it didn’t, we used to always used to say it was a “Work Makes You Free”, and we used to say “work yourself to death”, but it looked a pretty dreary and unuttering place and we went in to this. It was called Marlag and Milag Nord and it was designed, by the name you could tell, for Royal Marine and Merchant Navy officers: Marlag and Milag. And there were, we were a little concerned because we thought this camp is empty. Where have all these Marine, Naval and Marine officers gone? And we got a horrible thought they might be in some mass grave or other. However, it wasn’t true, they had been moved, when, where and why I’m not actually sure. But when we got inside, well if we had any clothing, warm clothing we were lucky, or dry clothing we put it on. It was a nothing, not a camp I’d recommend but it was, at least it was dry and there was, we had adequate food. There was a certain thing, belief that we were short of food, well I can assure you we never were, we had more than we could do with because the Red Cross parcels were being delivered by since the rail system was on the blink they were coming in by truck and they were, they were dumping parcels by the side of the road by us. Well I couldn’t carry, well most of us did, took out things like chocolate and tea and coffee and things like that, the rest of it. We offered them to the guards but they wouldn’t, neither would the civilians, I suppose they still might be pounced upon by die-hard SS, SS army, the army SS not the civilian SS. In fact one, one night we were billeted with these SS Waffen, Waffen SS, they, weaponed I mean, armed SS and we did, well always had a low profile but these chaps were very willing to chat to us. They got somehow idea that it wouldn’t be long before we joined forces with them and then finally put the bloody Russians -
CB: Out of Germany.
JL: Where they should be. Well it was, well, actually the second, as I say, if the first leg of the, our all expenses tour of north Germany was bearable, the second was a doddle. It was fine weather. Warm enough to sleep outside, in fact sometimes we walked through orchards white with blossom, not with snow with blossoms and we, there was no attempt to force the pace, but what did happen on the way, we stopped, in all the, four, nearly four years I was a prisoner of war I never suffered not even verbal abuse, let alone physical, never, but this particular, we did have a bit of trouble there, it was more directed at personal about us, in general. In fact the civilian population we got, they tried to you know, reach our ranks, the Germans just turned bayonet and rifle, pointed and don’t you dare come any closer. Well we moved on and then we thought we heard an explosion and we saw smoke arising from this. We thought it was the town that had been attacked, and we, you know as they say well it couldn’t have happened to nicer people. I’m afraid it wasn’t that, it was our column [emphasis] that had been attacked! By a, I think it was a Canadian Squadron Leader flying a Typhoon. He, he must have been blind, because this, it couldn’t possibly been a, it wasn’t a, looked like a German unit of any description but anyway I’m afraid he did and there were quite a few people killed on there. And that to my mind I think was the only, some, I’ve read in terms of hundreds something, hundreds killed on this so called long march, it’s just not true. The only other fatal casualty was a chap named Large I think it was, he had a ruptured appendix but there’s no reason to say he wouldn’t have had it anyway, it wasn’t caused by the conditions and that was that. We reached, we reached the place called Stade, was the southern side of the Elbe, and oh one thing I did see while we were at Marlag and Milag Nord, I saw a V2 fired, not many people have seen that. There was a bit of a rising ground and I happened to be on it and then suddenly I saw this, this thing, this great rocket, with this great burst of flame as it rised slowly and slowly and slowly, and it appeared, of course that was as much an optical illusion, it held itself out and it turned to get its bearing and by that time it couldn’t reach Britain, so probably the target was Antwerp, but that’s I saw a V2 fired and not many people have seen that. Anyway, we got to this Stade place and the Elbe ferry if you please, was still not operating normally, it was, and there was a, there was a boot repairer there, some people’s boots needed a bit of attention, mine were all right, but anyway he did what he could. We crossed the Elbe and we arrived at a place called, oh, just outside Hamburg. You come up a cobbled street, which we had, quite steep and we were then met by what, I, was the most horrible thing I’ve ever come across, a migration of slugs! Can you believe this, they were marching up on a broad front. There was absolutely no way of avoiding them. Blankenese, was the name of this little town, that’s the name of it: Blankenese. We tried to pick our way, very, very carefully and thank god I managed to keep on my feet, otherwise if I’d fallen can you imagine the state I’d been in. Well from then on it was, it was easy going and as I say, we got to this, this open, this tobacco man’s, well he was, farm and from then on it was the journey home. But I’ll never forget, oddly enough we saw a reverse, I mean a thing so beautiful. I’d never seen it before. It was a, I didn’t tell you, hadn’t told you that in September of 1942, I and a number of others were for some reason which the Germans had and they didn’t bother to give us the details, we were transferred to a place called Offlag 21B. Now Offlag meant it was an officer’s camp, that’s all. 21B. And we stayed there through a rather dreary time, the winter, until we moved in April, but I came back and I didn’t go in to the north compound I went back to the east compound for some reason or other. Why I don’t know, and actually I didn’t move into the north compound where the tunnel was being dug until September of 1943. How are we doing?
CB: You’re doing well. One final question. What happened to the guards after you’d walked all this way? Did they just surrender or did they leg it or what did they do?
JL: Oh yes. Well they were only part of this. They’d realised, they heard they were all German forces had surrendered and they were only too pleased, they just neatly piled their arms and that was that. They knew all right. And they went off to go, to be taken in what we called the cages to a British prisoner of war camp. Some of them actually, when I lived in Salcombe in South Devon many years later, there was a chap there used to run a driving tuition, he’d been one of these there and he’d stayed in England.
CB: Funny.
JL: So he didn’t have too bad a time.
CB: Well Jack Lyon, thank you for a very interesting conversation.
JL: My pleasure.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with Jack Kenneth Lyon
Creator
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Chris Brockbank
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2018-02-02
Rights
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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.
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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ALyonJK180202
Conforms To
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Pending review
Pending revision of OH transcription
Format
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02:03:03 audio recording
Language
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eng
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
Jack Lyon was a navigator/ bomb aimer and a prisoner of war for almost four years. Born in 1918, he was employed with the London Gas Company as a bookkeeper until August 1939 when he transferred to Shell. At the outbreak of the war, Shell closed their London office and Jack enlisted in the RAF on the 5th September. He was attracted to the extra privileges that aircrew received. Initial training commenced in late 1939 and elementary flying training in June 1940. Being unsuccessful with pilot training, Jack completed navigator training at RAF Prestwick, followed by armament training at RAF Manby, and operational training at RAF Kinloss. On completion of training, Jack was awarded his commission and posted to RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Being the only commissioned member of the crew, Jack found the opportunities to socialise restricted. Having only completed a few operations, Jack and his crew had to abandon their stricken aircraft. Separated from his crew, Jack was arrested by a German soldier cycling past who, faced with a long walk, decided the easiest way was for Jack to ride on the crossbar. Stopping at the first house they came to, the soldier arranged for Jack’s wounds to be attended to, and he was given tea and cake. Initially billeted in Stalag Luft 1, before being transferred to Stalag Luft 3 in April 1942, where he remained until early 1945. Douglas Bader was also billeted there, and Jack witnessed the famous incident when Bader inspected the German guards before being transferred. Early in 1945 with the advancing Russian army getting near, Jack participated in what became known as “The Long March”. Following the German surrender, Jack returned home, and following demob, returned to continue his career with Shell.
Contributor
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Ian Whapplington
Anne-Marie Watson
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Great Britain
Poland
England--Lincolnshire
England--Yorkshire
Germany--Barth
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Duisburg
Germany--Düsseldorf
Poland--Żagań
Scotland--Moray
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-05-01
1941-06-21
1941-06-03
1942-09
1943
1945-05-01
1945-05-09
aircrew
bomb aimer
navigator
prisoner of war
RAF Kinloss
RAF Linton on Ouse
RAF Manby
RAF Prestwick
Red Cross
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 3
the long march
V-2
V-weapon
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/837/10827/PGoldbyJL1701.1.jpg
a45bc6d8a3e3b396aa60a0e197184a52
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/837/10827/AGoldbyJL171025.2.mp3
eeb8f152cb68ea23e18042b8b5151712
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Goldby, John Louis
J L Goldby
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with John Goldby (1922 - 2020, 1387511, 139407 Royal Air Force). He was shot down and became a prisoner of war in December 1944.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by John Goldby and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-10-25
Rights
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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.
Identifier
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Goldby, JL
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
DM: This interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is David Meanwell. The interviewee is John Goldby. The interview is taking place at Mr Goldby’s home in Keston in the county of Kent on the 25th of October 2017. Ok, John. Well, if you’d like to perhaps kick off. Tell us a bit about where you were born and about growing up.
JG: Yes. I was born in Bexley, Kent in 1922. The next thing, the following year the family moved to Sidcup and my home until I joined up was in Sidcup. I went to what was then called the Sidcup County School before that was then turned into a grammar school and I went, started there in 1931 and I stayed there until the end of the summer 1939. From there on I, until I joined up I worked for a private bank, Brown Shipley and Company in the City of London. And I worked for them until I joined up in May 19 — 1941.
DM: What, when you, what prompted you to join the air force as opposed to going into another service?
JG: Well, my reason for the air force was I had a friend who was at the school who was about a year older than I was and as soon as he could join anything he joined the air force and became a Spitfire pilot. I thought that’s just the thing. One, one great advantage is if something happens to you when you’re at ten twenty thousand feet up there’s a chance of something might come to your rescue in those twenty thousand feet. Whereas if you are shot on the battlefield that’s where you’ll lie. And if you fall in the water in certain circumstances in the Navy that’s where you’ll end because the water is very cold. I stayed with the bank until such time as I, as I was actually called up because until I was eighteen I wasn’t allowed to go. But when the time came in 1941 I joined and I was, had been recorded as being fit for either pilot or navigator training. Because at that time it was the beginning of the expansion of Bomber Command to the four engine aircraft which meant there were now there was a bomb aimer and a navigator and as it happened the extra body and above that was a flight engineer.
DM: Where? When you say you signed up and then you were called up?
JG: Yes.
DM: To go and train. I assume that was the next thing.
JG: That’s right.
DM: Where did that happen? Where did you go for that?
JG: They were, the receiving wing as it was called was in Babbacombe in, in Devon and I went down there on the 31st of May 1941. After a couple of months or so then started ground, with air crew ground training. Morse code and all that sort of thing. Aircraft recognition. The sort of basic things which would then enable me to go on to flying training. In fact, some of my ground training was up here at Kenley which was a fighter aircraft airfield and was involved in the Battle of Britain or had been by the time I got there. And that was a number, there were quite a lot of these actual operational stations which housed training. Ground training for aircrew. Eventually, having done ground training I was then allocated a position in Air Observer School for training, as they were called then air observers. And the one, and then they were allocated on the basis of alphabetical order. And there were five of us in on the list whose initial was G. And the five of us who’d been looking forward to going to either South Africa or Canada or somewhere exotic like that found ourselves going to the Isle of Man. And I thought what a jolly place to be for the cold winter because that’s where I started training in October 1941 and I stayed there until May 1942. And then it was to Operational Training Unit. And in those days Operational Training Unit, the individual aircrew got together and formed a crew. It was virtually sort of go and find someone who you liked, feel you would like to fly with. It wasn’t mandatory as far as I know who you were allocated or I was and then people were added of course. A pilot who was in army uniform and in fact he had opted to change to aircrew which of course you could do if you wanted to go aircrew. And that’s another thing with the police. The police were allowed to leave and join up for aircrew duties. And so we had, we had a lot of police in our intake if you like who’d done all sorts of jobs in the police. And I flew, we used to fly in pairs on navigational training. And the extraordinary thing really for navigational training we were flying Blenheims which were actually operational aircraft. And it was the fastest aircraft I think I flew in the whole war. That’s — and I flew with a chap who had been a policeman in Glasgow. Actually, he was a mobile policeman. Anyway, the bombing training was from Hampdens, both of those aircraft were of course twin-engine. And then, and air gunnery we flew in, again in Blenheims firing at a drogue. And the training there lasted from the October ’41 to May ’42 and then back to this country. And then in the June on we went to [pause] can we stop it for a moment?
[recording paused]
JG: Still training. An Operational Training Unit which was at Stanton Harcourt which was a subsidiary to, or satellite to RAF Abingdon. When having or while we were there my pilot went on the first thousand bomber raid in, in May ’42 as a sort of, as a second pilot. Then in June, on the 25th of June ’42 we flew as a crew to Cologne in a Whitley. That was on the three days before my twentieth birthday which was the 25th of June 1942. We flew on the 25th. Did I say 25th? The 28th of June is my birthday.
DM: Right.
JG: Did I make a mistake there?
DM: That’s ok. So your birthday’s the 28th of June.
JG: 28th
DM: You flew on the 25th.
JG: The 25th
DM: A few days before. Yeah.
JG: Having finished there at OTU we then went to RAF St Eval. And the policy at that time was that crews that were now finished OTU, certainly from 4 Group went down to do a number, or several months’ worth of flying in Whitleys in, on an anti-submarine role. An anti-submarine role.
DM: So, St Eval is in Cornwall. Is that right?
JG: Cornwall.
DM: Yeah.
JG: That’s right. We, we used to fly ten hour sorties from there and when we came back the next day we were absolutely clear. We didn’t do anything that day. In fact we couldn’t probably hear anything that day but because the conditions of course in the Whitley are pretty cramped. But we had to do the ten hours and the following day was a free day. The next day we were briefed on what the flight was to be the following day. And that was the pattern. And you had a free day, briefing and then the next day you flew. I did, as far as I can recall — one of the problems I have is that my, I never retrieved my logbook following becoming a POW when all my stuff was taken and distributed. So, one way or another I didn’t ever get my book back and I’ll say a bit more about that later. Anyway, after that, after our period down there in Cornwall we came back up to Yorkshire to the, to a Conversion Unit on the four engine aircraft. And that was when I joined or after that period in a, in the Marston Moor was the Conversion Unit in Yorkshire. And we flew then with, now with the extra crew the [pause] I suppose we spent about a month there and then as a crew we went to RAF Linton on Ouse and joined 78 Squadron which was at that time commanded by Wing Commander Tait, T A I T. Known as Willie Tait and who ended his career, I suppose it would have been when he took on the final sortie against the Tirpitz. He, I don’t know — there was a programme on last night. Was of the 617 Squadron and the, and the nine aircraft that flew on this final sortie and demolished the Tirpitz, it was about the fourth or fifth time they’d done it. Had not had a big enough bomb which of course had to be designed by Barnes Wallis who was the author, if you like, of the bomb, the bouncing bomb. Anyway, Willie Tait was a bit of a frightening man. He was not popular because he was so blooming strict and didn’t fraternise really with other aircrew. And it was particularly noticeable because Linton on Ouse was shared between 78 Squadron with Willie Tait and 76 Squadron with Leonard Cheshire and they were so different it’s hardly true. So, we arrived there in October and we started operations. Starting with what we used to call, or was called gardening. That’s mine laying. Which counted for only one operation. People disappeared on those things so how they could justify going down for, on a half an op, I don’t know. And I stayed there with 78 Squadron until March ’43. That was, that was’ 42. ’43, I had gone down at the end of February ’43. I was commissioned and I went down to London to get kitted out. I came back and I developed a raging throat infection. It turned out to be an abscess and I was put into hospital and I never re-joined 78. I then went on sort of sick leave and eventually I had the tonsils out at the time of my 21st birthday before then going on to the sort of thing that one did at the end of a tour of operations which was as an instructor. And that’s when I went in that year down to Moreton in Marsh flying Wellingtons. I stayed there [pause] I’m getting a bit. Will you turn it off a bit?
[recording paused]
JG: My time at Moreton in Marsh lasted until the spring of 1944. Following that I completed a bombing leader course at the Armaments School at RAF Manby in January 1944. At the end of that I then went to RAF Riccall. This was another of the Conversion Units. Yeah. And from there, after doing the bombing leader course I went from the — to this. To Riccall. RAF Riccall which was the conversion [pause] I’d better have it off.
[recording paused]
JG: Riccall. RAF Riccall, on a refresher course before joining a Squadron. And that’s where I was on D-day. So, by the time I reached 640 Squadron it was the end of June 1944 and that’s where I went to take up the post of bombing leader.
DM: When you went — so you were on your new base.
JG: Yes.
DM: You were now a bombing leader. Did you have a crew?
JG: No.
DM: Or were you a sort of a spare bod?
JG: That’s right.
DM: As they said.
JG: That’s right. Yes. Well, I’ve got in my notes down here. In that position I was supposed to stay. Fly no more than two operations a month which was not very much. And I was the one who selected when I would go and with whom. Sensibly and logically really the ones I went on I was actually taking the place of somebody in the crew who was not able to go on that particular flight. Illness or whatever reason. And I was flying, we were coming up to Christmas and I am sure that I had by that time I had done, I’d flown twelve operations and the one that I was going on was to be my thirteenth actually of my second tour. I decided that I was going to have to do at least one anyway in December. So I selected one on the 6th of December because that was where the usual permanent bomb aimer was ill. So, I took his place. So I was flying with that crew for the first time ever. The only one of them, of the crew, commissioned was the pilot. I knew him because we were both commissioned. But the rest of the crew non-commissioned I hadn’t met before even. And of course I made the great mistake that I’d picked the wrong one. It was, shouldn’t have been a particularly dangerous one but anyway over Germany and this is now where there’s a bit of a gap in what happened because I see I’m actually have been recorded as being shot down. I always doubted that because the manner in which we crashed. There was, we weren’t attacked by anything. And what I believe and I’m hoping I will get one day confirmation of this, we collided with a German night fighter. And the reason I say that is because in the report that I got back from the Air Ministry things apparently a night fighter was lost that night in that area and reported a collision. And the circumstances of the accident lead one I think to conclude that it’s certainly much more likely to have been a collision because from going from the pilot completely under control to immediately losing control and I conclude, and most people think it’s much more likely I think that we collided with this thing and it took our tail off because in no time at all we were in a spin. And as we spun down it was impossible to get out of the aircraft because the, what do you call it force?
DM: The G Force.
JG: G. Yes. Really. You couldn’t lift a hand to get out. And then they, there was this crashing sound which I believed was we were hitting the ground. I thought well this is it but in fact within seconds I suppose it would be only I found myself outside in the fresh air on a dark December night. I had my parachute pack on because I’d already put that on as soon as there was an emergency and I opened that up and then descended by parachute. And there was not a sound or a sign of anything which was connected with the accident. So the aircraft had gone down. I was now floating down. Way behind it I suppose. And I don’t believe that was as a result of an actual physical attack. But being shot down it certainly wasn’t. The evidence points to that I think. I’ve tried to find out more about that. With a bit of luck my elder son who is coming down at the beginning of December is going to review records to see if he can find out any more about it. Or if there is any way one can get through Germany. I don’t suppose there’s anything anyway. They won’t have kept much of that sort of record. But we’ll see. But I’ve always had an open mind about this. So, how I came down I don’t know. But I came down in a flooded field. I didn’t realise at the time but I looked down and saw this expanse of water. I couldn’t make it out because we were nowhere near the sea or any large expanse of water. And I came down. I thought I had broken my right leg. I was holding my leg in both hands, both arms because of the pain and the trousers torn. Blood all over the place. And I went in left leg first and sprained my leg because it turned out to be a flooded field which was not very helpful. Fell over and got soaking wet. I spent a bit of time in some bushes trying to find out what was wrong with me if I could and then sort of get myself composed enough to move on. Eventually I did. I moved on in the direction of some houses. I knew by compass the heading of course. I had no idea where I was on the ground. How far I’d fallen before I opened the parachute. Anything like that. So, I eventually got into a farmyard and into an open cart and I examined my body to see what was wrong and also to get rid of my wet things which were very wet. The only trouble was I was going to have to sort of wring them out and put them back on again. Which I did. And while I was in the cart, presumably members of the farm came out, calling out, ‘Is there anybody there?’ Or what I assumed was what they were after. Of course, I kept quiet and they would go away and enable me then to start my escape. Eventually I got out of the farm. I realised I had just flesh wounds on my right leg. It was nothing really serious but my hands were cut, my face was cut. Anyway, off I went in the early hours of the next morning. The 7th. I was walking down a country lane actually with not a sound or sign of anybody when I was stopped by a guard, an armed guard who I believe to have come from the local Luftwaffe station. Anyway, by now I was a prisoner of course and from then on I spent a bit of time there while they organised my — oh no. What am I talking about? No. I was put into a hospital. It was a civil hospital run by nuns. And the four of us who had survived this accident which was me, the flight engineer, the wireless operator and the navigator we, we were not too far dispersed on the ground when we landed. So that they got us together and then planned, I presume what they were going to do with us. And fortunately for me the flight engineer and I were put into hospital where we were very well treated. The flight engineer was very badly injured. He’d broken all sorts of his body and the extraordinary thing is with him we were in this room together, we talked together all the time because there was no one else to talk to and he had not realised what had happened to him. Where he was. He could not remember anything following taxiing out to take off the night before. The 6th. And he never did as far as I know. But he was in a very bad way and he was still in hospital when I left which was somewhere towards the mid to I haven’t got the actual date of this. January. One day a guard appeared at my door and I was told to dress and follow him in about, at least six inches of snow outside and as this was going to be my first walk following the parachute descent I wasn’t too happy about it. But fortunately he had a bicycle and I was allowed to push it in the manner of the zimmer really while he walked beside me. We went to the local Luftwaffe station and then a few days later two guards arrived and started me on my way down to the Frankfurt. The Dulag Luft Interrogation Centre where I was, everyone was when you arrived there you go in to solitary and they liked to make it as unpleasant for you as they can. The bed was just two or three struts across the frame. A blanket and a pillow and that was basically it. If you wanted to use the lavatory you had to operate a little lever on the inside of the thing, of the room which indicated to the guard outside that you wanted to go. Whereupon they either came or they didn’t which was a bit, could be difficult. So you really had to plan in advance. And then of course once you were in there, you got to the loo as soon as you got there and if you wanted to sit down they shouted, ‘Come out.’ And made it, everything was made unpleasant. The food we had for breakfast we would have coffee, and [pause] I think that’s about it. But there would have been the bit of black bread anyway with nothing much on it. If anything. At lunchtime it would be a watery soup. And then an evening meal was the black coffee again and with bread and a bit of something on it. The heating, the room was heated by a radiator which was, made the room, when it was on it was unbearably hot. During the night they would turn it off so you would awaken frozen stiff. And that was where you stayed until they let, said they’d had enough of you in interrogation. There was nothing much really I could have told and everything that they had, they’d had members of my crew already through there so I was having to be careful about what I said. They said, ‘You were a flight lieutenant bomb aimer. You must have been the bombing leader.’ Which they knew quite a lot about but which I denied but whether they believed me I don’t know. But eventually I was on my way and the, we were after, yeah there was a spell while they gathered a number of people to make it worth shipping them off to a POW camp I suppose. But then we would go from there by train to the POW camp. We had no idea where it was going to be but we were led to believe it was somewhere in East Germany. And we then, we discovered eventually what our destination was and that we were going by train via Berlin. Which we were not looking forward to. But we were in ordinary carriages of compartments with ten in each. We took it in turns to sleep on the carriage rack. Luggage rack. Otherwise you couldn’t stretch out at all. After several days and I’m not quite sure how long actually but we arrived at Stalag Luft 1, and it’s address is Barth. B A R T H. In fact — will you turn it off again?
[recording paused]
DM: Ok.
JG: I’ll go from where we left Dulag Luft following interrogation at about 1 pm on Saturday 13th and arrived at Wetzlar at 6am on the Sunday. Where that is I don’t know but the distance between the two camps was a little over forty miles. Here we stayed until the following Saturday living twenty four men to a room and eating three times a day in the mess hall. It was at this camp we had Red Cross clothing issued. Two — what they were I don’t know, two packets of American cigarettes and a subsequent issue of ten a day while we were there. Most important was the shower. My first decent wash in Germany. On Saturday January the 20th 1945 of course we’re talking about here a party of eighty of us left for Stalag Luft 1 situated at Barth on the Baltic coast. The journey was expected to last anything from four to seven days and we were there and we were provided with a half a Red Cross parcel per men together with a ration of a fifth of a loaf of bread per day. We travelled in a carriage. Ten men to a compartment and the coach was hooked on to those engines and shunted back and forth in the manner of a freight car. We never actually left the carriage throughout the journey. We ate very well but sleep was difficult and we were relieved to hear that we were making good time. On route we passed through Berlin where we had to wait several hours for the next and last connection. It was a sigh, with a sigh of relief that we left the capital and continued on our way. On Monday evening at 4.50 or 4.30 we arrived at Barth. We spent the night in the railway carriage and on Tuesday morning marched to the camp some three miles north. On arrival we had a shower and our clothing was deloused. Later we were issued with mugs but also knife, fork and spoon and palliases and pillows. Once again we slept in rooms built to hold twenty men. The beds they arranged in three tiers. That evening we had a very welcome bowl of hot barley soup. And our first night’s sleep since we left Wetzlar. And that’s that. The rest of it is really conditions in the camp.
DM: Were you reasonably well treated in the camp?
JG: Oh yes. Yeah. They had sort of given up on us really I think. The only thing is one didn’t mess about. If you didn’t, if you came outside your hut after curfew you could be shot. They wouldn’t worry about it. And while we were there I think at least one person was outside when he shouldn’t have been and was shot.
DM: Did you get news of how the war was going? Was there a sort of —
JG: Oh yes.
DM: A bush telegraph or —
JG: Yes. Yes. Well, there were some parts of the camp had radios of course. Secret radios. I don’t think we were ever issued anything by the authorities but we knew exactly what was going on. And eventually we got the news that we — of course Hitler was declared dead at the end of April. And the camp commandant on our side, he was the senior allied officer was a chap, an American fighter pilot and he he came on the communications system and said that the Germans were going to evacuate the camp. And he had said to them, ‘What will you do if we refuse to come?’ And they said, ‘We’ll leave you behind.’ And of course we knew that the Russians were getting very very close and the Germans were of course terrified of these murderous people who they, ahead of the regular organised army came up and just did what they liked. And their behaviour was dreadful. And the population was pretty well scared stiff of them. At the beginning of May, I’ve not, I haven’t got the date of it I think. Or have I? [pause] Yes.
[pause]
JG: Yes. We were following Hitler’s death. Then things were collapsed on the German side quite considerably. But before that, in the March we had, we had the RAF prisoners had a briefing in which we were told that plans were afoot for us to break out of camp. The whole of the camp would break out. The RAF would act as armed guard to the main body of prisoners going back west who would have been American. And as we were going, ‘How do we break out of this place then?’ ‘Arms will be dropped to you,’ we were told. This was the sort of rubbish that came from Whitehall. You know, that sort of thing. Absolute, well as I say complete rubbish. And we came out of the briefing and we were flabbergasted. And I was, walked out with a pilot from 4 Group who had been the pilot of a Halifax which was involved in a head on collision over Cologne. I can’t imagine anything much worse than that. Having a aircraft — and he was the only survivor. But the fun, or interesting thing it was the first occasion he was wearing a seat parachute. Up until then the pilots only had the ordinary pack which clipped on. Whereas, they had, at the end of the war, a bit late, at the end of the war they were issued with a seat pack so that if something happened and the aircraft came adrift [pause] Is it on? Then they would get away with it and it was the first occasion he’d worn it. And of course this was the first occasion he really needed it. You know. He said, well he thought it was rubbish and we were a bit taken aback and alarmed. Because if people were going to the extent of dropping arms to us they obviously wanted us to use them and we, having got that stage in our lives having survived we didn’t want to stick out our necks much longer. Particularly now. It’s obviously at the end of the war. Hitler is now dead and things are going to move quite fast. Anyway, we, we sat waiting for news of our evacuation and it was, nothing seemed to be happening until a group captain from our own side got through to the lines in Lubeck to allied headquarters to find out what was going on. Only to find of course nothing was going on. But as a result of that arrangements were made for the US Air Force, 8th Air Force, the B17s to come and pick us up and take us home. Adjoined, quite close to the camp was a Luftwaffe base which by now of course the Russians moving in it was now part of Russia as far as they were concerned. And no way were they going to allow any aircraft, allied aircraft in there until Eisenhower got behind it when he heard that we were not. He wasn’t going to have for a start any idea that we should break out and march west. It was the last thing he wanted. He’d got enough people rushing around the place. And he didn’t sort of want gash POWs. And so we were to stay where we were. And as a result of that RAF chap getting through to our lines and getting some action how much longer we would have been there goodness knows. And then [pause] now, I’ve got here at the end of the war, our time in the camp with the Germans. Now, having gone that Monday the 30th of April 1945 the Germans have been demolishing detector installations and equipment in the flak school which on this airfield. By the evening most of the items have left the camp and it looks as though we shall be left here in the care of the senior administrative office. Many heavy explosions in the flak school and on the aerodrome around. There was no count on today, parade tonight but the Jerry major appeared to be tired. At 9pm the somebody [pause] Well, anyway, 9pm we were told that from 8am tomorrow, that’s the 1st we would no longer be POWs as the commandant was officially handing over. We had an extra biscuit, butter and marmalade to celebrate. Tuesday the 1st of May — today the guard posts are occupied by Americans wearing MP armbands. That’s Military Police of course instead of the usual old goons which was our name for the German guards. A white flag flies over the camp. The rumours are thick and fast and everyone is wondering when we shall get away. The Russians are supposed to be pretty close. The latest is that they are two kilometres south of Barth. The bürgermeister of Barth is said to have shot himself. At 1pm we heard the BBC news and now at 14.20 we are listening to, “Variety Band Box.” Tonight at 22.15 approximately a Russian lieutenant and either a civilian or Russian soldier arrived. Cheers echoed throughout the compound. We’d been awaiting this for some time. Good Old Joe. The main Russian body captured Stralsund, which is on the coast, tonight, today. Listened to the BBC news. Public House time it to be extended on VE Day. I hope we’re home for it. At 22.30 it was announced that Hitler is dead. I hope it was one of Berlin, was in one of Berlin’s sewers. Perhaps these will capitulate now. Lights on until midnight by order of Colonel Zemke. He was the allied commander I was talking about. Special cup of hot milk at 23.15. More Russians expected tomorrow. Water shortage. On the Wednesday the 2nd the Russians said we were to march out and be packed in preparation to leave at 6pm. One Red Cross parcel issued to each man for the journey. We ate several meals in quick succession to get rid of our [pause] this is the one [pause] yes. We had to get rid of [pause] Red Cross parcel stocks. Share out the ones that we had left. Then we were told to be ready to march in the morning and a little later we heard that the march was not definite. Most of us left camp in the evening to have a look around. Some even got into Barth. Rumours are flying out, hope it’s true, British and Russians are supposed to have linked up in the north. Chaos reigned all day. Poor water situation. German armies in Italy and Austria surrendered to Alexander. Monty’s boys in Lubeck. Russian. Russians in Rostock. Berlin has fallen. Hamburg declared an open city. I’ve been told the airfield is becoming clear of mines. We may be flown out. Hope it’s true and that the kites —
[pause]
JG: I heard earlier today that we’re in contact with London, Washington and Moscow to see what they intended to do. Or for us to do. A colossal [pause] comparatively speaking, announced all day. The water situation a bit better. From midnight tonight we use Russian time. An hour in advance of our present time. Friday the 4th — airfield expected to be clear by 2pm. All Germans in northwest Germany, Holland, Denmark, Heligoland were ordered by Admiral Doenitz to surrender unconditionally. This is to take effect from 08.00 tomorrow Saturday the 5th of May 1945. Saturday the 5th of May — a Russian general inspected our barracks in the morning. In the afternoon Marshall Rokossovsky to some [pause] oh no, came to report with Colonel Zemke. A very tough looking bunch. One of the generals made a speech to some of us in Russian. An American colonel arrived by jeep from our lines and made final arrangements for our evacuation. Wish they would get a move on. Listened to a radio recording of the signing of the unconditional surrender by the German staff. The commentary was by Monty. The 6th. Sunday the 6th — still waiting. The colonel repeated his former broadcast saying things were being done for our evacuation. Monday the 7th — a lieutenant colonel of the 6th airborne Division came to Wismar today to reassure us and we needed some reassuring too that we could expect to be flown out within the next few days. He could not say which day it would be but would definitely be only a matter of a few days. Question — how long or short is a few days? Apparently, we shall be flown back to England. Good deal. Other POWs are still being flown back by Lancs. [pause] Daks and Commandos are being used. Twenty five in a Dak, forty in a Commando. Most POWs have to be helped into aircraft. They were given a shock here. We shall run like stink when the kites come. I’ve heard that tomorrow is VE day and the following day a holiday. I’m bloody annoyed that we’re not going to, we’re going to miss the celebrations and so is everyone else. Saturday, Sunday the 6th of May — saw a Russian concert this afternoon and it was very good. No one or very few understood a word but what the hell. Monday the 7th of May — at the moment, 21.50 Russian time someone, I think it’s Alfredo Campoli, is playing a composition on the violin which I heard once at one of the St John’s socials. St John’s being the Parish church in Sidcup where I come from. It has just been announced that the BBC have broadcast a message to the effect that Stalag Luft 1, Barth, Pomerania has been liberated and the next of kin are being informed. Goebbels, his wife and daughters took poison apparently. War ends after five years and eight months. Unconditional surrender made at 2.41 French time today to Field Marshall Montgomery. Location Reims. Or Reims. Tuesday the 8th of May — I’ve just heard the prime minister’s speech declaring that the European war is at an end. The ceasefire officially takes place at 00.01 tomorrow. Wednesday, May 9th but fighting, except for some of the Resistance in Czechoslovakia ceased on Thursday morning. It is VE day and this morning I spent some time sun bathing on the peninsula north of the camp. I hope soon to be doing the same in England very soon. Listened to the King’s Speech. I guess the family were listening too. Do they know where I am? I wonder. And did they hear the announcement on the radio last night to the effect that we had been liberated by the Red Army. Lancs landed in Germany for the first time and flew back with four thousand five hundred POWs. Come on boys. Let’s get out of here. Wednesday the 9th of May— sunbathing again today. Allied parade this morning. A Russian officer made a speech to us. Same old story. Be patient for a few more days. Plenty of rumours floating around [pause] At 08.00 hours on BBC radio all men at Stalag Luft 1, Barth, near Stralsund, Pomerania, Germany are to remain in the camp and not make for the allied lines. Well, I don’t know whether anyone did. Thursday, the 10th of May — on KP again today. You know, that’s cleaning up the camp. Ten thousand more POWs flown out by five hundred BC aircraft and we’re still here. Colonel Zemke made an appalling speech again tonight. He’s going to get out all souvenirs. The rumour is that all British personnel are going to be taken by transport to Wismar and flown home from there. Also, that we should have been there yesterday. Group Captain Weir is said to have gone to try and get us out. He may have split with Colonel Zemke. I hope so as Zemke hasn’t a bloody clue. Listened to ITMA. Last time I heard it was on Wednesday the 6th December. I was changing in my room for the op and could hear it on someone else’s radio. That was of course the day on which I went down in Germany. Friday the 11th — sunbathed again today. There’s a meeting of the wheels, you know they were the top men, tonight. Final arrangements for our evacuation are said to be the subject of discussion. Group Captain Weir seems to have been arranging with the Russian commander of the area, Colonel General Batov for aircraft to land here to take us out. Colonel Zemke has just announced that aircraft expected here tomorrow or on Sunday. Russian passports are being signed up in preparation. It really looks as if we are going to move soon. Squadron Leader Evans had to fill in forms of interrogation which he signed. This gives us clearance, a clearance chit to be presented on arrival in England which should hasten our departure from the Receiving Centre. A cabinet order said that all POWs are to be with their families within twenty four hours of arriving in England. Length of leave is uncertain. Nearly eighty thousand POWs have been returned to England so far. There can’t be many more. Eisenhower has just repeated his, ‘stay put’ message. The 12th, Saturday the 12th — Group Captain Green on parade this morning said evacuation was to begin this afternoon. Sick quarters are first on the list. Then come the British personnel in the following order and its by blocks eight, nine, ten, eleven etcetera. So we were in a good position. What’s the betting I click for a cleaning job which would mean a delayed departure. At 2pm the first US aircraft arrived at Barth aerodrome. Two Daks for hospital cases and the rest Fortresses. Joe here is in charge, that’s me, in charge of operation [unclear] so I shan’t get away until tomorrow. The rest of the boys in the room buzzed at 3pm. Six lads and I stayed from 3pm until 9pm cleaning up. What a bloody awful job. Managed to get a shower at the end of it. Packed for the morning, nearly losing my fags as the Yanks still in the compound were on the prowl and almost swiped them. Saturday the 13th of May — paraded at 6.30am and after roll call we marched out to the airfield. At 7.30am the first Forts arrived. We were then split into groups of twenty five and as each Fort came around the perimeter track we embarked. That was Sunday the 13th. We were airborne at 8.30am and flew fairly low direct to England having a very good look at Bremen and Hamburg enroute. As we were using Russian time we had to put our watches back one hour to correspond with double British summertime. PBST. We landed at Ford in Sussex at 11.30. This completed the trip I set out on on December the 6th last. It took a bloody long time for my liking. Too long. I have recalled the following dream I had some time during my incarceration. Obviously, it was prompted by my fear that my family didn’t know my fate in the dream. I returned home to reassure the family that I was safe, in reasonable shape and in a POW camp. Having told the family this I prepared to leave, much to their puzzlement. ‘Why,’ they asked, ‘Did you, now home do you propose to leave?’ ‘Because I’m still a POW and my place is in that German POW camp,’ [laughs] I replied. And that took me to the end of the war.
DM: So, that was the diary you kept.
JG: Yes.
DM: When you were in the camp. Yes.
JG: That’s right. And that I didn’t much do much until the last days. Little point really.
DM: So, you obviously then had leave after you got home.
JG: That’s right.
DM: Repatriation leave.
JG: Yes.
DM: When did you actually leave the air force the first time?
[pause]
JG: I don’t [pause] I’m not sure that I’ve got it.
DM: It doesn’t matter precisely.
JG: Yes. It was —
DM: It was in 1945 was it?
JG: Yes.
DM: That you left.
JG: That’s right. Yes. What happened was that after the end of leave, which was extensive I did an air traffic controller course and I ended my days in the RAF as an air traffic controller at Henlow in Bedfordshire. And it must have been September I think. I’m trying to think when I got it [pause] Righto. Thank you.
DM: When you left the air force —
JG: Yes.
DM: What did you do in Civvy Street?
JG: I had a number of jobs. The last one was an, with an insurance company called Friends Provident. They’re still around. Quite a minor one I think. But I had, the first job I had was [pause] air freight. It was a company that dealt with arranging air freight in and out of the country. We were based in Victoria. It was a fiercely boring thing. And —
Other: You didn’t go back to Brown Shipley did you?
JG: No. I often wonder what would have happened had I because Brown Shipley’s still around.
DM: What prompted you to join up again in 1949?
JG: The fact that I was bored stiff and really and I was by now living in what we used to call digs in Reading and coming home to Sidcup at the weekends. And I didn’t really enjoy it much. And so it was when this announcement was made I thought, ‘Oh I can’t do worse than this.’ And if I’m going to go back on my terms because what I want now I want to settle down. If possible to get a house. I want to make some solid progress and get employment which I can guarantee until normal retirement age because I’ve not got much in the way of money. Certainly the RAF would provide the income that I was looking for and if I can get in with my flight lieutenant rank. And also, I actually had the nerve to talk about a permanent commission. And to my amazement that’s what happened. And I’ll never know whether the chap who was by now Air Marshall Sir John Whitley who had been the station commander at, at St Eval in 1942 when I was there and whom I was interviewed by him on the way to getting a commission and I wrote and reminded him of that. Whether it had any affect I just don’t know. I’d like to think it did and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he hadn’t sort of put a recommendation in on my behalf. Anyway, that’s in I went. And 31st of May 1949 and I — my first Squadron. I went having done a number of courses to 1949. Refresher navigation courses. I then went to a course where I went as a navigator to a pilot whose name was Wing Commander Oxley and this was a organised — I’m not sure what exactly it was called but it was at [pause] now —
[pause]
JG: I have to turn this off again. I’m very sorry.
[recording paused]
JG: Obviously then, this refresher training thing I was posted.
[pause – doorbell rings]
JG: To RAF Swinderby at an Advanced Flying School and where we flew Wellingtons and I flew with the pilot Wing Commander Oxley between September and November. In late December of ’49 I was posted to Number 236 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Kinloss, Scotland flying Lancasters. Until April the 5th of April when I was posted to 38 Squadron Luqa, Malta flying Lancasters on maritime operations.
[pause]
JG: Apart from maritime operations which included various Naval and air force. Naval and air operations, training operations and also on air sea rescue duties.
[pause]
JG: At the beginning of 1953 where I was then posted to Number 1 Maritime Reconnaissance School. And that was at St Mawgan in Cornwall. And during my time there I found myself recruited to take part in the Queen’s coronation and I, for the spell which included the coronation I went up to Henlow. And we were trained in basically marching long distances. And I took part in the actual Review on the 2nd of June 1953. And then subsequently in the July I took part in the Queen’s RAF Review of the — at [pause] well I think it was the RAF Review. The Queen’s Review of the RAF took place at Odiham in Hampshire. And that was [pause] I haven’t got the actual date. Later in 1954 I was posted to headquarters, 64 Group Home Command at Rufforth, York as PA to the AOC. Non-flying apart from accompanying the air commodore and visits. From ’56, September ’56 to the 23rd of January I attended a Bomber Command Bombing School, Lindholme. Navigation training for the V force. In summer that year I was posted instead to Air Ministry, London Air Intelligence Branch. And in October 1960 I was posted as assistant air attaché, British Embassy, Paris. I retired from the RAF in May 1962 and in September I joined Shellmex and BP Limited soon to become separate companies. I stayed with Shell until retiring in June 1982. And that’s really leaves me coming out.
DM: The, near the beginning you were saying that because you were a POW.
JG: Yes.
DM: You didn’t have your hands on your logbook.
JG: That’s right.
DM: And you didn’t get it back. And that was one of the ones that was ultimately destroyed I assume.
JG: Yes. As far as I know if you want to record it.
DM: It’s going. Yeah.
JG: When I came back I made enquiries and I discovered that in October or November 1960 [pause] Either ’59 or ’60. When did I go? [pause] Yes. It would be October 1960. A decree had gone out earlier that year, no in that month, it was certainly while I was in Paris the Air Ministry issued a decree to say that the, there were a lot of logbooks unclaimed and unless you claimed the thing by whatever date it was, I don’t know, they would be destroyed. And so by the time I came back and I didn’t know that, I didn’t get that news while I was in Paris and I can’t, and I’m surprised they didn’t think to tell people all over the place. Or else I just missed it. But anyway the fact is then any enquiries I made just drew a blank. So, there’s no point really. It isn’t, doesn’t exist anywhere unless someone thought oh I’ll have this. But why they would do that I don’t know.
DM: No.
JG: I can’t imagine it’s of any interest to anybody but me. But it’s been a nuisance really because [pause] well just all I’ve got, I’ve got it here but the as soon as I rejoined of course I got another logbook and that’s the one I’ve got. But it doesn’t help looking back at things that happened during the war.
DM: No.
JG: The only one of interest that, it was an event which occurred while I was on 78 Squadron at Linton on Ouse and it’s documented actually in Bomber Command records. It — we took off from Linton on the 11th of December 1942 heading for Italy. So, we were virtually a flying petrol tank with one or two little bombs. Anyway, we took off and immediately one of the engines caught fire and the situation was such that we had to get out of it. Out of the aircraft. Fortunately, Linton is not all that distance from the North Sea, although it is the other side of Yorkshire. And so what we proposed to do, the initial plan was to drop our bombs in the sea or where they could be safely dropped and come back and land. But the situation was getting rapidly out of hand and so it was a question of dropping the bombs first thing and then, if possible to have a crash landing somewhere. However, and as I was a bomb aimer down in the front I had to get rid of the hatch so that we were going to drop out of it. That’s the way we were going to go. But I soon had to tell the pilot, ‘We’re going to be far too low to bale out.’ So, he said, ‘Well, I’ll see if I can crash land somewhere.’ But by this time it was getting worse than that. He said, ‘I don’t know. I think I can reach the sea.’ And that’s what we did. We ditched in the North Sea. Just a few miles out, three miles out from Filey and we all got away with it. There was no, had we stayed much longer of course we could very well have burned up. But we did, we got down in the water and we got picked up. Interestingly enough we were picked up by fishermen who had just landed in Filey and had looked back to see this aircraft going into the sea and turned their boats around and came out to pick us up. And, but some of those poor chaps got some stick because what they should have done because some of them were lifeboatmen they should, they should have gone, and gone out with the lifeboat. So they weren’t very popular when the lifeboat did come out and found out some of their men were actually there having done the job for them virtually. Because we didn’t need any help other than something to take us back to land. Now, I was recently, a few years ago now I was contacted by someone by the name of Paul Bright who had written or was writing actually, he hadn’t finished it — a book called, “Aircraft Activity Over the East Riding of Yorkshire,” which included not only RAF but Luftwaffe things. How he got it I don’t know. Anyway, he had got the records of 78 Squadron and this ditching thing and he [pause] he got in touch with me via the chap who wrote 640 Squadron history and as a result of that I was, gave this chap Paul Bright all the information and he’s included it in his book. There’s the thing, “On a Wing and a Prayer,” about what happened from my time in 78. And I’ve been in touch with him. We’ve been, both T and I have met a number of times when we’ve gone up that way and also because the — we’ve been going up there to the Memorial of 640 and at the same time met Paul Bright. But I don’t know what’s happened. A book which I’ve got a copy of I think. A member of the family must have it but it’s, it’s a most extraordinary detailed book of what happened in the air over the East Riding during the war. And including what’s happened to various air crew including German air crew.
[pause]
JG: And I’m in touch with him every time something significant comes up. Like today for example. I told him about the organisation that was going ahead on behalf of Bomber Command in that area. And I don’t know whether he has been in touch but of all the information I’ve had of course is via Carol and her visits up there.
DM: Ok.
JG: Right.
DM: In September 1944 whilst engaged on an attack on a synthetic oil plant the aircraft in which Flight Lieutenant Goldby was flying was severely damaged by heavy anti-aircraft fire. One engine was hit and rendered useless. Three petrol tanks were holed and a shell fragment entering the bomb aimer’s compartment damaged his equipment. Despite intense physical discomfort and shock Flight Lieutenant Goldby continued calmly to direct his captain onto the target. This determination and skill resulted in a successful attack. This officer has participated in many operations over enemy territory and among his targets have been such heavily defended areas as Essen and Duisberg. He is now engaged on his second tour of operations and in his capacity as bombing leader has been a source of inspiration to his section and has materially contributed to the high standard of efficiency attained. And therefore, the DFC was awarded.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with John Louis Goldby
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
David Meanwell
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-10-25
Rights
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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.
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AGoldbyJL171025, PGoldbyJL1701
Conforms To
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Pending review
Pending revision of OH transcription
Format
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01:30:05 audio recording
Language
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eng
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Description
An account of the resource
John Goldby was born in Kent but the family moved to London the year after. He was inspired to join the RAF when a schoolfriend joined and became a Spitfire pilot. John believes that it was a mid-air collision with a night fighter that led to his crash. He became a Prisoner of War at Stalag Luft 1. He kept a detailed diary of events leading to his eventual liberation and return to the UK. After demob he was soon bored with Civvy Street and returned to the RAF. He had an interesting post-war career including time as air attaché to the British Embassy in Paris.
Contributor
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Julie Williams
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Great Britain
England--Yorkshire
Germany--Barth
Germany--Berlin
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941-05
1942-05
1944
1945-01-20
1945-04-30
1945-05-05
640 Squadron
78 Squadron
aircrew
Blenheim
bomb aimer
bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942)
Distinguished Flying Cross
ditching
Dulag Luft
Halifax
Hampden
Lancaster
mid-air collision
observer
Operational Training Unit
prisoner of war
RAF Linton on Ouse
RAF Marston Moor
RAF Moreton in the Marsh
RAF Riccall
RAF St Eval
RAF Stanton Harcourt
Stalag Luft 1
training
Wellington
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/497/10707/BCopusPJCopusPJv.1.pdf
3b4590afce6b1c8ba1a3d4a0cfb2e9a3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Copus, Jim
P J Copus
Copus, James
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Copus, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Nine items. Two oral history interviews with Warrant Officer Percy James Copus (1922 - 2016, 1430308 Royal Air Force) who flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 97 Squadron. The collection also includes photographs of himself and family, and account and maps of his last operation of the 27 March 1943 on Frankfurt, when his Lancaster was shot down and he became a prisoner of war.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by James Copus and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-02-24
Rights
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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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
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A few minutes before 7 o’clock in the evening of 22nd March 1944 I took off on my last operational sortie as the mid-upper gunner of Lancaster OF-P ND351. By the end of that night I was a prisoner of war having bailed out of the aircraft as it fell crippled and burning, the victim of a German night-fighter.
This is the story of that night and the year in captivity that followed..................
[Hand written signature] W/O James Copus 97 Sqn. POW STALAGLUFT 1. 2011. Love from Daddy. [/hand written signature]
[page break]
TARGET – FRANKFURT
By P.J. Copus
An extract from 97 Flight Operation Records 22-23 Mar 1944 :-
TARGET – Frankfurt Lancaster III OF-P ND351
P/O R.E. Cooper, Sgt. F.S. Witcher, F/Sgt. McFayden, Sgts. H. Lunt, H.A. Smith, P.J. Copus, R.R. Hinde.
Op 18.50 aircraft missing (4 x TI, 1 x 4000lb, 2 x 1000lb, 600 x 4lb incs, 40 x 4lb incs).
TARGET AHEAD!
We have made our turn to the south of Hanover at 18,000 feet. The target, Frankfurt, is now directly ahead of the aircraft and already burning. My attention is elsewhere, however. The Flak, which we can do nothing about anyway, has stopped, a sure indication that fighters are up. An “own goal” by the Flak crews would mean a double-quick transfer to the Russian front. Any night-fighter attack will come from the rear of the aircraft. Only the rear gunner and myself, the mid-upper turret gunner can offer return fire and so we are a fighter’s primary targets in the hope that he can silence our guns and finish off the aircraft without risk. We are well-aware that the odds are stacked heavily in his favour:
each of our Lancaster’s four Merlin engines produces a double row of exhaust flames
we have shiny turrets which can reflect any stray light
the fighter pilot can quickly re-position his aircraft to improve his view of anything suspicious whereas we have a full bomb-load and can only manoeuvre very gently for fear of tearing the wings off the aeroplane!
Should we be spotted then we [italic] must [/italic] see the slender, head-on fighter profile he gets within range, a very tall order indeed considering that we have to search all that volume of the night sky within our range of vision to the rear of the aircraft. Our rifle-calibre machine guns mean that the best we can hope for, should we be attacked, is to put the fighter pilot off his aim or maybe even make him break off his attack and perhaps lose us again in the darkness. However, since it is possible that the fighter was equipped with radar that he used to find us a second time. In an exchange of fire, we are at a severe disadvantage since the fighter has 20mm cannon as well as machine guns and the resulting weight of fire exceeds our own. Taking all these factors into account means that our chances of survival depend almost entirely on the size of the night sky which although apparently empty contains our friends and our foes in unequal proportions; there are many more of the latter, ground-based as well as airborne, who are as determined to prevent our
[page break]
reaching the target as we are to get there. The element of surprise is no longer a factor. Other aircraft in front of us have already released their bombs and the target is literally sprinkled with fires. The fighters will be more concerned with preventing additional attacks than shooting down aircraft that have already bombed. The chances of being seen in silhouette against the ground fires by a fighter pilot increase as we draw nearer the target. Our course, height and speed were all fixed before we took off in order to reduce the chances of not only of a collision over the target but also of bombs falling on aircraft flying at a lower level. In spite of these precautions, instruments inevitably have minor calibration tolerances and variations of a few hundred feet are number of occurrences is impossible to quantify since survivors of such an eventuality are improbable.
It is as well that we are all too preoccupied to think too carefully about the multitude of situations quite apart from enemy action that could kill us in the blink of an eye.
THE BEGINNING
Our training as a complete crew had involved many 8-hour flights around the UK almost always at night on what were primarily navigation exercises. However, their indirect purpose was to get us all functioning as a team. Apart from that we gunners were just along for the ride. On completion of training in Lancasters we were posted to ....... a Stirling station! In that remarkable manner which it seems only the Military can achieve, we had been wrongly directed and no-one knew anything about us. Our pilot, F/O Cooper told us to stay put and that he would arrange something. He disappeared for two days. On his return he announced that he had fixed us up with a Pathfinder Squadron, No.97.
This is how, one day in late December, we arrived at Bourn in Cambridgeshire. Only a fortnight previously, on the night of 16/17th. December, known as “Black Thursday”, Bomber Command has experienced its worst bad-weather losses of the war, a tragedy which cruelly emphasises the fact that the enemy lurks not only in human form. We were posted to Bourn as a contribution towards making up 97 Squadron’s share of the losses.
THE ATTACK
That night 22nd./23rd. March no-one saw the fighter, a Messerschmitt Bf110, in time. His first attack was probably at the end of a gentle climb from behind and below. The climb reduces the speed differential that the fighter needs to catch the target thereby avoiding the risk of an overshoot or even a collision. This tactic also meant that the bulk of the Lancaster on top of which I was sitting, hid the fighter from my view and even the rear gunner’s view downward is restricted enough to hide the approaching fighter. In any event that initial attack knocked out the hydraulics which operated the turrets. I was then in the embarrassing position of being able to do nothing
[page break]
but watch the ‘110’ flying alongside, straight and level, slightly below us and 200 to 300 metres off our starboard wing. The ‘110’s relative position enabled the gunner, facing aft in the rear of the cockpit to fire bursts from his machine gun with zero deflection into our fuel tanks and number three and four engines. The results were exactly what one would expect; both engines burst into flames. Some of his rounds, passing within inches of my head shattered my turret at about the same time as our pilot ordered over the intercom “Prepare to abandon aircraft” and then very quickly afterwards “Abandon aircraft”. All members of the crew acknowledged the order including the rear gunner who by some miracle had survived the initial attack. The bomb-aimer jettisoned the bomb-load. We were on our way down, both starboard engines blazing furiously.
THE ESCAPE
I tear off my oxygen mask, intercom leads and harness and folding my small seat upwards and out of the way manage to drop from my turret into the aircraft’s fuselage, where it is pitch dark. Although we gunners wear the parachute harness at all times in the aircraft, there is no room for the parachute pack itself in any of the turrets and my own is stored on the port side of the aircraft, aft of my position and opposite the rear fuselage hatch. It takes only a few seconds to find my parachute and clip it onto the harness. The rear hatch is now my emergency exit and I begin wrestling with the release handle. The door is jammed! More determined wrestling. The handle breaks off in my hand! I now have to scramble forward virtually the whole length of the Lancaster’s fuselage encumbered by parachute, heavy flying suit and boots. In pitch blackness! Although the entire fuselage is extremely confined and packed with equipment, this is nothing compared to the gymnastics required to wriggle over the wing-spar. All this must be achieved in the dark making sure that the parachute’s rip-cord does not get snagged and cause premature deployment and with the knowledge that at any moment the aircraft could steepen its dive, suddenly flip into inverted flight or simply explode as the engine fires touch off the fuel tanks in the wing. It is also possible that the fighter could attack again. Any chance of hiding in the night is now gone, our demise highlighted by sheets of flame. There are numerous other scenarios none of which is likely to improve our chances of survival. I dismiss these thoughts and continue floundering towards the under-nose hatch, now the only means of escape. The hatch is in the very forward part of the aircraft and access to it is achieved crawling under the pilot’s instrument panel to the right of his seat. The manoeuvre can be likened to crawling through the knee-hole of a writing desk. The pilot is still at the controls. I can see him clearly. This forward part of the aircraft is illuminated by way of a hole in the fuselage and indicate that I am about to go. He nods briefly in acknowledgement. There appears to be no-one else in the aircraft because I am able to walk upright towards the nose, still in pitch darkness of course, until I simply plunge feet-first through the open hatch! None of us is well-prepared for the experience which follows. Training for bailing out had been limited to little more than a few minutes’ jumping from a bench in the gym and attempting a landing-roll. After all, we all knew for certain that it was only some of the
[page break]
other crews who would have to face the experience. That sort of thing happens only to the other chaps..........
This night, however, it is not the ‘other chaps’. It is us. Our lucky mascots, our youthful confidence in ourselves and each other, our training, all now useless. What happens next is uncharted territory!
The slipstream seizes me and whirls me around furiously and noisily. During one of my violent gyrations, I catch a glimpse of the aircraft as I free-fall away from it. I have kept hold of the ripcord handle and knowing now that I am well clear of the aircraft, haul on the handle. The parachute explodes out of the pack as the airstream seizes it. The opening shock is immediate and extremely violent and I am wrenched into an upright position, completely winded and in some considerable pain from the contraction of the parachute harness. The sudden peace and quiet is extraordinary. The only noise is my own laboured breathing. I am hanging apparently nearly motionless. It is cold. Very cold! We were flying at 18,000 feet when attacked and I imagine the aircraft was down to 15,000 feet when I bailed out.
Surprisingly, my all-consuming thought is that it will take a long time to get back home from this operation!
[photo from R.A.F. Museum’s Lancaster September 2010]
The descent takes an enormous but unquantifiable amount of time. I know the ground will be covered in snow and therefore easy to see. Straining my eyes I can see a vague brightness below. I brace myself and wait for the shattering crash of the landing. Nothing happens! What I take to be the ground is a thin layer of low cloud. Just cloud. As I begin to relax a little, comes the landing; surprisingly gentle. I am in a ploughed field covered with snow. My only injury is some bruising and scratching on my face as a result of pitching forward on impact with the ground.
[page break]
To borrow the Germans’ own favourite expression in these circumstances “For me, the war is over.”
A PRISONER OF WAR
The field in which I had landed was only yards from a row of houses. Their occupants were on me immediately I landed and I was dragged into one of the houses amid much shouting and bravado. It was widely known that German civilians were not exactly welcoming towards aircrew who fell into their hands and I was very nervous about the whole situation. They shoved me into one corner of the room. My ‘chute has been gathered into an untidy bundle and was dumped beside me. In the other corner were grouped a cross-section of the neighbourhood. They were gesticulating and shouting at me in unintelligible German. Some of the shouting, however, needed no translation! In the circumstances I did not feel at all like a ‘Terrorflieger’ as the Nazis called R.A.F. bomber crews. Some young wide-eyed children were among the crowd. As a gesture of goodwill I took some chocolate from my flying-suit pocked and offered it to them. They recoiled hastily, either not knowing what it was or suspecting it was poisoned perhaps. To prove it was safe I ate a little myself and returned the rest to my pocket but the atmosphere was tense and I hoped that some sort of authority had been alerted and would remove me before something unpleasant happened.
Fortunately, the civil police (they were referred to as ‘gendarmes’) arrived promptly and I was hauled off on foot to the local police station where I was thrown unceremoniously, without food or water, into a damp cell in which the only piece of furniture was a bed. There was not even a blanket. I attempted to sleep but it was extremely cold. In an attempt to keep my feet from freezing I managed to squeeze both into one flying boot.
At some point during the night I was dragged out of the cell and upstairs to an office where I was confronted by the local Bürgermeister (Mayor). There were, he told me, the bodies of several aircrew in the mortuary. If I would tell him the names of my crew he would let me know if any of them were among the dead. I felt unable to cooperate in this ‘kind offer’ which was, of course, a fairly transparent ruse to get more information out of me. My response was perhaps equally transparent but served well enough to show that I knew what he was up to. The crew I had been a last minute arrangement as a substitute. However, I added helpfully, I would be prepared to go to the mortuary and point out anyone I recognised. This offer was refused and I was returned promptly to my cell.
In the morning, after an extremely uncomfortable night, I was brought a cup of ersatz coffee and unidentifiable to eat. Shortly afterwards I was dragged out of the cell and outside where a horse cart was waiting. Surprisingly my ‘chute was returned to me and as I flung it
[page break]
into the cart saw Lund, the bomb-aimer, already aboard. He had a leg wound. As I started to climb up into the cart with him, I was pulled back and told that I must walk along behind thus presenting the entire populace who had turned out to watch, with another opportunity to shout and scream abuse as we plodded slowly through the town.
We arrived eventually at some sort of holding area, a single room in an official building into which we were directed. Shortly, after, Lund was taken off to hospital. My parachute was not returned to me and I imagine provided some luxury under-wear for a “Hausfrau” or mistress somewhere. It was not for many years that I discovered that the rear-gunner, Ron Hinde, whom we all knew as “Slick”, although he had acknowledged the order to bail out, had been killed. Exactly what had happened remains a mystery. Clearly something had gone wrong after his acknowledgement of the order to bale [sic] out. As I had discovered there was ample capacity for The Unexpected! The aircraft crashed in woodland outside Hanover and Ron Hinde is buried in Hanover War Cemetery.
It appeared that when the holding areas reached a certain number of inmates, they were moved out for transfer to a permanent camp (Stalag). The first step in the transfer process was to get to Frankfurt. Accompanied by two guards, I was shoved onto a train and began the two-day trip. Progress was very slow, the timetable upset by Bomber Command’s constant rearrangement of the rail network! The guards were pleasant and pointed out landmarks along the way. During one of halts one of my guards announced that he was going to get some water. In due course he returned and sat down, sipping at his water bottle. After a while he offered me the water bottle. “Wasser?” he asked. I took a gulp. Schnapps!
Thus I was delivered to Frankfurt station where a large number of weary and disconsolate aircrew were already gathered. The station was a mess! There were hardly any buildings standing, just several platforms. I did not feel the need to point out that this had been our handiwork! We were crammed into cattle-trucks, thirty per truck. We had no idea where we were going or how long the journey would take. We travelled day and night. There were occasional stops when we were given food and water.
Three days later we arrived at Stalagluft 1.
[page break]
[Sketch of location and layout of camp]
The POW camp, Stalagluft 1 was close to the Baltic coast near a town called Barth. There were British and American aircrew there numbering nearly 10000 in total. The days were spent walking about, playing football perhaps, talking, reading. There was a lively black market trade based on Red Cross food parcels. It was not unknown for the guards to join in, running the risk of joining short-sighted Flak crews and other defaulters in Stalingrad!
It can be imagined perhaps that for young men used to an active, adrenalin-fuelled life, the resulting boredom was a particular form of torture. The reader must remember too, that we had no idea no long this would go on and how it would end. One of the original inmates of the camp had been shot in the middle of September 1939 only a few weeks into the war. How were we new arrivals to know that our own confinement wouldn’t be just as long..... or longer!?
[page break]
[photo of the camp]
But for the resilience of youth and the comradeship, it would have been easy to fall into hopelessness and despair.
One of the first people I met on entering the camp was a chap who had been on the same gunnery course as me on the Isle of Man. A fortnight after my arrival, our pilot F/O Cooper turned up. Although I was unaware of it at the time, he had been wounded in the back when we were shot down and had been in hospital since that time.
The most senior German officer whom we saw regularly during his “rounds” of the camp was a Major Mueller. He was a decent chap, clearly one of the “old school” bearing a duelling scar across one cheek. He was not above joining in and on one occasion, after watching some Americans fencing; took over one “foil” (actually a stick) to show them how it was done. Of course, the camp was run entirely by the Luftwaffe, much preferable, we all felt, to Wehrmacht personnel who not doubt gave their prisoners a much harder time. There was the empathy of airmen albeit on different sides.
The Germans routinely produced their version of The News riddled of course with propaganda: a rain of V.1’s and V.2’s had reduced London to rubble: the Wehrmacht was pushing the Red Army back into Russia: an attempted Allied invasion had been thrown back into the sea while a German invasion was imminent and so on. Fortunately we had our own sources – the BBC via an illicit
[page break]
radio hidden somewhere in the camp. It was not therefore entirely unexpected one night, 30th April 1945, after we were locked up as usual, all the Germans fled! We already knew, as they did, that the Red Army was approaching. We were not overjoyed at the prospect of being liberated by the Russians and were somewhat concerned by what might happen. Had we known then what is known now about how the Russians sometimes handled these situations, we would have been even more concerned!
LIBERATION
For some days after the departure of our guards the only signs of our liberators were in the distance. In the meantime our own officers advised us not to venture outside the camp confines. Free to explore the entire camp we discovered a hoard of Red Cross parcels which the Germans had stopped distributing since December. This windfall allowed us to celebrate in some style. The Russians’ eventual arrival was marked by an hour-long speech , delivered in Russian by a senior officer. Since hardly anyone understood a word we were obliged to follow the speaker’s lead and applaud or cheer at what seemed to be suitable pauses in his oratory. Thereafter we saw very little of the Red Army, a situation which suited us very well!
It was two weeks before we were picked up. Our removal from the camp had been expedited we found out much later, by the highest possible authority. The Russians had apparently revealed that they intended to move us all to Odessa from where we could be shipped home. Or so they said. The British and American Governments did not believe at least the latter part of this stated intention and the mission to pick us up was put together in something of a hurry and without consultation with our liberators. The suspicion was that the Russians intended to hold us hostages to improve their bargaining position when it came to dividing up the spoils of war.
We were marched in batches to the airfield on the southern outskirts of the town. On the way we passed within yards of the perimeter of a concentration camp. The occupants did not appear “liberated”. It is probable that they had simply swapped one captor for another. We knew of the existence of this camp because several of the inmates having presumably escaped in the chaos after the Russians’ arrival had turned up at the gates of our camp begging for food and sanctuary. To have rendered any form of assistance, not that there was much we could have done, would have meant the end of all of us had the Russians discovered that we had helped them.
I returned to England in a USAF B-17. We were eventually taken to Biggin Hill where we were told that none of us would fly again with the R.A.F. and given two weeks’ leave to make up our minds whether to stay on or not. In a “Land Fit for Heroes” there was little on offer in the way of employment and so I elected to stay on in the R.A.F. and chose[sic] to join a transport unit. Here I learned to drive and acquired my driving licence which stood me in good stead for my eventual transfer to “civvy street”.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Target Frankfurt
Description
An account of the resource
Account of Jim Copus's last operation to Frankfurt during which his 97 Squadron Lancaster was shot down by a Me 110 night fighter. Includes the task of air gunners, the engagement by the night fighter which disabled all hydraulics including those to his turret. His difficulties in escaping from the aircraft, parachuting and capture by hostile civilians before being handed to civil police. His treatment as a prisoner and his journey to prisoner of war camp at Stalag Luft 1 at Barth. Life in camp, liberation by the Russians and repatriation by United States Army Air Force B-17 to England. Includes photographs of Jim Corpus as a wartime airman, prisoner of war and at the RAF Museum in 2010 as well as one of the prisoner of war camp. In addition there are hand drawn maps of north Germany and the Baltic locating Barth and a diagram of the Stalag Luft 1 camp.
Creator
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James Corpus
Format
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Eleven page printed document
Language
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eng
Type
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Text
Text. Memoir
Map
Photograph
Identifier
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BCopusPJCopusPJv
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
United States Army
Civilian
Wehrmacht. Luftwaffe
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Great Britain
Germany--Frankfurt am Main
Germany--Barth
England--Kent
Temporal Coverage
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1944-03-27
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Contributor
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Gemma Clapton
Rights
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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.
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
B-17
bale out
final resting place
Lancaster
Me 110
prisoner of war
RAF Biggin Hill
RAF Bourn
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/652/8923/PWadeR1503.2.jpg
0b506137cd4da312b391a18185ae0198
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/652/8923/AWadeR150726.1.mp3
95701c1624fa69e8a17fb1a5fdcce23c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Wade, Ron
R Wade
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Wade
Description
An account of the resource
Four items. An oral history interview with Ron Wade (b. 1917, Royal Air Force) and three photographs. He flew operations as a wireless operator with 58 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by Nigel Huckins
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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AM: Okay, so this interview is being conducted for the International Bomber Command Centre. The interviewer is Annie Moody, and the interviewee is Ron Wade, and the interview is taking place at Mr Wade’s home in, near Cheltenham at Bishops Cleve on the 26th July 2015. So, Ron, if you just may be start off with just a little bit about your background, about your school days and what your parents did? Off you go.
RW: All right now, it’s switched off
AM: [Laughs]. Okay, so off you go Ron.
RW: Right. What do you want first?
AM: Well just tell me a little bit about your, what your parents did, and school days, where you were born, just a little bit of background about you.
RW: Yes, right, I was, you’ve got the date I was born.
AM: I have.
RW: And um, my parents, I was one of four children, I had two sisters and a brother. Unfortunately my brother was killed during the war, not on operations, but he, after I was shot down, he was working for the gas company and he would have been, um, he needn’t have joined, let’s put it that way, but er, because I was missing believed killed for six months and he said, ‘they’ve got Ron, I’m going to take his place’, and he joined the RAF. He was coming home on his birthday, 1943, on a motorcycle, and I was the motorcyclist in the family and taking risks a place, he hit a lorry and was killed outright, and so my parents had a rough time because I was, they thought I was, I was injured they didn’t know how badly and so um, they had a rough time.
AM: They must have done, yeah. What did your parents do Ron?
RW: My father was, they had a grocery shop at the time, but before the war my father was a Master Grocer and he was made redundant by the person he worked for it as a, I was born. Let’s start off where I was born. I was born in Stoke-on-Trent and Longton was the name of the one of the six towns, not five towns, they forgot Fenton, and so, um my, that was my father, he was a Master Grocer and those days, when he was younger, to be a Master Grocer was quite a trade. And so um, he, my mother worked in the Potteries in Longton where most of the china was produced and Ainsley and all the top china work, and she was a Paintress, a freehand Paintress, and er, the, also my sister, one of my sisters was also a paint, a freehand Paintress on pottery.
AM: Where did you go to school?
RW: I went to school at Woodhouse, it was called Woodhouse and er, an Elementary School. I wasn’t very good [laughs] at maths but I enjoyed school, but when came the age of fourteen, in those days you had to pay to go to Grammar School. We couldn’t afford that, so at the age of fourteen I was kicked out and I left, and so um, I wandered around trying to get a job. If you think, this was in the thirties and a lot of unemployment and so I was told to go and get a job. So I got a job in a factory at Longton and it was a bit rough because I had to, as a warehouse boy, I was paid five shillings a week and one of my jobs was to scrub the floors, light a fire under a heater in the factory so they could bring their food and put it on the top to heat it up for lunch. If I was late getting all that done, I was in dead trouble [laughs], but scrubbing the floors, it was so the one floor from downstairs, the ovens, we had two big ovens, one gloss and one biscuit, that we called biscuit ovens, [coughs] and then after a while the former warehouse boy he er, he worked in the moulding, he became a moulder in the moulding shop, and he said, ‘have they got on to you yet about moving from here?’ and at that time, I was scrubbing the floors with a scrubbing brush, cold water, down the steps, all wood, wooden steps, cleaning the steps going down there [laughs]. And so and er, then the crunch came when they said ‘right, pack it in, you go downstairs and help unloading from the ovens’ and what happened, it was, they’d be firing and then they used to open up after the firing, take all the bricks away from the entrance and then for twelve hours it would be cooling off. And then they got me with the others, the people unloading right from the top of the ladders and they brought it down and it was still very, very hot ware and then they got me with the others, carrying ware like dinner plates, [laughs], carrying from the oven. Up the stairs, two flights of stairs, along the corridor, which I had to clean [laughs] and into the warehouse, where the women were and they unloaded from the baskets. And one day, I was going up with a basket full of cups and saucers, and I used to carry them on my shoulder, basket on my shoulder and one hand on my hip, going up the same flight of stairs and I caught a water pipe that was sticking out from the stairs, just caught the basket and I had a choice. Shall I go down with the basket [laughs] or try and retrieve what I could, but I decided to let the basket go [laughs] and save myself.
AM: Save yourself.
RW: And there the ugly manager, who was one of the bosses sons stood at the bottom, with his hands on his hips and he saw, he saw all the ware down there, all smashed, and he said, ‘I’ll stop that out of your wages’ [laughs].
AM: And did they?
RW: No, no, they’d have been forever [laughs].
AM: I was going to say wages probably wouldn’t have been enough, would they?
RW: No [laughs] so that was that.
AM: So that was your introduction to work.
RW: My introduction to work.
AM: What about the RAF, how did you come to join the RAF?
RW: The RAF yes - what happened there?
AM: What made you want to join?
RW: From there, I went, I had several other jobs you know, trying to make a living in the 1930’s, wasn’t easy, and I walked around for miles getting jobs for five shillings a week. And then I was always interested in the RAF and I wanted to fly and so I went to join up when the war started and er, they said, ‘no, no’. I said ‘I want to be a pilot’, because my uncle had been a pilot and been killed, and um, but I always, right from a tiny child, wanted to fly, I wanted to be a pilot, and so they said ‘no, we have enough pilots’, and um, my maths wouldn’t have been good enough anyway.
AM: This was right at the beginning of the war, 1939?
RW: Oh yes, the beginning of the war, when the war started.
AM: So you would be twenty two?
RW: Twenty two, that’s right and I had been married. I made the mistake of getting married, and er, anyway I had a daughter by that marriage and she is now ninety seven, eighty seven, sorry, and amazingly enough, she visits me, she stills lives near Stoke-on-Trent.
AM: Yes, excellent.
RW: And she comes now and then to visit. I, then, that’s right, oh they said, ‘if you want to go into aircrew, if you want to fly, we can offer you the um’, what shall I say, oh yes, ‘offer you the way you can get into aircrew and you can be the wireless operator, and then from wireless operator, you would be an air gunner. That’s the only thing we can offer you if you want to fly’, and so this is what happened. I joined up, I was called up and I offered my services then, and I was called up in January 1940 and I did my ITW in Morecambe, sent to Morecambe, and that was quite an experience, because we all walked down the street in Morecambe and they said, ‘you eight in that house, you eight in the next house’, and so this went on and as we were allocated this one house and the dear lady, who was the boss of the house, she was coming downstairs and we were just coming into the house, into the hall and she said, ‘I didn’t want you here, I’ve had enough with guests through the summer’, [laughs] and so that was our introduction to this place. She wouldn’t let us use the lounge, we had a little room at the back and then they had a kitchen, where we were allowed in, but not the lounge [laughs], and I wasn’t very popular with her because I didn’t like her attitude, and she said we had to be in at ten o’clock at night and so one of us used to stay around, say like if we went to a dance, you see, and so this is what we did and er, we made it enjoyable. I think the pranks we got up to such as I cut out a skull and crossbones and put it in the light that it shone, the light shone through the skull and crossbones [laughs]. They had um, a, a bit of a showcase in there and I saw er, a cup in there, I thought, the old man, poor devil, he was really under the thumb with the old girl, and I saw a cup in there, an inscribed cup and I thought, marvellous, he must have been a runner or something like that, and so when I examined the cup, fortunately the door wasn’t locked on the showcase, and I was disgusted to see that it was for mineral waters [laughs]. The cup was given for being very good with his mineral waters, and so what happened there was, I filled it with cold tea [laughs]and I wasn’t very popular at all.
AM: No.
RW: We were allowed to go upstairs to our rooms, she complained about, about the rifles, we all had our the Enfield rifles.
AM: Because you were square bashing?
RW: That’s right, yes, up and down the streets, and so um, she complained because we put our rifles in the umbrella stand in the hall, so she said, ‘no, they must go upstairs and under your beds’, so fair enough, this is what we did. But at ten o’clock in the mornings, we had to get up early, but at ten o’clock we had a tea break and so we all, the whistle went and we all had to fall outside in the street and er, the old boy had to make the tea, you see. By the time he’d made the tea for the eight of us, the whistle went again [laughs] so we had to form up outside again, and er, also the rifles had to keep going upstairs under the beds [laughs], so by the time we had done all these things, then we were going to be late on parade so that’s fair enough we managed it.
AM: Oh good.
RW: Yes, and then we were eventually, we were called by the CO, we had to go, we were called into the CO’s Office in Morecambe and – left, right, left ,right, halt - and er, we stood, the eight of us there, and we stood in front of the CO, and he had his bits of paper on his desk and he said ‘which one of you is Wade?’, so - left, right, left, right, halt - ‘Right, I’ve had complaints from your landlady’, and er, he read out all these different things that I had done in the house. And then I tried to explain, I said ‘I’m guilty of what she said, but it’s very difficult to go up and down the stairs in our boots and not make a noise’, that was one thing that she went on about, and the other thing was that she had to take up the stair carpet and so we were making more noise going up and down the stairs and this went on for a while, but the CO, ‘well, you won’t be here for very much longer’, which we weren’t fortunately, but next door they had a marvellous time, the eight in there, and they were allowed into the lounge and they had a piano, and the pianist there, I’m trying to think of his name - Ronnie, Ronnie, but he played at the BBC and er, his friend ran the Squadronaires.
AM: Right.
RW: I forget his name now, they were a nice couple of guys, and they also were able to fraternise with the two daughters [laughs] so they were unhappy to leave Morecambe [laughs]. Anyway we went from Morecambe up to um, to do the wireless course, wireless operators and er, so as I say I joined in January and when I went to Swanton Morley, no, not Swanton Morley, I’m trying to think of the name of the place we went to now.
AM: No, never mind
RW: It’ll come, and um, that’s right, and so I started a course there as a wireless operator and er, I did quite a few months there, doing Morse. Very difficult, very difficult and I was very happy to leave there [laughs].
AM: Did you pass?
RW: I passed, yes, we had to, and from there I was interviewed, now I was hoping they were putting me onto a pilots course [coughs] and I was interviewed by a group, and they were ex pilots from the First World War and um, as I sat there they were asking questions, ‘why did I want to fly?’ and I said ‘I’ve always wanted to fly since, I, since being very small’ and so er, I thought I am going to get my course as a pilot. But the one question one of these old boys threw at me was, ‘what would your feelings or attitude be, if you fired at a German and you saw his face disintegrate due to your bullets?’ I said ‘bloody good show, that’s what I joined for’ and so [laughs], and they all looked at me, you know, ‘who’s this crazy guy we’ve got here’ [laughs] and so that went on, and I thought, oh no, they’re going to put me on a pilots course. ‘No’, they said, ‘no, you will be an air gunner’. So I went down to South Wales and did an air gunner’s course there and this is just about the end of the Battle of Britain, and er, we were being bombed and shot up every day and night there, and er, and I was chased down the runway one day by a Junkers 88 and I managed [laughs], the bullets were going all around me and I got behind a sand bin and they came through the sand, the bullets from this 88 and then the hut, the hut we were in the, the normal RAF Huts.
AM: Nissen Huts.
RW: Yes, that’s right, all wood, and er, one day they bombed and destroyed the one each side of ours then we had to lie down flat as they strafed us, the bullet holes through the hut, through the wood.
AM: And this was at training camp in South Wales?
RW: In South Wales, yes, day and night. We weren’t allowed, as air crew, we weren’t allowed to sleep in the huts so we had to go out in the field and within tents and sleep outside, and there again, I was a bit crazy and I slept behind the beds. I put my mattress down there and then I thought ‘what’s it going to be?’ and my DRO’s, one of our men, was killed because he didn’t get in the tents, so I was turfed out of there and I had to go into a tent and er, that was the end of the Battle of Britain.
AM: Of the Battle of Britain.
RW: Yes.
AM: What was the training like Ron, the air gunner training?
RW: Oh it was intense, very intense and we had, had er, we had the um, Fairey Battles, Whitley’s 1’s and 3’s which were, they were pretty awful things this is why they had, and the Whitley 5’s we finished up on, they were also rubbish, [laughs] sorry to say. And um, as I said training had to be intense because we were the only ones carrying the war to the Germans, Bomber Command, and so from there other things happened you know, I was lucky to get away with we were, because they were bombing night and day.
AM: Because of the bombing?
RW: And so er, from there I went to OTU at Abingdon.
AM: Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
RW: That’s right, Abingdon, and er, that was very intense. We had very few hours off and because we were needed, and so from there a very good friend of mine, he was a pilot doing his training too and we were formed up into fives.
AM: So it was five, there were five of you in your group?
RW: Five in a group.
AM: This was for a Whitley?
RW: Whitley 5, yes, and er, Mac was his name, MacGregor Cheers and I’ve got it in my book, and he didn’t want to be a pilot, he wasn’t happy training as a pilot, poor Mac. There was me, I wanted to be a pilot and he would have rather, rather been an air gunner but it didn’t work out that way.
AM: How did you get together as a crew?
RW: Oh there we er, we had, later on when we got to the squadron, I moved on to 58 Squadron er, from training and um, this, our CO there, he said ‘I’ve been having too many complaints from you, from all air crew about the Whitley’, and we said ‘we’d rather be on the Wimpeys’, you know the Wimpey?
AM: I don’t know the Wimpey.
RW: Yes, the Wimpey was the one, I’m trying to think of it now, the Wimpey. We were on the Whitleys, I was flying on the Whitleys, this was the, this will probably tell you in the book there [looks through the book].
AM: I can’t find it, never mind it doesn’t matter.
RW: Anyway, we’ll find it yes. It’s my age [laughs].
AM: You’re allowed [laughs].
RW: And so we said we’d rather be on different aircraft, we didn’t like Whitleys, and he said, ‘anymore complaints and you’ll be off flying, you’ll be grounded’, he said ‘you fly in this and it’s a very good aircraft and you have to fly it’.
AM: Where was 58 Squadron based then, at that point?
RW: We were at Linton on Ouse.
AM: Okay.
RW: And that is where we had to form up and choose the crew, choose the fives, and er, it was very good, very good. And, oh yes, when I arrived there, our flight commander came through the hangar, I came from one door and he came through the other door, flight lieutenant, and um, he said ‘my god, we are glad to see you’, he said, ‘we had a rough night on Berlin last night and we had one aircraft left in our flight’. So he said, ‘come and meet the lads’, so off I went in the crew room and er, I met the lads and er, he said ‘right, this is Ron, Ron Wade, and er, he wants a cup of coffee. What do you want, tea or coffee? Who’s on making coffee?’, ‘Oh, I did it yesterday’, ‘now make him a cuppa, whatever he wants’, so I met the lads that way. But er, how we formed up in a crew we went into flying control and into the room there and all milling around meeting each other, formally or informally and this is where we formed up, and er, I was very lucky guy. I had a lucky war really because my original crew, I was taken off, we did two trips, two trips, I forget where it was now, but they said, ‘right that’s me softened up so you are being replaced by this Graham (I think his name was), Graham, because he ditched in the sea and he has been on leave for a couple of months, but he will be taking your place’, then last heard of, they came down in the sea, so this Graham had two trips, two operations both into the sea and the second time they weren’t recovered, so I was very lucky there, but I said to Amy, ‘how must his parents have felt?’
AM: Yes
RW: Because I think of him now, taking my place I had through good luck and he had the bad luck. My folks had the bad luck with my brother being killed and me being [unclear] after six months they thought I’d been killed.
AM: So just wheeling back a bit.
RW: Yes.
AM: So you didn’t, you were taken off that crew and then, presumably, put with another crew?
RW: Yes
AM: And did some more operations?
RW: Yes, with another crew, and then I was waiting to get on another crew and er, it was rather boring because I was sweeping, I was cleaning the snooker table and I got very good at snooker, and I was waiting and then I had several attempts to go on ops but something happened every time. And then on a Whitley 5, they um, they had a lot of what you call exacter trouble. If they snatched too hard then it would go fully fine and we would have to turn back and so er, this happened, different things happened and I didn’t get, because I had, I just, oh yes, what happened, from the trip before, it had been a bit hairy, got a few holes in it and er, I had a premonition from that, that as we were coming into land, I saw the runway and I thought I won’t see this again, I’m going to be killed. Strange feeling, it was a very, very, it, it and I knew I was going to be killed, strangely enough and I wanted to get this trip over, the next trip over, all my crew who were going to be my crew were on leave and I should have waited to come back but this is on January, January 8th I think, I think it’s in there, the book. Oh yes, my roommate, I won’t mention his name, but he came back from leave and he said that he was tired, he knew what the trip was going to be, it was a tough one, Konigsburg, and er, the CO said, ‘there are two fighter areas’, so he said, ‘keep North and be very wary because of the fighters’, and I knew that it was going to be tough because of so many things going on there. And so er, I volunteered for this, and he said that he was tired so the sawbones gave him a pill and told him to go to bed, so I volunteered, do you want to go to bed because always a thing come back, leave, he had a tough one, crew didn’t make it, we were losing so many in those days. And so off with his name, on with mine, just the [unclear] they wanted and er, I thought, I’m going to get it over with, and so off we went and this is when we were in Holland, North Holland, and then we had, they hit the port engine and we set on fire.
AM: Where? On the way to drop your bombs?
RW: Yes.
AM: On the way there.
RW: On the way there, yes, and er, we thought we were going to come down in the North Sea, we were going over the North Sea at the time, and January you didn’t live very long in the North Sea, and so we thought, that’s it, and all the rest of the crew were aged nineteen and I was the oldest.
AM: You were an old boy, twenty three?
RW: Twenty three, yes, and so um, the navigator said, ‘I don’t think we’ll make it, we are not going to make Holland’ and so the skipper said, ‘right I don’t know what you are going to do, but it’s no use coming down, we’ll have to go down into the sea and about five minutes that will be it because Whitley’s didn’t swim very well’ [laughs]. And so I was in the, I was flying as a rear gunner at the time, operating as a rear gunner, and by the way before that I had done a trip from um, the, when I was at OUT, I’d been, I was on a crew, going, dropping leaflets over Italy. We had a trip to Turin and it’s in the book there and dropping leaflets and we were attacked by two fighters and I told the pilot to do this um, manoeuvre to get away from them and um, then when we came up again, they fired at us and then I had the new Brownings, four of them, and they really did damage because I fired at them and then they turned and smoke poured from both of them and they retreated and went back. I didn’t know if they went down or not but they weren’t happy, and so that was an earlier.
AM: So that was Italy,
RW: And I was going to tell you.
AM: So now, now you’re on your way to Holland?
RW: That’s right on operations, I’d gone from there and I had a photograph taken by picture post in the turret, in the rear turret, showing off these new Brownings , and er, yes, so back to the squadron, on our way to Wilhelmshaven and then we were hit and I thought that’s it, this is my premonition coming because fire broke out and it was getting close, my job to get, we were given the order to bail out although if we wanted to over the sea, but by this time the navigator had informed us that we could make it, we just made it, North Holland, so we had been told to bail out. I had to get out of the rear turret somehow, we’d been losing height at quite a pace, so when I got out of the rear turret, because my parachute was in the fuselage, and so I had to open the rear doors of my turret, crawl out, then the order was to get my parachute and harness, ‘cos there’s no room in the turret for them, so my training was that I got these and then I had to get back into the turret with great difficultly, close the doors, turn ninety degrees and then go out backwards.
AM: Right
RW: But fortunately for me, as I was getting my parachute and harness and I put them on, the first wireless op came down the fuselage and he jettisoned the door, waved to me and the sparks and flames coming past the fuselage door, and he waved and jumped through this. Now I’m not getting back in that turret, I’ll never make it and so I was going after him and so I made for the door and, what happened next then, and, oh yes, I was about to jump and then out of the corner of my eye I saw the navigator coming down dragging his parachute and harness. He hadn’t put it on.
AM. Oh no.
RW: And so I couldn’t leave him, the plane was slipping like this – slipping, slipping, slipping - we lost a lot of altitude and we were getting pretty close, and so he couldn’t do anything because he was almost falling over every time the plane went. What had happened, the two pilots had gone from the door, from the front.
AM: So they’d bailed out?
RW: They’d bailed out, because he’d given orders for us to bail out by then, and as I say don’t forget that all the rest of the crew were nineteen, they very young. And so he went, that’s right, so I went back and zipped him up and then pushed him out, hoping that he’s there [laughs], then I went after him. Then I don’t remember anything else, apart from it had been snowing through the night, it was a very, very bad night and um, it was about eight o’clock and then I came down in this field and er, the place is called Anna Paulowna, a little hamlet, and the next morning um, a man going to work on the farm and er, he just saw me and I was covered in snow, and it had been deep snow through the night, and he found I was still ticking.
AM: So you were unconscious?
RW: I was unconscious because, what had happened, the Dutch people told me afterwards, that I had gone towards the plane, so we must have been pretty low when I bailed out. I was the last one out, and so that’s why I don’t remember anything, they said that they called to me to come away ‘cos I was making for the plane, so it wasn’t very far away, but as, what I remember when I bailed out, that I was hoping that the parachute would open [laughs].
AM: Quickly.
RW: Quickly, and the um, I wasn’t scared, strangely enough, I just wasn’t scared, and the only thing I could think of, I missed my bacon and eggs, because the only time we had bacon and eggs was when we came back from an operation, then I was calling swear words to the others ‘lucky bastards’ [laughs].
AM: No bacon and eggs.
RW: [Laughs] You’ll be having my bacon and eggs and that’s all I could think off [laughs]. I’d been looking forward to that, and then they called me to come away from the aircraft and so what had happened then, as the ammunition had been exploding, then I stopped one in the back of the head and so I’d been treated in hospital there and um -
AM: So the Dutch people found you?
RW: Yes
AM: And took you to hospital?
RW: No, oh no.
AM: Oh right.
RW: They called the Germans, because if they’d been found, they took me into the hamlet where they lived and then they called the Germans because if the Germans had come and found me first, we’d have all been shot. So the Germans took me away and then they took me into hospital because I’d stopped the bullet in the back of the head, the doctor said I was very fortunate because if it had been any deeper I would have been killed, which was my premonition. And if it had been over a little, I would have been blind and so what happened, I lost, I found out later, I lost the least of the senses that was smell and taste and I’ve never been able to smell and taste since. I can taste, I was tested for it when I came back home and I can taste sugar, salt, vinegar.
AM: So things that have a strong taste.
RW: That’s right yes, that’s all I can taste, so that was it.
AM: So you are in the hospital, you’ve been treated?
RW: Oh yes, I’d been treated.
AM: Then what happened?
RW: What had happened, I had an enema, do they call it? It was a hell of a mess [laughs] and then I was in this ward and er, I was, I remember being in this bed and looking up and there’s a fellow waving to me across the ward, and I thought, ‘who the hells that. I don’t know him’, and this went on for a whole day when he was waving and that was the navigator.
AM: Right
RW: And I didn’t recognise him and this went on and after a while it came, my memory came back again.
AM: So that’s two of you in the hospital?
RW: That was in the hospital. Oh yes and um, when I got talking to the navigator again, he said, ‘careful’, because I was well known for my dirty jokes at times [laughs], anyway different thing he said, ‘be very careful what you say because that one there, is a Nazi’. The only time they listened to the radio was when Hitler was making a speech so he said, ‘very, very careful what you say’. He used to go to the cupboard there, get this radio out, switch it on when Hitler finished speaking, disconnect, back in there, so he said, ‘be very careful’ [laughs], and from there I went in an ambulance, that’s right. They took me to an old camp, the French, French and Belgians in there and um, I’d asked one Frenchman there, he spoke English, if he could get me some information because we were right next to an airfield and they were working on the airfield, and I said, ‘can you get me an old coat to wear and er, then I can make my way with you to this airfield’. Somehow I was going to, although I was a wireless op, I knew the controls and I was going to try and steal a plane and get back home.
AM: This is in the first camp after the hospital?
RW: In the first camp, yes, and er, it was a rough old camp. I remember the blanket I had was 1917, and er, it was rough, and er, and I’ll never forget having, oh yes, they said, ‘can’t you taste that?’ I said, ‘why it’s all right’. I was eating this stuff, sauerkraut [laughs], rough sauerkraut, they were dished up with, I said, ‘no’ [laughs]. Anyway just after that, next day, two great big Nazi’s came in, ‘wait’, so this Frenchman must have, must have told them what I was up to because they took me and after seeing films of people being taken for a ride, I went in this Opel I think, I think the car was an Opel, it was an Opel, and the one as big as Gary. I had one each side of me, I was down middle of them, and off we went and er, I was taken down to the station, down near the station, into the large, like a town hall - left, right, left, right - up in front [laughs], not so nicer man, this CO, and he said, ‘right, this and that’ [unclear] it was a big desk, I’ll never forget and he said, ‘this man here has had his orders, and he is going to take you on the train to Frankfurt and he’s been warned and told that if you try to escape, or do anything, he will shoot you dead’.
AM: He spoke to you in English?
RW: Oh yes, oh yes in English, and so um, I was, people were trying to attack me on the way up, up to this town hall.
AM: Civilians?
RW: And one man came with a knife and the guard had to fend him off and others because they’d had an air raid there, you see, and so off I went, and went up to this town hall and that’s when he had his orders, anyway I was taken back down to the railway station.
AM: What town was this Ron?
RW: This was in Cologne.
AM: You were in Cologne by then.
RW: Yes, and I was driven right the way down there, and so I thought, oh yes. When I was in the waiting room and other er, Germans were in there, you see, drinking coffee, suppose that’s coffee and things like that, nothing was offered to me [laughs] and so then I said oh, ‘stand up’, and the door opened, as this door opened a major (unclear) he came in.
AM: An English, a German?
RW: No a German, a German major, he came in and they all gave the Nazi salute, ‘Heil Hitler, Heil Hitler’, yes, I came out I said, ‘Heil Churchill’, oh, he was just turning to go and I said this, and he got his gun out his Mauser, his Mauser or whatever it was, and I thought, well you’ve done it this time [laughs], and then he said ‘English schweinhund’ (unclear) off he went. I got away with that one [laughs], especially as I had just had this
AM: The warning?
RW: Warning yes, and um, and that was that and so when the train came, we went up to Frankfurt and um, he was watching me like a hawk.
AM: Were you handcuffed to him or anything?
RW: No, no.
AM: There was nowhere to run to though is there?
RW: No, but all the way I was wondering how I was going to belt him and looking at the window, how strong is it because I was going to smash it with his rifle, you see.
AM: Right.
RW: And it was quite a journey, beautiful trip from Cologne, up to Frankfurt but that’s in my mind all the time, how am I going to get out of here and get rid of him [laughs], and then the chance didn’t come, didn’t come. His eyes were on me every step of the way, he was scared he would have been shot if I had escaped, and so we went to my first real prison camp that was up to the um, what they called, it wasn’t a Stalag, before the Stalag.
AM: Was it a Dulag, Ron?
RW: A Dulag, and once again this officer, German officer came in and I was in the cell there, and one very high window, and er, oh he said, ‘I speak English very well, I was educated in Oxford’, and er, he said, ‘you will find we will treat you very well now, but er, a few things to add’, and er, he said, ‘this form here’, he’d got a form with a red cross on the top, ‘so all you need do is answer a few questions, so there you are’, and he said, ‘first of all, do you smoke?’, and I smoked in those days, so he got a packet of Capstans and a box of Swans.
AM: Vesta.
RW: Vesta matches, put them on the top there and there I was, smoking away, ‘right then, first things, name, rank, number’, that’s all right, name, rank, and number, and so put those in, he said, ’good, then we will let your parents know or what have you, that you are alive and well and injured’, and so um, that’s all right. ‘Now these other things’, and I looked on this form, ‘what squadron, your CO, what was his name, and the airfield you took off from, what was the aircraft you were flying, note it down here’. ‘There we are and that’s all I can give you, name, rank and number’. He said, ‘surely you want your people to know, you want your parents to know you’re alive?’, ‘yes course I do and that’s what you have to do because that’s all I’m giving you, my name, rank and number’. Then he became a German, and he went red and he did a lot of words came out that weren’t English and he said, ‘then you’ll stay here until you do fill that in’, and [laughs], and he grabbed the matches and cigarettes and put them in his pocket, and so I was fortunate in as much as I had to be taken up to the hospital to get my bullet hole seen to [laughs] and so I got away with that. Next cell he, whoever it was, had had a rough time, I heard him groaning and yelling and I think they beat him up because he wouldn’t answer and I refused too. The next morning they had taken my uniform away through the night, they’d taken it, I had to strip it off and they took it all away. The next morning, I saw they knew where the map was in the shoulder, then they’d taken the button off.
AM: So all the stuff that was to help you to escape?
RW: That’s right, they knew where it was, they’d taken it and the needle, the compass needle had gone out of the button [laughs] so then you weren’t full of tricks, and so that was Dulag, and from there, I was taken, I went to, yes, Stalag Luft 1, yes, I was taken there next.
AM: Were you still being taken on your own or were you with other prisoners by then?
RW: No I went in, the other prisoners I met there in Dulag and um, you know it was great to meet them and speak English, it was great and they’d give tips and that. I went to Stalag Luft 1 and um, then we stood at the gate welcoming the boys coming in and it was a sandy soil and we got them to throw the lighters and things in there, because the guards were trying to keep us back, you see, and as we went towards the gate, we did this at every camp we went to, throw your things in, throw them in, throw them in, because they had been stripped of things mostly and so what they did, pick them up and give them back to him and then, and then when we couldn’t get down to things, we just trod them in.
AM: Trod them into the ground?
RW: Into the ground as they forced us back, because them bleeders were very sharp [laughs].
AM: So you could go back for them later?
RW: Yes that’s it, and especially went from Stalag Luft 1 and then did about eighteen months there and then we were moved to Stalag Luft 3 and er -
AM: So what year are we now, 41 probably?
RW: My god, yes.
AM: So you were shot down early 41.
RW: January 41 yes.
AM: And then you were in hospital and eighteen months.
RW: I wasn’t in the hospital for eighteen months.
AM: No, no, the hospital and then you were in Stalag Luft 1 for eighteen months.
RW: That’s right.
AM: So we are now?
RW: Now in Stalag Luft 3.
AM: Probably early 43?
RW: About 43.
AM: By this time.
RW: And we did, and went to this new camp, er, we hadn’t heard of before.
AM: How did they move you, on trains?
RW: Yes, and er, yes, on cattle trucks, they weren’t very clean. There’s wire both sides of the entrance of the cattle truck and we were put in twenty each side, standing up, you couldn’t sit down, we were packed in. When you think half a cattle truck, and so this is how we moved, sometimes we had better accommodation but this new camp we went to was Stalag Luft 3, everything is new there, all the huts were new and so we started a different life.
AM: Were you the first intake into Stalag Luft 3?
RW: We were yes, from Stalag Luft 1 into Stalag Luft 3, and then, after that, they started to bring the RAF prisoners from other camps into Stalag Luft 3, and er, they said, ‘you’ll never escape from here, we’ve learnt too many lessons’, but we did, the lot, a lot of people said they tried, escaped from there and they probably tried but they didn’t succeed and it was difficult, and then all the different things, books had been written by prisoners [laughs] and things, no, it was very difficult. I tried once and out of the corner of our hut, I got down and one man from Cheltenham said, ‘you’ll get us all shot, you know’ because I dug through the floor and dug down and I could see where workmen had been, electricians or something yes, been working outside and there was a trench near the camp, near the um, wire and so I got down there and then got out there in the early hours of the morning. It was dark and er, I thought I can get under the wire, get under there, escape, fair enough, so I tried this and then I heard a guard approaching with his dog. Dogs, they were more like wolves, and he had got this one and I heard him coming along and so I got out of there, swiftly went up the road, oh yes, and I had an experience, I ran between two huts and I didn’t see wire stretching from one hut to the other and I ran into it, and it got me in the mouth, took me off my feet and I was strung up and the wire went into my mouth and forced, forced my teeth out. I lost seven teeth, and I landed on my back and then there was the guard and the dog, and he was afraid of that dog as I was [laughs], they weren’t trained to be friendly and so I was put into the cooler from there.
AM: What was that like?
RW: Rough. I had water to drink, bread, well when they say bread, black bread, just bread and er, I was in there for over a week.
AM: On your own?
RW: Oh yes, yes, oh yes.
AM: And no teeth.
RW: No teeth, they’d come out, I have no teeth now. I tell people that um, if I’ll say I had my teeth out, all paid for [laughs]. But um, all the time we were trying to, if we had any ideas about escaping, we had they had to go to this Massey who was the -
AM: What was the name sorry, Ron?
RW: Massey, Group Captain Massey, and you had to give your ideas to him for the escape committee, but something we noticed when we first went into Stalag Luft 3, that one part where the fence was, they hadn’t built any German huts or anything there, it hadn’t been finished. And so John Shaw, my good friend, he noticed this first and he said, ‘we’re gonna go try that’, he said, ‘we go first, the four of us’, I forget the other one and he said, ‘I go first because I noticed it first’. I said, ‘okay, then I’ll go, you get away now, I’ll go follow on’.
AM: How were you going to get out, were you going to tunnel under?
RW: Tunnel under there because they hadn’t built anything that side, so this is what we are going to do, and so you’ve got to appreciate, so John decided to go. What happened, bang, bang, and I have a photograph I’ll show you, with John, and shown in his coffin, he was shot right through the heart, so if people thought that these guards were asleep in the huts, no, and they were crack shots, they got him right through the heart, poor John.
AM: So the other three of you didn’t go?
RW: No, we’d been discovered that was it.
AM: Did you know the people who were involved in the great escape?
RW: No.
AM: No.
RW: No, they were mainly officers. You see what happened, we started off these tunnels under the cooking, took that away and then got all that (unclear) and then dug down to do the tunnels, but then again, we said this would happen, the officers took over, we started it as sergeants and then they said, ‘no, we are going to take over’, and then we were moved eventually to Heydekrug.
AM: To?
RW: Heydekrug.
AM: Which is?
RW: Heydekrug.
AM: Which is another camp?
RW: Which is another camp, yes, so we’d done a lot of work. I was, I helped out with moving the earth wearing these things there, but the soil, the soil we brought up from below, it was a different colour, so we had to take this earth from down below, walk around, walk around and distribute it and dig it in as we were moving, because they were watching us all the time.
AM: These are from the tunnels you dug?
RW: That’s right, yes [laughs], and we were getting rid of the earth, tons of earth, you know. It’s boring.
AM: Well yes, what else did you do in camp?
RW: Oh all kinds of things, apart from trying to escape [laughs], and er, we wrote shows. We did this, you see, and Les Knowle became a very good friend of mine and he was a pianist before the war, before he joined up and he, a professional pianist, was very good too.
AM: Was he the one next door to you in Morecambe or a different pianist?
RW: No, no, it was a different one.
AM: A different one.
RW: No, Les Knowle, he was a different one. This one I’m trying to think of his name, Ron, I forget now, but he went on to the BBC and worked from there and he was on the RAF Band.
AM: Yes.
RW: And then he became well known.
[Interruption]
AM: I’m just going to pause for a moment.
RW: Have you anywhere else.
AM: No, no, so we’ve got shows, what about, did you do any education they had?
RW: Oh yes, yes, and um, I’ve a pencil, and I was studying maths actually and I was going to do a course on maths and it was difficult because it was very, very cold, very cold, up in Lithuania, this was and getting close to Russia and so I was studying and then trying to write out holding the pencil.
AM: So literally holding it with whole of your hand?
RW: That’s right.
AM: Trying to write.
RW: Trying to write, it wasn’t easy, but it was quite good and then I studied, I was studying, was architect because I had been in the building trade, you see. I was taken away from the factory when I was fourteen.
AM: When you were fourteen yes.
RW: By my brother-in-law, who was, um, he’d come to the factory, fortunately before they absolutely killed me [laughs], and he said, ‘you, out’ and he took me away and made me an apprenticeship joiner.
AM: So you were a joiner. Going back to the camp in Lithuania.
RW: Oh Yes.
AM: So what happened then as, what did you know about what was happening in the war?
RW: We had clever people as sergeants, not all officers then. We had people from all walks of life as sergeants.
AM: As sergeants yes.
RW: And er, we had entertainers from the stage, and I wrote um, with Les Knowle, he wrote the music and I wrote the words for shows on the stage and I’ll show you a picture of him, but I don’t know if you have ever heard of Roy Dotrice?
AM: Yes
RW: You have? Well Roy, I’ll show you a picture.
AM: His daughter was an actress, Michelle.
RW: That’s right, he had two daughters, one lives in the States, Michelle, I was watching her the other night.
AM: And was he in the prison camp with you?
RW: Yes, yes, and then I never thought that he would, because he was very young, he was born in Jersey and he changed his age. He was very much younger than me then and he came over to the mainland and joined the RAF.
AM: What happened at the end of the war, how did you find out that the war was ending and what happened?
RW: Oh yes, now then, we had our radios that were built out of things, things we’d stolen from the Germans. I remember walking behind one man carrying, carrying a box and stealing something out of there and when they, they used to um, we used to be woken up in the early hours of the morning by the Nazis. They used to come in and get us out of bed, tear the place apart, and never put it back again, and all things taken out and then we would be walking around the compound from the early morning to late at night while these Nazis were searching and they, yes, and they used to go away with things. Oh yes, we used to steal their hats and their gloves and they weren’t very happy [laughs], and also if anyone escaped, they used to have what we called a sheep count, and they’d form up the barriers so we used to have to go through, and they’d check and check the numbers, you see, and we used to go through and then we used to go back round, and come in again, in the end they had more prisoners than they wanted [laughs], and that was one gag we got up to, and then some had contact at home. You’ve possibly seen it in the letters they used a code in a letter which the Germans couldn’t spot.
AM: To say where they were?
RW: That’s right, all kinds of things.
AM: So how did you find out that the war was coming to an end? From the radios?
RW: From the radios we had, yes. We had certain guys who were very clever, clever electricians among us, all kinds of things they used to do, where if a German came in the front about or something, a buzzer would ring at the far end telling whoever was doing something, escape committee at the other end.
AM: To stop them?
RW: Then bury the stuff again.
AM: Gosh.
RW: And then all things like that and um, the, yes, parts for the radios be stolen from the Germans [laughs] and they would build a main radio that one clever man used to operate. I forget the names now and um, they used to come around the huts and give us the, the news we used to get daily news, we knew exactly what was happening back home, and e,r when the invasion came, the first time, the Germans were gloating when they said, ‘that was your invasion’, when so many Canadians were killed, remember, my minds going.
AM: On the beaches at, yes.
RW: Yes, where so many were killed, and the Germans thought that was our invasion. They said, ‘you’ve had your invasion, you’ll be here’, I was told that I would be there for the rest of my life, they used to enjoy telling us this, that we would be there and we will be rebuilding Germany.
AM: Because they would win.
RW: That’s right.
AM: Sadly for them but thankfully for us.
RW: Oh, thankfully for us.
AM: They didn’t.
RW: But they loved telling us that we would be there forever.
AM: When it did all end? Were you involved in the long march?
RW: Oh yes.
AM: You were.
RW: That was the worst part of it.
AM: Gary’s making faces.
Gary: I’ll leave it.
RW: Okay. That was a tough one, the long march.
AM: How long were you on the march for, Ron?
RW: I can’t think now.
AM: Months, it was months, wasn’t it?
RW: Months, months, bad weather, bad weather, so many died, and then we were, we had no food and they’d been trying to get through to us and then this one Red Cross wagon appeared and he said, ‘this is the third load I’ve had. I’ve been shot at, and destroyed, then I have gone back and got another load’, and finally, well you know the story.
AM: Sadly.
RW: And some sights there, on that march, and one man, he was signalling with his coat in the meadow, this meadow where we were, shot up by the fighters and I saw him just cut in the air.
AM: Shot at by German fighters?
RW: No, by our fighters.
AM: By our fighters.
RW: Yes, they thought we were Germans.
AM: Right.
RW: And he was just cut in two, Roger. Next time I saw him, just his legs standing there, top half gone and they killed forty, fifty of us there, it was a rough one. Oh, and we were in twos, they delivered these Red Cross parcels, we shared one between two, and when we were shot at by Typhoons by the way, based locally and all the way through, we’d been shot at by Spitfires, and what have you, Hurricanes, they thought we were Germans. And on one occasion, we were walking, they made us walk at night because, so through the day, we had to sleep in barns with their animals, and the Germans, the German people used to give things to the guards but nothing to us, not like this country where there were prisoners, their prisoners there given food but we never got anything from the Germans. If we wanted a drink, we had to wait till we got to rivers, lakes, or something or get washed.
AM: So how did you get rescued in the end?
RW: Oh that is another story. The 10th Hussars. We were hearing reports our, our troops across the Rhine and how close they were getting and we were being marched away, we were going to be hostages and Hitler would have got rid of us eventually, we’d have been shot or what have you. We were heading for Norway somewhere and they were taking us as we were going to be hostages, but so many things happened we were shut up, barns were set on fire, men were there.
AM: With men in them?
RW: Yes.
AM: Yes. But the 10th Hussars were?
RW: The 10th Hussars caught up with us and oh, they were marvellous, they treated us like royalty. They set up trestles in this village in Ratzeburg in Lubeck, Ratzeburg, and er, this little village and it was in March, was it May?
AM: So May of 45?
RW: We went through Luneburg, where they signed the Armistice, and we went through there and then we came back through there when the signing had been done, and it was marvellous, so they set up tables there with food on, couldn’t eat it.
AM: I was going to say, could you eat it?
RW: No, no. One man died because he tried, he tried to eat, couldn’t. Then we came back from Lowenberg on Lancasters and I’ll never forget seeing white girls, posh ladies all made up, I thought they, I thought they were on the stage somewhere, heavy lipstick.
AM: Once you got back you mean?
RW: And this is when we, no, when the 10th Hussars. Oh yes, that’s another one, we had the, this major, English major. I said, ‘can I help?’ because I had had stomach trouble and couldn’t eat anything, so I felt this marvellous feeling.
AM: Freedom.
RW: Freedom, marvellous after four and a half years, freedom. And I’d stuck my neck out several times, one man, I bent down to pick up food or something, I don’t know what it was, peas somebody dropped on the road, and this guard, he came behind me, kicked me up the backside and I went over and I got up and turned round to gonna belt him, and the look on his face, and his Tommy gun was there waiting for it, just what he wanted. All they wanted, an excuse.
AM: To kill you?
RW: Yes and er -
AM: When you saw the Lancaster?
RW: Oh yes.
AM: You’d been in Whitleys, what did you think of the Lancaster?
RW: We saw the side of it really [laughs].
AM: Four engines.
RW: Four engines, yes, marvellous.
AM: So they brought you home in the Lanc.
RW: Yes, they landed at, forget now where it was, down South somewhere, and as we landed they opened the door and a lovely young WAAF came, and I had my box with some belongings in. This girl got it and I grabbed it back from her she said, ‘it’s all right you are home now’ [laughs] and er, she led me off and as I was talking to her, going up to the hangar, I said, ‘this is a holiday’, this is VE Day, you see. I said, ‘you’re on holiday, what are you doing here?’ She said ‘oh we volunteered, we were the lucky ones’. I couldn’t understand it ‘cos we were filthy and the first this they did - whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
AM: Shower?
RW: Not a shower.
AM: Water?
RW: No - debugged.
AM: Oh right, oh sorry, they sprayed you?
RW: That’s right, yes, before anybody could touch us [laughs] and then they had all this food out, I couldn’t eat anything, not a thing, and then from there we came up on the train to where we went, see that photograph, and we came up there, all there, all the records were up there. That was marvellous. Then one day we were taken over, over there, records and what have you, but I went home and that was a rough time because I found my wife, I had my daughter, was that much older, she was only two and a half when I went away, she was seven she didn’t know me, didn’t know me, didn’t want to know me. And er, then my wife had met me at the station, although I didn’t want to see her because I’d had reports and she wrote to me and didn’t want to know me ‘cos she’d met an American and she wanted to get married to him. And so um, that was my homecoming, didn’t want to know me. I‘d had a letter from her saying she wanted a divorce, which I wanted too after that, and then my folks had been trying to meet the train to tell me what she had been up to, what she’d become, well you can understand it, it had been a long time.
AM: Yes.
RW: But the way she did it, she dyed her hair, it was red, and er, I’d asked a friend in camp who came from Stoke, from near where I was, where I lived, if he could find out why, what’s happening because she didn’t write to me. I’d only one letter that I had and she wanted more money, it’s all she was interested in.
AM: So your pay while you were a prisoner of war goes to your wife, doesn’t it?
RW: That’s right, it went to her and then she wanted more money, and so I came back and went up and met my wife, as I say, I didn’t know anything what she had been doing, no one had told me and this friend in camp, I’d asked him to find out what was happening, why I hadn’t had any letters from my, my wife and er, he put it off all the while. I said, ‘have you heard from your wife?’, ‘no’. I didn’t know anything about it.
AM: He wouldn’t tell you?
RW: No, and so when I got back, it was my wife who knew, my wife. He said to me, he said, ‘Ron, I couldn’t tell you what I found out about her’.
AM: No.
RW: Couldn’t tell you. So I met her and she was all over me and I met all her sisters and her brothers because it’s difficult, very difficult because my folks had been trying to meet me off the train but she’s the one who had been told.
AM: She’s the one who’s entitled to know.
RW: That’s right, and she’d got the time of the train, she met me, all the other trains had been coming in my side had been.
AM: They all missed you?
RW: They’d all missed me, everyone.
AM: Oh dear.
RW: My homecoming and I felt like going back.
AM: You married again though. Amy.
RW: Yes.
AM: I’ve met Amy and she is lovely for the record.
RW: Yes, oh the best thing that ever happened to me.
AM: Wonderful. I’m going to switch off now, Ron.
RW: Yes okay.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Ron Wade
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Annie Moody
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-26
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AWadeR150726, PWadeR1503
Rights
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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.
Format
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01:44:54 audio recording
Language
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eng
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
British Army
Description
An account of the resource
Ron was born in Stoke-on-Trent. He left school at fourteen and tells of his experiences working in a pottery factory doing odd jobs until he was called up. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 at the age of twenty-two. Ron trained as an air gunner at RAF Morecambe after initially wanting to be selected for pilot training. He completed his air gunner training in South Wales at the end of the Battle of Britain - he tells of being strafed by a Junkers 88 and the damage that was inflicted to the Nissen huts. Ron flew the Whitley, which he did not enjoy. He then went to an Operational Training Unit at RAF Abingdon before moving to 58 Squadron based at RAF Linton on Ouse. Ron tells of being forced to bale out in 1941 after his Whitley was attacked by two German fighters over the the Netherlands. He did not remember that much since ammunition was exploding and a bullet hit him in the back of the head, leaving him with memory, taste and smell impairment. Ron also tells of his first interrogation by a German officer and how his humour nearly causing trouble at the at Cologne railway station. He was transferred to Stalag Luft I and then to Stalag Luft III. Ron tried a few times to escape but was discovered every time - he also details the death of his close friend during one attempt. Ron was eventually transferred to Stalag Luft VI (Heydekrug, Lithuania) which was his last camp before the end of the war. However, with the end looming, Ron was then forced to go on the long march. He then tells of some of his memories of the event, including being strafed by British fighters. Ron was freed when the British Army 10th Hussars caught up with the group near Lubeck, and he tells the story of his homecoming in May 1945.
Contributor
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Vivienne Tincombe
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Great Britain
England--Oxfordshire
England--Yorkshire
England--Lancashire
Netherlands
Poland
Germany
Lithuania
Poland--Żagań
Germany--Barth
Lithuania--Šilutė
Wales
Germany--Oberursel
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940
1941
1945-05
58 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
animal
bale out
bombing
crewing up
Dulag Luft
escaping
Ju 88
Nissen hut
Operational Training Unit
prisoner of war
RAF Abingdon
RAF Linton on Ouse
RAF Morecambe
Stalag Luft 1
Stalag Luft 3
Stalag Luft 6
strafing
the long march
training
Whitley
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/582/8851/PHillR1502.2.jpg
e2ce69320fb234668aa6f55c6f445996
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/582/8851/AHillR150707.1.mp3
18183987a7f123d61da22888e1f0bd0b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hill, Roy
R Hill
Roy Ernest Hill
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hill, R
Description
An account of the resource
An oral history interview with Roy Hill (Royal Air Force). He served as a wireless operator / air gunner with 207 Squadron.
The collection was catalogued by IBCC Digital Archive staff.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-07
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Transcribed audio recording
A resource consisting primarily of recorded human voice.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
RH: My name is Roy Hill and I was, erm, I’m aged 92, rather ancient for air crew [laughs] but, oh dear, I’ve lost it.
Other: In 1941, when was it?
RH: 1941 I joined up yeah [laughs] and, er, and oh crikey [pause] I was a wireless operator, air gunner on Lancasters and we were shot down over the Ruhr by a German night fighter. It’s rather unusual in as much as I know the name of the chap who shot us down. It was Karl Friedrich Mueller, that was the name of the chap who shot us down flying an ME 109 G, that was the type of aircraft he flew in and but unfortunately I never had the pleasure of meeting him because he died in in 1989 I think, yeah [pause].
MJ: Roy can you tell us who you are.
RH: My name is Roy Hill.
MJ: Yeah.
RH: And, er, I was in the RAF throughout the war.
MJ: Right.
RH: And er, I, I joined up when I was eighteen years old and I was in the RAF right through the war and, er, when we were shot down by Germans and incarcerated in Stalag Luft 1 in Germany. But at the end of the war I was very, very lucky in that so much as I was repatriated to England.
MJ: So Roy you got caught up in a prisoner of war camp, what was that like?
RH: [pause] [laughs] well it’s not a very good subject for conversation is it, because it was, I mean your, your freedom is taken from you and, er, you have to make the best of things while you’re there, but I was lucky because I was only there about six months and then we were, actually we were flown home by the Americans in their Flying Fortresses that’s what the chaps who flew us back and, er, that was of course the beginnings of a new life for me after the war.
MJ: Roy, you were, which squadron were you put into and how did it work through to when you got shot down, did you do long sorties, short ones or
RH: Mostly long.
MJ: And er, did you get to fly with the same crew or?
RJ: Always, yeah.
MJ: So, erm, how did that work, I mean I don’t know anything about this?
RH: No.
MJ: So if you could explain how.
RH: Well we were so very, very fortunate, we had, we got on very well as a crew. I’ll show you pictures. We were a band of brothers really, we er, some of us very young, two, two of the crew were only aged eighteen and I was only nineteen and at the time, of course and we had three of the chaps were in their thirties so we had a quite a wide [pause]
Other: Age range.
RH: age range [laughs].
Other: Then you’ve got Australians as part of the crew?
RH: Yeah we had three Australians in the crew and er I took them all home to see my folks and it was a great, a great occasion.
MJ: So you did everything, dancing, fire-fighting?
RH: Yeah, yeah we did yeah, we lived together, we were
Other: A crew.
RH: A crew, yeah [long pause]
MJ: Roy could you tell me who you are please.
RH: My name is Roy Hill [laughs]
MJ: Yeah
RH: I’m 86 [laughs] get it right. I was a flight lieutenant in the RAF during the war where I was a wireless operator air gunner and we flew in Lancaster’s and we were shot down on our eighteenth mission.
MJ: So how did you get into the RAF in the first place, did you -
RH: Volunteered, yes. When war, when war came I had the option of going flying in the air force so I applied to go in the air force and I was one of a group of four we all tried together to get into the air force and I’m the only survivor of those four. The other three were all killed subsequently.
MJ: Right, erm, did you plan to be a wireless operator or did you want -
RH: No, I, you see this was, this was all in 1941, the year after the Battle of Britain. Of course I wanted to be a pilot, everyone did, but in my case when I volunteered for air crew the only thing I was, I could qualify for was wireless operator air gunner and er that’s what I eventually became.
MJ: Did you erm meet your crew at the squadron or did you….
RH: No, no we got together at a place called Silverstone, that’s where they have the car racing now. It was when we all got together as a crew. It was wonderful really because the RAF they used to put you in an enormous hangar, hundreds of you, hundreds of you, all mixed up and they used they said ‘here we are form yourselves into crews of seven’ and er it’s amazing really it worked, it really worked, we were volunteers all of us and we got together as a team and it was one of those magic moments really.
MJ: So, erm, how many missions did you say you flew together?
RH: Oh well [unclear] we were shot down on our eighteenth mission, yeah.
MJ: So can you remember your first one?
RH: Very well, yeah.
MJ: Could you tell me a little bit about it?
RH: [laughs]
MJ: Because this was your first flight with your own crew I just wondered if you could sort of tell us what it was like please.
RH: It was a very hair-raising, hair-raising experience to be flying towards Germany with a full load of bombs for the first time and er, it was quite something, [laughs] but er, we were. We flew to, the target was Brest in France for that particular mission, and were bombing two battle ships which were there at the time in dock and I mean we obviously we survived much to our own relief [laughs] and er we took it from there. That was our first trip, mmm [pause]. At the end of the war I was a photographer and I was stationed at Farnborough where they have a school of photography. While I was there I had the job of giving orders to no less than a hundred and fifty chaps who were all NCO crew members, who’d, who’d, they’d all ended the war in on the squadrons and they were, all they wanted to do was go home, I’m talking about a hundred and fifty NCO’s and I was the chap in charge of them.
MJ: Yeah.
RH: And er all they wanted to do was, it was demob, they wanted to go home and I had to make it easy for them, which was a heck of a job [laughs]
MJ: So how did you do that?
RH: [laughs] Well, I had to organise games and things, anything that would, to keep them occupied and er it’s not a, it sounds easy but it wasn’t [laughs] when you’ve got a hundred and fifty blokes to please and all they had on their minds was they wanted to go home because their war was all finished and they were ready to, they had been repatriated.
MJ: Why did you have to send them back in sections?
RH: No I had to send them home to their various homes [sighs] not a nice job [laughs] [pause] Home! They wanted to go home, they were, the war was finished and all they wanted to do was go home and that applied to all a hundred and fifty blokes, they were all NCO’s, they had all completed a tour of operations and all wanted, for them the war was over.
MJ: So what did you have to sort out for them so they could go home?
RH: That’s right.
MJ: So what, what sort of things did you have to sort out apart from keeping them happy?
RH: No that was it.
MJ: That was your job, to make sure they -
RH: To keep them occupied until they could go home virtually, yeah, so I did that for some time and er course eventually I finished up at the school of geography and er that was it. My home was Leat [?] so I was able to live at home and er go to work at Farnborough, it was wonderful [laughs] There you go. [pause]
MJ: So you’ve been a prisoner of war?
RH: Yeah, in Germany, Stalag Luft 1, mmm.
MJ: Did you get caught straight away or did you have a bit of a run around first?
RH: No I was, I was free for a couple of days that’s all, then they caught up with me [pause]
MJ: How did they catch up with you, just in the wrong place at the right time or
RH: Me I was sitting in the forest going along and then all of a sudden a chap said halt, halt as the Germans do [laughs] and that was when my war ended virtually. [pause] mmm.
MJ: Were any of your other crew caught with you or?
RH: Yeah they were, no they were, we were all separated, we all went out various ways, I did, I did meet the pilot and the bomb aimer and the navigator in the Stalag, they finished up there in, in in the Stalag and others who were killed.
MJ: Oh.
RH: Mmm.
MJ: When you were incarcerated how did you keep yourself busy, like you said when the crews were demobbed you had to keep them busy, how did you keep yourself busy while you were incarcerated?
Other: Writing poetry.
RH: Ah, you see in those days I could write, I used to love to write, wrote all sorts of stuff but it’s all gone I can no longer write.
Other: It’s only because of his hand, I’ve just thought, in the book isn’t there some of your poems in it?
RH: No, that’s
Other: Towards the end [pause] everything’s in here really what you want to know about Roy, there he is prisoner of war with his number on him and everything. Would you like your cup of tea now? [pause]
RH: Hello my name is Roy Hill, I was a flight lieutenant in the RAF during the war and er I joined up in 1941. I had hoped to fly in the Battle of Britain but that was all over then. It, the Battle of Britain was fought in 1940 and I was, I just missed out on that one, and I joined up in 1941 the year after and er, of course I had subsequently had quite a long time in the Air Force right through the war until the end of the war when I was a photographic officer in the at the school of photography in Farnborough in Hampshire and it was, there, it was, sorry.
Other: That’s alright.
MJ: On behalf of International Bomber Command Digital Archive Unit, I would like to thank Roy Hill at his home at Woodpecker Cottage, for his recording on the 7th July 2015. Many thanks.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with Roy Hill
Creator
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Mick Jeffery
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-07-07
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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AHillR150707
Rights
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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.
Format
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00:19:28 audio recording
Description
An account of the resource
Roy Hill joined the RAF wanting to be a pilot but became a wireless operator air gunner. On his eighteenth operation in a Lancaster flying over the Ruhr he was shot down by a German night fighter. He was captured and incarcerated in Stalag Luft 1 for about six months. He wrote poetry whilst he was a prisoner of war. He was repatriated by Americans and flown home in a Flying Fortress. At the end of the war he served as a photographic officer and was in charge of NCOs waiting to be demobbed.
Contributor
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Carron Moss
Carolyn Emery
Language
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eng
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Great Britain
England--Northamptonshire
Germany--Barth
Germany--Ruhr (Region)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
1944
1945
aircrew
crewing up
Lancaster
Me 109
prisoner of war
RAF Silverstone
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
wireless operator / air gunner
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/497/8387/BCopusPJCopusPJv10009.2.jpg
a36f63034734e4e0f29c51ba59c98074
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/497/8387/ACopusJ160224.2.mp3
4dd66318692be3905e8d8468af131774
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Copus, Jim
P J Copus
Copus, James
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Copus, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Nine items. Two oral history interviews with Warrant Officer Percy James Copus (1922 - 2016, 1430308 Royal Air Force) who flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 97 Squadron. The collection also includes photographs of himself and family, and account and maps of his last operation of the 27 March 1943 on Frankfurt, when his Lancaster was shot down and he became a prisoner of war.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by James Copus and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-02-24
Rights
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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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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CB: My name is Chris Brockbank and we’re in Hemel Hempstead with Jim Copus and with his daughter Andrea and son in law John and we’re going to talk about, the date today is the 24th of February 2016 and we are going to talk about Jim’s career and how he was shot down and what he did in prisoner of war camp and so Jim what’s the earliest recollection you have from a family point of view?
JC: From the family. Well I always remember being at school and I went to, as you got a little older you had to -
JH: Andrea can we stop it because I think -
AH: Oh.
CB: I think we’re just stopping a mo because -
AH: Yeah.
CB: Because the washing machine is probably going to drown this as a background?
AH: And then it goes on to spin.
CB: Well that’s a point as well isn’t it?
AH: Yes.
JH: Yeah.
CB: Your clothes -
AH: Yeah.
CB: Will be very well washed Jim.
JH: [?] Three times now.
CB: Well, yes, exactly. Yes.
AH: Oh I know how to do it now.
JC: I always remember school because as you got a little older you, we used to send out two, two boys out of school just before closing time or lunch time to make sure that the children got across the road because it was a main road outside the school and I always remember that. That was a long time ago too. Yeah.
CB: So what did your parents do?
JC: My parents? My parents, my father was a wood, wood machinist in Princes Risborough.
CB: And when did you leave school?
JC: When did I leave school? When I was fourteen.
CB: And what did you do?
JC: I went into a shop. We worked, went as an errand boy at a shop in Watlington for a year. Then I moved up to Stokenchurch where I got a full time job in a carpentry place.
CB: Was that doing an apprenticeship?
JC: No that wasn’t an apprenticeship. No. No.
CB: And then what?
JC: Well, after that the war broke out and I joined the RAF. [laughs]
CB: Why did you choose the RAF?
JC: [Laughs] That’s a very good question. I wouldn’t like to say why. Well, I didn’t fancy the army put it that way. I didn’t like the idea of having to go on road marches and God knows what and I thought well I’d join the RAF to see what goes on and I enjoyed it. I must admit. I enjoyed what I did. And er no.
CB: So you were a volunteer for air crew. How did that occur?
JC: I volunteered for that. They were asking for air crew and I put my name down and I was accepted. There were four of us went together. All went down in to London and three of them were rejected. I was the only one who got through.
CB: So that was at Lords Cricket Ground was it?
JC: Yes. That’s right. Lords. I always remember that. Lords Cricket Ground.
CB: And when you were there what did you do?
JC: We stayed there for, stayed at Lords Cricket Ground for just over a week and then we went back to our stations until we got called back again.
CB: So where did you, where did you go from Lords then?
JC: From Lords I think I went up to er just outside Cambridge if I remember rightly. Yeah. I can’t exactly say the name of the place but it was near Cambridge if it wasn’t in Cambridge. I was there and -
CB: What did you do there?
JC: I volunteered for aircrew and there again I got accepted. I went into London and got interviewed and everything else and got interviewed to go, go and join the aircrew and I did that and that’s more or less what is all that’s on here.
CB: What were, what were the options that they gave you for aircrew?
JC: They didn’t give me any options. They just asked you, ‘Do you want to join the aircrew,’ I said, ‘Yeah. It didn’t make any difference to me. Aircrew was aircrew and I thought, at the time anyway.
CB: Yeah.
JC: And I just said well fair enough. I wanted to go in the air force, join the air crew.
CB: Which year was this?
JC: Pardon?
CB: Which year was this? 1940?
JC: Nineteen yeah 1940, ‘40 yeah, ’40, ‘41 that’s right because I went in I actually got called up in the beginning of 1942.
AH: You signed -
JC: Pardon?
AH: You signed up early didn’t you? You went down yourself to sign up. I remember you telling me because you didn’t want to be told where to go.
JC: Well. Yeah. You remember maybe more than me.
AH: Yes.
CB: That’s ok. So what I understand we’re talking about is that you, like a number of people wanted to get in on the act.
JC: Yeah well -
CB: So you volunteered when you were underage.
JC: I mean the war, the war was on and youngsters wanted to, they didn’t want to stay at home when there was a war on. You can understand that -
CB: Yeah.
JC: I suppose.
CB: Yeah. So you were born in 1922.
JC: Yes.
CB: So the war started when you were seventeen.
JC: Yes.
CB: And you couldn’t join then.
JC: And it had to wait till I was eight -
CB: Exactly. You waited till you were eighteen.
JC: I waited until I was eighteen.
CB: 1940.
JC: Yeah and I took myself to, I took myself to Reading and volunteered.
CB: Did you?
JC: Yeah. Yeah, because I wasn’t twenty I was eighteen.
JC: Yeah. Now you became an air gunner but did you train as a wireless operator/air gunner?
JC: No, I was trained as -
CB: Only as an air gunner.
JC: As an air gunner. Yeah.
CB: Ok. So where did you go for that?
JC: Oh dear. Just let me think where I went for that. Air Gunnery School. I think it was in, down the south if I remember rightly. Yeah. Down south halfway down in the half of England but I can’t remember exactly the name.
CB: Right.
JC: I wish I could.
CB: The reason I ask you is because some people did wireless operator training as well.
JC: Yes.
CB: And that was south of Bristol.
JC: Ah no I didn’t go into the wireless operating.
CB: At all.
JC: I didn’t like, I wasn’t interested in the wireless operating.
CB: Right.
JC: No.
CB: So what attracted you to being an air gunner?
JC: Being a young, young man, wanting to do something you know what I mean and that’s about all I think. It wasn’t any particular reason that I -
CB: Had you done any shooting beforehand?
JC: No.
CB: But you liked the idea of -
JC: I liked the idea of the, yes, I suppose to but I hadn’t done any shooting.
CB: Right. And how did the training go? What did they do first of all when you learned to be an air gunner?
JC: Well -
CB: Was it shotguns or what?
JC: Pardon?
CB: Did they train you on shotguns?
JC: No they didn’t. We never used shotguns. We just went in and the next thing I knew I was, the aeroplane was there and the turret was there and they showed me. They had turrets there that you could get in and use to show you how to -
CB: On the ground.
JC: On the ground. Yeah.
CB: Yeah.
JC: And that, that was it.
CB: And they gave you targets to shoot at.
JC: Well no they didn’t even give targets in those days. Not enough space I don’t think [laughs]. No. I don’t remember having to target shoot on the ground.
CB: So you did the ground training.
JC: Oh yes we did trained, yeah.
CB: Then you put them into, they put you into planes where there was a turret in the aeroplane.
JC: Yes. Yeah.
CB: Where was that?
JC: Let me think now, where that was. Somewhere in the Midlands somewhere. I’m not quite certain.
CB: Ok.
JC: Exactly. It’s such a long time ago.
CB: I know. I know.
JC: To remember.
CB: So then there was there were planes that didn’t have an upper gun but had forward or rear turrets and then when you got onto the heavies they had a mid-upper gunner
JC: Some aircraft, don’t forget some of the aircraft never had rear turrets. Not like the ones on the Lancaster for instance. We had a built in turret and also we had a mid-upper turret which I had. I was a mid-upper gunner.
CB: Right.
JC: On the turret.
CB: Did you have a choice and you decided that was the one you wanted or -
No. I don’t think we had a, we went as gunners and that was the one that they gave me and I was quite happy with it because it was a, when I say, when you, if you look at the aircraft and see the turret you’ll find it’s in a wonderful position to see everything and I was quite happy with that.
CB: It’s the one position where you can see everything going on.
JC: Yeah.
CB: ‘Cause the turret would go right around would it?
JC: Oh yes.
CB: Three sixty degrees.
JC: And you could see everything so there was nothing to stop -
CB: Right.
JC: You seeing it so it was good.
CB: And from that position unless there was a mechanism to stop it you could end up shooting off the tail. How did that come about? How -
JC: Oh yes well you had -
CB: Was that avoided?
JC: You had two handles -
CB: Right.
JC: And if you let go you’d stop.
CB: Oh.
JC: You wouldn’t just keep going around and around.
CB: No.
JC: You’d go as far as you wanted to go.
CB: So how was the turret controlled then? You just said two handles.
JC: Yeah.
CB: What did the handles do?
JC: Well, the two handles -
CB: Each did something different.
JC: It was one was for firing the guns and the other one was just to keep moving whatever you wanted on the turret.
CB: The traverse of the turret.
JC: Yes.
CB: Which, which ones did you use for raising or lowering the guns?
JC: Oh God, I wouldn’t know. It’s such a long time ago.
CB: Was that by twisting?
JC: Yes.
CB: Twisting them.
JC: Just twist them -
CB: The handles and the guns -
JC: The guns would go up or down. Whichever way you wanted it but it’s such a long time ago.
CB: Sure.
JC: To remember little things.
CB: But some of these things really, the system was similar to riding a bike in that you had two handles.
JC: Well yeah.
CB: Is that right?
JC: You had two and you’d know exactly what you were doing.
CB: Yeah.
JC: Yeah.
CB: What about the sight. What kind of -
JC: The sight -
CB: Aiming site did you have?
JC: We had a, like a spotlight sort of thing. Yeah. With a -
CB: Was it a circle with a cross in it?
JC: Yes.
CB: Ahum.
JC: Yes.
CB: And did it have some calibration so that -
JC: No. No calibration.
CB: How did you work the range out?
JC: I don’t remember any calibrations on it.
CB: OK.
JC: But er -
CB: I wondered if you had to adjust it to -
JC: Adjust it.
CB: Depending on the type of aircraft you thought -
JC: Yeah.
CB: Was coming at you.
JC: That’s right.
CB: So if it was a 109.
JC: Well -
CB: It’s a smaller aeroplane than if it was a JU88.
JC: That’s right. It was faster anyway. Yeah. Yes.
CB: So how did you adjust the sights for that?
JC: You couldn’t. Not really.
CB: Right.
JC: No. Not to my, not to my knowledge. I can’t remember that. Adjusting it. It was there and you used it. Used it.
CB: So here you are in the mid upper turret.
JC: Pardon?
CB: Here you are in the mid upper turret.
JC: Yeah.
CB: And in flying in the aeroplane what are you doing as the plane is flying along?
JC: Well just looking around. Keeping an eye on everything. Making sure that you see what’s going on. Keeping in touch, you keep in touch with the crew and, not that you say much to the crew because if they’re talking and you want to butt in you, you wouldn’t do that but you could always sit in the turret and look around and see everything that was going on.
CB: Ahum.
JC: Yeah.
CB: And was one of your responsibilities to call up evasive action to the pilot if necessary. So if something, if a fighter is attacking -
JC: Oh yeah.
CB: What do you do? What do you do then?
JC: You just call it. You tell him exactly what’s going on. Yeah.
CB: So are you giving him a commentary?
JC: Oh yeah you’d always make sure that you knew exactly where the aircraft was coming from and what position it was in, obviously but again it’s such a long time ago now to remember.
CB: How many times was your plane attacked?
JC: How many times did -
CB: Was -
JC: We get attacked?
CB: Yes.
JC: Let me think. No, I don’t think we got attacked more than twice. Not actual attacked itself. No. All that I, the last thing I remember is in the aircraft we were up in the aircraft and a fighter plane came up behind us and hit, attacked and I was sitting in the turret and I thought, ‘That’s funny. It’s so quiet.’ So, I looked down the fuselage and I couldn’t see anything so I got out of the turret, went down into the fuselage and looked along. There was nobody there and I walked along and I saw the open hatch so I put my parachute on and dropped. Just like that. [laughs]
CB: So the normal -
JC: Not an easy thing to do.
CB: No.
JC: I can assure you.
CB: What? Trying to, you mean getting out?
JC: Yeah. Well, I mean -
CB: Why wasn’t it easy?
JC: They’re only small holes.
CB: Right.
JC: And you got a parachute on your front and -
CB: How do you do it? Do you sit on the edge or what do you do to get out?
JC: Well yes, you do, the best thing to do is to sit down on the edge of the turret and then drop. Drop in.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah.
CB: And the parachute is on your front rather than on your back. Is it?
JC: It’s on the front.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah.
CB: So what’s the procedure? You sit on the edge of the door -
JC: Just go in.
CB: The hatch.
JC: Sit on the the hatch.
CB: And then what?
JC: Sit on the floor and just drop through the hole.
CB: Ok. So you’ve dropped through the hole. Then what?
JC: You drop through the hole and you see the plane go above you.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah.
JH: [and you say, ‘Oh shit]
AH: Yeah.
JC: And you think to yourself, ‘Oh.’
CB: Ok.
JC: Then then again it doesn’t take long because when you’re dropping at that height and speed you, it soon seems a long way away so I pulled my cord and my parachute opened straight away.
CB: Right.
JC: And I went down. Yeah. I had no problems with the parachute. Except landing. I landed up against some, somebody’s back door with a metal fence. I didn’t hit, I didn’t hit the fence but I was very close to it I can assure you but they came out and picked me up and sat me down on a seat outside and then the local gendarmes came.
CB: Then what?
JC: I was taken away. As a prisoner of war.
CB: What was their reaction in the house to your arrival?
JC: Oh no problems. They didn’t, they had no reaction whatsoever. No.
CB: These were Germans?
JC: They were Germans, yeah.
CB: Whereabouts?
JC: Pardon?
CB: Whereabouts was this?
JC: Oh I’m just trying to think of where it was. Southern, Southern Germany. Yeah. No. I can’t say I exactly know exactly where it was. I think I’ve got a record of that have I?
AH: I have yeah. I’ve got all that information.
CB: Ok we’ll look that up.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Yeah.
AH: I can tell you. I’ve got it all here. On the way to [?]
CB: We’ll pick up various bits on the way but when you’re coming down by parachute are you able to see the ground because it’s the middle of the night isn’t it?
JC: Oh yes. You couldn’t, I didn’t see anything. The next thing I know I was on the ground and I picked myself up and sat down on the ground and when I did look I was just about from this chair from that settee there -
CB: Five, six feet yeah.
JC: To an iron fence and I was very close but I didn’t touch it. And then people came out of the house and stood around and just watched me. Looked at me. And then the Germans arrived. Picked me up. Took me away but no, no there were no hard, you know, there was no, no, no hurt, nobody got hurt anyway, put it that way. I didn’t get hurt.
CB: No.
JC: I was lucky.
AH: You had a bar of chocolate you offered to -
JC: Pardon?
AH: You said you had a bar of chocolate that you went to take out -
JC: Oh yeah.
AH: And they all recoiled as though you were going for a gun.
JC: Oh yeah.
AH: But then you took the chocolate out.
JC: I gave, I offered it to them but they wouldn’t take it.
AH: No.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Your chocolate bar.
JC: Pardon?
CB: Your chocolate bar.
JC: Yeah, it was -
CB: Was in your breast pocket was it?
JC: Yeah, used to have it in -
CB: Right.
JC: I offered it to the children.
CB: Oh the children were there were they?
JC: Yeah they came out as well. I wanted to give it but they wouldn’t take it so -
CB: What sort of age were they? What age were the children?
JC: Oh I don’t know. About nine, ten I suppose. Something like that. Oh it was -
CB: So the policeman came, it was a policeman was it who came or a soldier who came?
JC: No they were -
CB: To take you away.
JC: What do you mean?To make out, it was, it was soldiers that came out to pick me up.
CB: Right.
JC: Oh yes. Yeah. And there were no problems. There was no ill treatment whatsoever and the language, well I can’t remember anything going, extraordinary going on. They just picked me up, took me out and put me on transport and then in to town and that was it.
CB: Then what?
JC: It was there that I got, well, put away in a cell and then I was just taken from there to interrogation but that was ok. No problems.
CB: What was the interrogation like? What did they say?
JC: Well nothing, there was no problem. They just wanted to know where I was from, what I was doing and they knew I was a flier because I had my flying kit with me and flying boots and so there was no ill treatment whatsoever. I didn’t expect, I suppose I did in my own mind I expected some trouble but didn’t get any trouble whatsoever.
CB: So what did you tell them?
JC: Didn’t tell them anything. I just said I’m from there and they saw and -
CB: But you were, you were supposed to give them your number and rank were you?
JC: Well yes I suppose they say that you give them the number, rank and name but from there onwards it’s up to them and I waited until a vehicle came along and I got inside this vehicle and they took me into town where I was transferred to a local prison. Yeah.
CB: How many people in the prison?
JC: Pardon?
CB: How many other people in the prison?
JC: Oh I didn’t see anybody, oh there was one other person there. That’s all. But I didn’t speak to him.
CB: Was he also RAF?
JC: Yeah, he was RAF.
CB: But not your crew.
JC: Not my crew. No. No. I hadn’t seen him before.
CB: Right. So from this prison that was just a holding point.
JC: Yeah it was just a holding -
CB: What happened next?
JC: Well you were there for a few days and then you got, they came along and, ‘Raus,’ picked you up, put you in a van and away you went to a, to a big camp.
CB: And where was that?
JC: Oh God knows.
CB: What was it, what was the Stalag Luft?
JC: Stalag Luft something but I couldn’t tell you exactly -
AH: One.
JC: What it was.
CB: Stalag Luft 1.
JC: Stalag Luft well no Stalag Luft 1, was, that was in the north. That’s where I finished up.
CB: Ah.
JC: Stalag Luft 1.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Eventually.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Yeah. So how long were you in the camp that they took you to?
JC: Fifteen months.
CB: Oh were you?
JC: Yeah.
CB: So the time you were shot down, when was that, we’re talking about when, 1943 are we? Or -
AH: March ’44.
CB: March ’44.
JC: March ‘44. That’s right. Yeah.
CB: Right ok.
AH: I can give you all the dates.
CB: And then from there you were held in the prison. Were they all air force people in the prison or was it a mixture?
JC: They were mixtures. They were mixtures. There were a lot of Polish, Polish prisoners of war there.
CB: Army.
JC: Because we were up in the Baltic.
CB: Oh.
JC: On the Baltic side and they were the ones that was doing all the work. The Poles from Poland. We didn’t have to do any work but they, they did. They were the ones that were doing all the -
CB: Because you were NCOs, senior NCOs.
JC: Yeah.
CB: So what rank were you at that stage?
JC: I was a warrant officer.
CB: Oh you were then.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Right. So what did you do when you were in the prison camp?
JC: Well there wasn’t much to do I can assure you. You just walked around from place to place. We tried to get into, into a, whatever you could get yourself into if you know what I mean. You had to keep yourself occupied.
CB: Yeah.
JC: Or busy otherwise you’d have gone crazy but I managed.
CB: So the camps were normally split between commissioned officers, NCOs and other ranks.
JC: Yeah.
CB: So -
JC: Well, I had, I had NCOs and sometimes you had ordinary ranks there.
CB: Yeah.
JC: But lower ranks went to another camp.
CB: Yeah.
CB: So who ran your camp?
JC: Who ran?
CB: Who ran it? The Germans obviously but who ran it from an allied point of view.
JC: Oh yeah.
CB: The senior who? The warrant officer was it?
JC: Yeah, they were, I forget what his name was. Now. He was responsible for our actions to them if you know what I mean.
CB: Yeah. Yeah.
JC: So he was answerable to them. Anything that was going on he would come to us to explain what was necessary or what new orders had been brought out. Have you got that, yeah?
CB: What rank was he?
JC: He was, let me think what he was, he was only a second lieutenant
CB: Oh he was an officer.
JC: Oh he was an officer. Yeah. Oh yeah.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah.
CB: And what were the activities that you were given to do?
JC: We, as prisoners of war we, and being air crew, we didn’t have to do anything.
CB: No, but they kept you occupied.
JC: Well -
CB: And that’s why I asked about the senior person there.
JC: Yes.
CB: ‘Cause he had a responsibility to keep you busy.
JC: He, they did, I suppose, in a sense but you went, walked around from one camp er one billet to another billet to communicate. That’s about all. Yeah.
CB: So were there people running language classes and -
JC: Pardon?
CB: Were there people running language classes and things like that?
JC: You didn’t, no there wasn’t very very I mean nearly everybody could speak English.
CB: No. I’m talking about the British and Commonwealth prisoners. What were they, what activities did they have because some camps -
JC: Well they either –
CB: Had languages, some did plays, acting and -
JC: Well the Polish, there were a lot of Polish prisoners of war there.
CB: Yeah.
JC: Where I was and they were all, but some of them were working. Some of them worked, some of them had to work, some as didn’t. It depended. No. It’s I know it’s a long time ago and I can’t always remember everything that took place but I remember the Polish.
CB: Yeah.
JC: They were there.
CB: What was the food like?
JC: Well, the Germans were very, well they didn’t have a great deal themselves. Put it that way. We had a bowl of soup or whatever. Whatever they called it, more or less bread. Bread in a bowl of soup and that’s what you got for the day. We didn’t get a great deal.
CB: Ok. When? What time of day were you fed?
JC: Fed? Usually around about 1 o’clock in the daytime. Sometimes it was after, later in the day because they were waiting for food to come in.
CB: Oh.
JC: Yeah. You couldn’t, we couldn’t, you couldn’t say you would be the same day, the same times. One day to the next sometimes.
CB: And what was the soup?
JC: Pardon?
CB: Was it potato soup, vegetable soup? What was it?
JC: Well, you could call it vegetable soup yes but there wasn’t a lot of vegetables in it but it was more liquid than, than anything else but they, don’t forget the Germans were very short of food. I don’t know whether you knew that. God, yes the Germans were very short of food but they were very good. They always made sure that we had our ration so I had no complaints in that respect.
CB: So when you were shot down what was your weight roughly? Body weight. What was your body weight roughly when you were shot down?
JC: My body weight. I wouldn’t like to say. No more than eight stone. Eight stone. Something like that.
CB: What was your height? What was your height?
JC: I was 5, 5’4, 5’5.
CB: Right.
JC: Something like that.
CB: Ok. Yeah.
JC: I’m not quite certain.
CB: And then when you finished at the prisoner of war camp what was your body weight?
JC: My body weight even then because the food that they had was coming from Poland. Russia. So there was no actual added, separate, you know, food. That was once you got that and then we got away from the, the Americans came and then we went home. Yeah.
CB: But what do you think happened to your body weight during that time?
JC: Oh my body weight must have dropped considerably but I suppose I didn’t notice it at the time.
CB: Right. No, so -
JC: I’m not, I’m not what I’d call a big, big man now.
CB: No.
JC: I never have been. I’ve always kept a reasonable weight.
CB: But what was fitness like? Were people reasonably fit?
JC: Yes. Yes I think reasonably were reasonably fit for prisoners of war. Yes. I’d say they were
CB: And was that because there were regular PTI classes? Did they have people out on parade and doing exercises?
JC: Well we, no, we didn’t always have to parade. No. Sometimes you paraded. Other times you didn’t.
CB: But did they get people running around the camp to keep fit?
JC: No. We never got running around the camp, I don’t remember running around the camp.
CB: Football?
JC: Pardon?
CB: Football?
JC: Well yes we used to play sport. Oh yes, yes we had a ball but we didn’t run around unnecessarily if you know what I mean.
CB: So you’re in big long buildings are you? What was the accommodation?
JC: The accommodation. Well they were like billets. Long huts separated like that. There must have been quite a few of those. I wouldn’t like to say how many.
CB: How many in, how many in a hut?
JC: Four to a room.
CB: Four to a room.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Right.
JC: Four to a room.
CB: So they were proper beds. Not bunk beds.
JC: Pardon?
CB: Were they bunk beds or were they ordinary beds?
JC: Well not bunk beds. They were separated. You could move them around, put them where, but there weren’t many you know, the springs weren’t all that wonderful [laughs] but it’s such a long time ago now. Trying to remember everything. Gosh.
CB: Now the continental winters are very cold. The continental winters can be very cold. So -
JC: Oh yes. Yes.
CB: What was it like from that point of view?
JC: Yes and as I say we were up on the Baltic and although the weather up there was better there than lower down because they were getting snow and God knows what whereas we were fortunate up there. So but you just tried to keep warm and running and doing exercises and trying to keep yourself warm. That’s all you could do.
CB: So each day when you were fed where would you be fed? In your room? Was there a communal -
JC: They would come around, the troops would come out with it in buckets.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah.
CB: And how did you get the food then? How did you receive the food?
JC: Each one was dished out into like a -
[Noise of something falling down in the room]
CB: Sorry. It’s ok.
AH: Leave it.
CB: Into a tin?
JC: Pardon?
CB: What was the soup put into?
JC: Yeah it just went into a tin and you helped yourself. Dished up to you. Yeah. Like a billy can. Yeah.
CB: Right. Ok. And what happened on Sundays?
JC: Sunday. I don’t think it made any difference.
CB: Church parade?
JC: I don’t think so. No. I think every day was the same.
CB: Right. And what about people who became unwell. What were the facilities for that?
JC: The facilities were very good in that respect I think. They were looked after. They went into confinement into billets so yes they was confined.
CB: They had a sort of sick quarters did they?
JC: Yeah.
CB: The equivalent of sick quarters.
JC: Yeah. I suppose that’s what you’d call it. Yes.
CB: And was it a German doctor or a British one?
JC: No, it was always German doctors. Yeah.
CB: And nurses?
JC: Americans.
CB: No. Nurses? German nurses?
JC: No. No there was no nurses. They was all men. No. No, they wouldn’t have females.
CB: No.
JC: No.
CB: And what about clerics. Were there padres on, in the camp? Were there padres in the camp?
JC: Graves?
CB: Padres. Clerics.
JC: Clerics.
CB: Yes.
JC: Well yes I suppose there was. A couple I suppose but you’d never notice much.
CB: No. So you were eighteen months in this camp.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Where was the second camp?
JC: Where was the second?
CB: Where was the second camp?
JC: No. I was in that one camp and nothing. I was in that one camp all the time. I don’t remember going into a second camp.
CB: Ok. So at the end of the war then who came to the camp or were you moved out?
JC: Oh the Germans pulled out. It was strange because when we woke up in the morning all the, all the Germans had pulled out so we were left with our own officers and that on the, on the camp and that was it.
CB: So then what?
JC: You just had to wait until we got ordered out, marched out.
CB: So you’re on the Baltic. You’re on your own -
JC: Yeah.
CB: Because there are no guards. Where did you march to?
JC: Where did we march too? We were marched into Germany. We couldn’t go anywhere. We didn’t go out. We stayed in Germany.
AH: The Russians -
CB: The Russians must have been there because the Americans -
AH: Liberated you.
CB: The Americans weren’t in that part of Poland and Germany so who were the people, who were the troops who came to liberate the camp?
JC: Just trying to think who they were. I’ve got an idea it was the Americans that came.
AH: No.
CB: I don’t think so.
AH: No.
CB: Because this was far too far east -
AH: No.
JC: No.
CB: For Americans.
AH: Russians.
JC: Well you’ve got -
AH: Yeah. I’ve got it here. It was the Russians.
CB: They must have been Russian.
AH: It was definitely the Russians.
JC: Well yes there were a lot of Russians obviously. I’m not going to say there wasn’t but -
AH: He’s forgotten.
CB: Ok.
AH: I’ve got it all here.
CB: That’s ok.
JC: You’ve got it all down there.
CB: Yeah.
JC: Good.
CB: So then after you were in that camp they then marched you somewhere else or did they put you in a ship or trucks or what did they do?
JC: Yes, they, after the war, trying to, trying to think back -
CB: Yeah.
JC: To what happened. It’s very difficult. Obviously there was quite a few prisoners of war there and they had to shift them somehow and I don’t know how they shifted them. I’ve got an idea they had troop, troop trains.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah, trains up there. Yeah.
CB: And do you remember how you got back to England?
JC: No, not really. I don’t know. I can’t remember how I got back -
CB: Ok.
JC: To England.
AH: I’ve got it here.
JC: Have you got anything there?
CB: So how did they come back?
AH: Well they were marched to airfields and then he returned in an US aircraft.
JC: Yeah.
AH: A B17. Taken to Biggin Hill.
JC: Went to Biggin Hill.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah.
CB: So you were brought in a B17.
JC: Yeah.
AH: But that was
JC: To Biggin Hill.
AH: There was quite a gap between -
JC: Yeah.
AH: You know -
JC: Yeah.
AH: The liberation of the camp and getting back.
JC: It were.
AH: It doesn’t give dates but -
CB: Well it was a major operation.
AH: Yeah.
JC: Well yes it would be.
AH: They were in -
JC: Because they could carry more -
AH: They were in camp for two weeks anyway.
CB: Yeah.
AH: After it was liberated.
JC: The American aircraft could carry more troops, passengers, than the others.
CB: So you get flown back to Britain.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Then what? So it’s Biggin Hill that they’ve landed you.
JC: Yeah. We landed at Biggin Hill and then we just went and made sure that we went for a medical and the next thing we went down to make sure that we were, went to camp for food. So they did look after us when we got back here. There was no problem about that. Yeah.
AH: It says you were given two weeks leave to make up your mind whether to stay in the RAF or not.
JC: No.
AH: That’s what, that’s what it, you know -
CB: Ok. So you get back. They give you some leave.
JC: Yes.
CB: And then you decide whether you want to stay or whether you want to come out of the RAF.
JC: Come out of the RAF.
CB: So what did you do?
JC: I think I came out. Did I?
AH: Yeah.
JC: Yeah. I enjoyed it.
CB: And then what did you do?
JC: Er -
CB: Because before the war you had been doing wood working.
JC: That’s right.
CB: Carpentry.
JC: Yeah, carpentry.
CB: So what did you do when you returned ‘cause you’re now a warrant officer -
JC: Yeah.
CB: In the RAF.
JC: Oh God. I’m trying, trying to remember now. I think it was, wasn’t it Stokenchurch I was working?
AH: You went into the police.
CB: Oh did you join the police.
AH: Joined the police.
JC: Pardon?
CB: Did you join the police force?
JC: I did join the Met, Met police yes but I’m just trying to think when it was. I was in London and I volunteered into the Met police. No, I’ve had a, I’ve loved, I mean I’ve enjoyed myself.
CB: Yeah.
JC: Whatever I’ve, whatever I’ve been doing.
CB: Yeah.
JH: Didn’t he become an insurance company clerk?
JC: I enjoyed it.
AH: Sorry.
JH: He trained to be an insurance clerk.
AH: Oh, yes, that’s true. Yes.
JH: I think he’d done something before.
CB: So when you came back you had -
AH: Oh wait a second.
CB: Did you have a choice of things you could have done. I’m going to stop briefly now.
[Machine pause]
CB: So we’re restarting now because you’ve got back to Biggin Hill and what did the air force offer you to do? What options?
JC: No. I don’t think -
CB: You could stay or leave. So what -
JC: Stay or leave. Yeah.
CB: Did you decide to do?
JC: No. I can’t, do you know -
CB: You decided to stay.
JC: Yeah. But -
CB: And they offered you something to do.
JC: Yes. What it was now I can’t remember. Driving. That’s what I was –
CB: So you learned to drive did you?
JC: Yeah, I did.
CB: What sort of vehicles?
JC: You know. Big, you know, big ones, not just a car but a van -
CB: Trucks.
JC: Sort of thing. But again once we did that we had to drive the smaller ones as well. No. I got a licence on it. I got my driving licence as well so that made me happy.
CB: So did you then stay on and drive in the RAF or did you decide to leave?
JC: No. I decided to leave.
CB: And then what did you do?
JC: I went into insurance.
CB: Ok.
JC: Again. Didn’t I?
CB: And what was the company?
JC: Hearts of Oak.
CB: And how was that?
JC: In some, that was good. That was right on the, down near Kings Cross. Yeah. Hearts of Oak. No, I did that for a while and then I decided I wanted to do something else and that was it.
CB: So what was your choice after Hearts of Oak? What did you decide to do?
JC: What, after I decided to leave –
CB: Hearts of Oak.
JC: What did I do now?
CB: Was that when you became a policeman was it?
JC: Yes. Obviously that was it. That’s right. I left. I had to, yes. Yes. Then I joined the Metropolitan Police.
CB: How long did you work for them?
JC: Fourteen years. Yeah, it must have been. It must have been at least fourteen years. Then I came out.
CB: Then what? You’re still a relatively young man so what did you do then?
JC: What did I do? I’m just trying to think what I did after that.
AH: Partnership. And you then had the kennels.
JC: Oh I went in, I went in to insurance.
AH: No.
JC: Pardon?
AH: You went in to -
CB: You’ve done that.
JC: Oh I’ve done that. Did I?
AH: You went in to partnership with [Rex?] and had the kennels.
JC: Pardon?
AH: You went in to partnership with [Rex?] and you had the kennels.
JC: Ah the kennels.
AH: Yeah.
JC: That’s right. We, we had boarding kennels. That’s right. I remember now. [With Rex?]
CB: Where were they?
JC: That was in, off the er -
AH: Bushey.
JC: Pardon?
AH: Bushey.
JC: Bushey.
AH: Yeah.
JC: Yeah.
AH: Near –
JC: Not Bushey, no.
AH: Yeah, it was down in Bushey.
JC: Well we ran in part of Bushey, yes.
AH: Yeah. King’s -
CB: So that ran for a while.
JC: Pardon?
CB: That was boarding kennels for dogs.
JC: Yeah. Boarding dogs and, yeah boarding dogs and we used to board people’s animals. Yeah. That was good. I enjoyed that. Noisy but it was good. Yeah. We got plenty of things because you had plenty of dogs every so often and they’d only come in for maybe a couple of weeks and then they’d go and another lot would come in. So –
CB: How long did you do that for?
JC: Two years.
AH: No.
JC: Two or three years, I suppose.
AH: At least ten.
JC: Pardon?
AH: At least ten.
CB: More than ten. More than ten years.
AH: At least ten years.
JC: Did I?
AH: Yeah.
JC: Oh alright. You know more than me.
CB: Ok. So we’re going to stop there just for a mo.
JC: Ok. Sorry about -
[machine pause]
CB: Who do you remember as members of your crew? Who was the skipper?
JC: Cooper.
CB: Ok.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Sergeant pilot or, what was he?
JC: He was an officer. He’d just got his commission.
CB: Right.
JC: Cooper.
CB: Nav?
JC: Married.
AH: No. Navigation.
CB: Navigator.
AH: Navigator.
JC: Oh.
AH: I’ve got it actually.
JC: I forgot what he was called. I remember him.
AH: I’ve got it all here.
JC: Navigator. He was a little short stocky man from the north. In the midlands. [laughs] I can’t remember his name.
CB: Ok then. Wireless operator.
JC: Smith. Smith. Smith. Would be Smithy. Yeah.
AH: Sergeant Whicher. Who was Whicher?
JC: Whicher. Yeah. He was the, now what was he?
CB: Engineer was he?
JC: Engineer. That’s right he was an engineer.
AH: MacFadden.
JC: Pardon? No.
AH: You’ve got another one. He’s Flight Sergeant MacFadden.
JC: Yes, flight sergeant.
CB: Was he the rear gunner or what was he?
AH: No, Hind. R Hind was the rear gunner and he was the only one that was killed on the, he didn’t survive.
CB: Right. So it sounds as though it was a rear attack -
JC: Yeah.
CB: On the aircraft doesn’t it?
AH: Well no he was alive. He went down with the plane.
CB: Oh.
JC: No he -
AH: He didn’t get out did he? We don’t know ever what happened. I mean we know he’s buried out in –
JC: Yeah well I don’t remember. I mean as I said to you, said that he was the only one to die.
AH: Yeah.
CB: Yes.
JC: But I wouldn’t, I don’t remember that because -
AH: No. You’ve told me -
JC: When I left the -
AH: Yeah.
JC: When I got out the plane and looked in the fuselage I couldn’t see anybody and I went down the, walked down to the front and the hatch was open so I put my parachute on and jumped. I didn’t see anything or anybody else.
AH: No but he would have been right at the back -
JC: He could have been.
AH: Of the plane, so -
JC: Yeah. Could have been.
CB: So you jumped out. There was nobody at the front.
JC: No.
CB: Why was the plane going down? Why had everybody got out?
JC: Why?
CB: Was it on fire or what was it?
JC: Well the machine, the aircraft had been hit from the behind.
CB: Right.
JC: The night fighter had come up behind us and fired right through the cabin.
CB: Oh had it?
JC: Yeah.
CB: But nobody in the, was hit. The other people -
JC: Well not to my knowledge. I don’t know. I mean I would –
CB: It went under your feet.
JC: Nothing underneath. I was fine. I was up in the mid upper turret.
CB: Yes.
JC: And obviously the pilot came up to the tail -
CB: Yeah.
JC: And fired down, went down the fuselage and they all disappeared so, and the hatch was open.
CB: Yes. I just wondered whether you knew why the plane had come down.
JC: Well –
CB: I mean was it because the engines had been hit? What was the matter?
JC: Our plane.
CB: Yeah.
JC: Ah.
CB: What was the matter with it?
JC: Well I knew we’d been hit because the way the aircraft was flying.
CB: Oh.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Go on. How was it flying?
JC: Well it was, it was going down and we should have been flying along.
CB: Yeah.
JC: And, but it wasn’t sharp, if you know what I mean
AH: Yeah [?]
JC: It gave me a chance to get out of the aircraft and down and of course when I looked –
AH: [?]
JC: When I got down into the aircraft there was nobody in the -
AH: Haven’t seen it for a long time.
CB: At the front
JC: Cockpit whatsoever.
CB: No.
JC: Completely empty. I was the last one to leave.
AH: Yeah.
CB: And did you ever meet up with the rest of the crew?
JC: No.
CB: Do you know what happened to them?
JC: Not really. No. No. I don’t know what happened to the crew.
CB: So you were captured, taken prisoner, you got back to Britain. Did you ever try to make contact with the crew? Find out what had happened to them?
JC: Well obviously I did. Yes.
CB: And what happened?
JC: I tried but -
CB: Yeah.
JC: Didn’t have much success.
CB: Right. So you don’t know whether they survived or not.
JC: No. I don’t know whether, have you heard anything Andrea?
AH: MacFadden’s family did get in touch with me. He died many years ago.
JC: Did he?
AH: They came to see you and you told them a lot and gave them a lot of information. This is quite a few years ago but he died and he never talked about it.
CB: No.
JC: No.
AH: So they couldn’t find anything so they found out more from my dad about their flying days but the crew seemed to, no they didn’t seem to socialise after, or meet up, contact after the war.
JC: No.
AH: At all. They all seemed to go their own way.
CB: Why do you think that was?
AH: No idea. I never really got that out of, it just never seemed to be -
JC: Well. I suppose it was the end of the war and they just wanted to get away from it all.
CB: Yes. I think it’s an interesting question. Why is it -
JC: I don’t know.
CB: People didn’t talk.
JC: Don’t know. Don’t know.
CB: When did you meet your wife? When did you meet your wife, Jim?
JC: When did I leave?
CB: When did you meet?
AH: When did you meet mummy?
CB: Sheila.
AH: Yeah.
CB: When did you meet her?
JC: When did I meet Sheila?
AH: Yeah. You were training weren’t you? In London.
JC: Oh I was staying in London. Yeah. That’s where I met my wife. Yeah.
CB: What, was she a WAAF?
JC: Sheila.
CB: Was she a WAAF?
JC: She wasn’t in, no, she wasn’t, she was -
AH: No.
JC: She was working in a big company down in London. Camden Town wasn’t it?
AH: Yeah she was quite a bit, she was younger, quite a bit younger so she wouldn’t have been working probably.
JC: Yeah she would.
AH: To begin with, she was never, in fact she was evacuated at the beginning of the war. Hated it. Said to her mother, ‘If you don’t come and collect me I’m leaving. I’m walking home,’ sort of thing. Came back, lived in London all through the bombings and the air raids and everything.
JC: Yeah.
AH: So she was too, she wouldn’t have been working.
CB: What was her date of birth?
AH: Oh ‘32 that would have been -
JH: She used to keep it secret.
AH: Yeah. There’s about ten years difference -
JH: I have got it.
AH: Isn’t there?
CB: Right.
JH: [from my clearance forms?]
CB: So -
AH: Probably ten year’s difference.
JC: Northwest, in London.
AH: Yeah, mummy’s date of birth. Can you remember that? Mummy’s date of birth.
JC: Whose?
AH: Mummy.
JC: When was she born?
AH: Sheila.
JC: Oh Sheila.
AH: Yeah. When, what’s her date of birth?
JC: I can’t remember.
AH: Well maybe -
JC: It’s so many years ago now sorry.
AH: Yeah its, probably -
CB: Ok. Different question.
AH: Yeah.
CB: When were you married?
JC: A good question. Been married about twenty six years, twenty six, twenty seven. No. More than that because -
AH: No. When you got married.
JH: [?]
AH: I know when you -
CB: I’m going to stop just for a moment.
JC: Yeah.
[Machine pause]
CB: So we’re out of sequence now but we’re talking about the point when the aircraft was lost so the engagement, the aircraft. You were shot down were you? By a fighter.
JC: Yes.
CB: And what type of fighter was it. It was in the dark.
JC: It was in the dark. I don’t think we would have seen it. I’ve got an idea it was a single engine fighter.
CB: Oh.
JC: But nobody, nobody could say one way or the other.
CB: Ok so when did you know that the plane was crippled.
JC: What my plane?
CB: Yes.
JC: When I looked down to the fuselage and found that I was the only one left in it.
CB: Yes. What made you do that?
JC: I don’t know.
CB: Had you called up?
JC: I looked down and I just saw and I couldn’t get no replies from any of the –
CB: Oh I see.
JC: From the, you see.
CB: Right.
JC: And I looked down and there was nothing there so I thought I’d get down and when I walked along the corridor to the front entrance it was all open.
CB: There was nobody there.
JC: So I just went with it.
CB: It sounds like the intercom wasn’t working, and what what did you know about the plane that shot you down?
JC: Nothing.
CB: Did you see it?
JC: No.
CB: Right.
JC: No.
CB: But did anybody shoot at it?
JC: Nobody. There was nobody else there to my knowledge.
CB: No, but before then.
JC: Before? No, nobody. No we never heard any machine gun fire or saw anything, tracers or anything. I would have seen it because I was in the mid upper.
CB: Yes.
JC: And that was in the best position to see anything.
CB: Yes.
JC: But there was nothing in the air.
CB: Right.
JC: Nothing at all.
CB: So is it possible that the plane was underneath and so nobody could see?
JC: Well, there is, there is that possibility that he came up behind us and then he, yes. I imagine that was what happened. I don’t know. I can’t say for sure but that would be the obvious position for him to come up behind and then shoot.
CB: What did you know, what did you understand about the word scarecrow?
JC: Scarecrow?
CB: Ahum.
JC: No. Don’t know anything about scarecrow.
CB: Ok. Because, but also what do you know about the upward firing guns of the night fighters. Did you know about those?
JC: No.
CB: Right.
JC: No. No.
CB: The reason I ask the question is because you didn’t see anything and it sounds as though the rear gunner didn’t. Is that right?
JC: Well as far as I know he didn’t see anything.
CB: But the aircraft was crippled.
JC: Yeah.
CB: That would suggest the possibility that it was hit by one of the bigger night fighters with upward firing cannon.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Which they called Schrage Musik.
JC: Yeah. Oh -
CB: And that was aimed at the port inner.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Tank.
JC: That could have happened, that could have happened but as I say that’s nothing I can say about that.
CB: No.
JC: I can’t guarantee that.
CB: But was there any fire on the aircraft?
JC: No fire. No, because when I looked in, down the fuselage there was no fire at all.
CB: Right. And what about the bombs? Were they still in the aircraft or had they been dropped?
JC: Oh they’d all been jettisoned. Jettisoned.
CB: You hadn’t reached the target.
JC: Oh we hadn’t reached the target. No.
CB: No.
JC: Oh no.
CB: How far away were you from the target? Roughly.
JC: We were flying up towards, yeah oh about fifteen miles I suppose.
CB: And what sort of height were you flying?
JC: We were up at twenty, nineteen to twenty one, eighteen, no between eighteen and twenty one thousand. I couldn’t give you anything closer than that.
CB: No. Did you, did the pilot tend to change the height -
JC: No.
CB: Regularly or always keep the same?
JC: No. It stayed the same.
CB: Right. And could you see any other bombers?
JC: No.
CB: Even in your, even from your position -
JC: No.
CB: You couldn’t see anything?
JC: Couldn’t see anything. No.
CB: Oh.
JC: No.
CB: And you, could you –
JC: It was pitch black
CB: Yeah, and was at fifteen miles would you be able to see the target -
JC: Fifteen miles.
CB: At that point?
JC: No. You wouldn’t have been able to see the target at fifteen miles away.
CB: No.
JC: Not at that height.
CB: So were you a standard bomber or were you Pathfinder?
JC: I was a Pathfinder.
CB: You were Pathfinders.
JC: We were Pathfinders.
CB: So you were out front. You were ahead of -
JC: Yes we were -
CB: The stream.
JC: In the front.
CB: Yes.
JC: We were leading, you know. Actually Pathfinders, just because they were the Pathfinders you didn’t have to be in front. You could be backing up. You get what I mean.
CB: I do. So -
JC: I don’t know if we were backing up or whether we were in the front.
CB: So backing up would mean what?
JC: Back up. You’d have a gap between you and the other aircraft.
CB: With the purpose of doing what?
JC: Pardon?
CB: What was the purpose of that?
JC: Well to make sure that there was nothing in between you and the fighters couldn’t come in between you.
CB: Yeah.
JC: Yeah.
CB: But as a Pathfinder there was one at the front so the backup was to do another marking job. Was it?
JC: Yeah. Yes. Yes.
CB: So you were to re-mark the target. Is that the idea?
JC: That’s what the idea was. Yeah.
CB: Right. So you would go in slightly ahead of the rest of the stream.
JC: Yes slightly ahead of the rest and the others would follow and then you’d have a backup.
CB: Yeah.
JC: Yeah.
CB: So when the bombs went, were dropped, your bombs, how long did you have to fly straight and level before you could turn?
JC: Well once they’ve gone the aircraft would lift.
CB: Oh yeah.
JC: And then you could just go.
CB: But you had to take the picture first.
JC: We didn’t take pictures.
CB: No. There was a camera just under the pilot.
JC: Yes but whether he could have taken -
CB: So –
JC: Them or not I don’t know.
CB: No.
JC: No.
CB: But the purpose of that was to show where the bombs had dropped.
JC: Yeah.
CB: And that was -
JC: Well I can imagine all that but -
CB: Just a single camera but a single shot based on -
JC: Yeah.
CB: The flare ‘cause you, when did you, when did the flare get dropped after the bombs?
JC: The flare was dropped after the bombing. Well, I never saw any flares.
CB: Right. Because you were on the top so you couldn’t see that.
JC: Couldn’t see any. We never saw any –
CB: No.
JC: Flares. No.
CB: So what I was getting at was that my understanding is that you had the pilot had to run the plane for anther period. At twenty thousand feet it would be longer than if it was ten thousand feet.
JC: Yeah.
CB: So that the flare could be dropped to illuminate the target to show what was happening.
JC: Oh well it would do but like I say -
CB: Which was about twenty to forty seconds.
JC: Yes. These things, don’t forget they when they happened they happened very quickly.
CB: Yes quite. That’s why I’m asking you.
JC: [?]
CB: Yeah.
JC: You must know that.
CB: Yes.
JC: And you take your eye off, if you take your eye off it you lose something. So -
CB: The gunners were the key people to get the pilot to take evasive action.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Did you ever instruct the pilot on evasive action and what was it?
JC: No. No. No, the only time we’d mention anything was if we saw something.
CB: Yeah.
JC: But other than that the pilot would be doing his own job.
CB: And a final question. The gunners are on the aeroplane looking backwards but you’re looking all the way around. Under what circumstances would you fire the guns?
JC: Under what circumstances? Well I wouldn’t be, you wouldn’t fire the guns unless you were certain that the target was in front, whatever you were facing. You wouldn’t just fire anywhere. You’d wait until you saw exactly what you were firing at.
CB: Right. When you were being attacked.
JC: Yeah. If we were being attacked.
CB: Yeah. Ok.
JC: Yeah because I mean if you could do that you could even shoot somebody else down.
CB: Yeah.
JC: And you wouldn’t like that. God.
CB: What was the attitude of the crew towards these raids?
JC: What? What -
CB: Going on operations, what was the attitude of the crew? How did they feel about it?
JC: Well they felt, they felt they were happy with it. There were no problems. They didn’t, they never complained. No. I think they were all pleased to get back.
CB: Right.
JC: Imagine. No.
CB: And in the squadron or on other squadrons what did you know about LMF?
JC: LMF. Well it was lack of moral fibre wasn’t it? Yeah. Well, I never came across any of it ‘cause everybody, everybody I ever met and was on with there was never any mention of LMF. The plane was there and they’d go and that was it. All come back. No. Know what it was. Lack of moral fibre but I don’t think any of them, I never, I never heard of any one being treated that way.
CB: What did they do to them after, if they were -
JC: I don’t know.
CB: Branded that way? Do you know?
JC: No. I never did find out because I never saw one.
CB: No.
JC: Do you know whatever happened to them?
CB: Well there is a story about it.
JC: Oh is there.
CB: Yeah. Which is that they were paraded in front of the rest of the station -
JC: Oh.
CB: And had their stripes removed and their brevets.
JC: Well -
CB: Publically.
JC: Well, I don’t know. I’ve never seen it and I’ve never heard of it -
CB: No.
JC: So I didn’t take any notice of things like that.
CB: No. Well –
JC: No.
CB: Clearly there wasn’t a problem there.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Where were you billeted?
JC: Where were I billeted? Where the hell was it? No. Just up in the, we were billeted up in, wait a minute, where were we, we were in Northern France, Northern France up towards Poland.
CB: Ok. Yeah but when you were stationed at Bourn, RAF Bourn near Cambridge.
JC: Yeah.
CB: What was the billet arrangements?
JC: What was the arrangement?
CB: Yeah. So were you all in one nissen hut?
JC: Not necessarily no. Not all in one. No, because usually you find four in one and three maybe in another.
CB: Oh.
JC: No, we never stayed actually all in -
CB: You never had everybody together.
JC: No. I don’t think we -
CB: Was the captain, the pilot a commissioned, was he a -
JC: Most, yeah they got, most they did eventually get commissioned.
CB: Yes.
JC: Yes.
CB: Right.
JC: They weren’t all, not when they first started.
CB: But when you were flying with your crew what was the rank -
JC: He got commissioned. He got commissioned while he was -
CB: Did he?
JC: When we started, just after we started.
CB: Right.
JC: Yeah.
CB: So he wasn’t billeted with you.
JC: No. No. No.
CB: No. Right. And for social, when they were on socials did, what did the crew do?
JC: Well they never mixed much put it that way.
CB: Oh really.
JC: No.
AH: Oh really.
JC: No. They just went in their own ways and that was it.
CB: So was that, do you think, because you weren’t all in one nissen hut or because of the -
JC: Well I don’t really know -
CB: Temperament of the people.
JC: What it was all about. Don’t forget everybody had their own ways of living and displaying things. I don’t know. It’s very difficult, a very difficult question to answer. You’ve got people, you’ve got to read people’s minds and it’s not always possible to do that under those circumstances because if things happen they happen quickly as you appreciate.
CB: So you’ve got a crew of seven. Did, were you closer to -
JC: Well -
CB: Some of the members than others?
JC: Crew of seven.
CB: There was seven in the aircraft.
JC: Oh yes seven in the aircraft.
CB: Yeah.
JC: But they were all in different positions.
CB: I know. Sorry what I meant was, socially did you tend to get together?
JC: Oh once we were stationed [and ok?] either, if we were there for a couple of nights or somewhere then we’d get together. Yes.
CB: Yeah.
JC: But other than that no.
CB: Were you more friendly with some of the crew members than others or –
JC: No. I mean -
CB: Just with everybody.
JC: Everybody, everybody got on fine.
CB: Yeah.
JC: I never found any animosity.
CB: No.
JC: Amongst the crews. You know.
CB: ‘Cause some crews would only go out together.
JC: No.
CB: And everybody at the same time.
JC: Yeah, well you don’t know, I mean -
CB: But not with yours.
JC: Yeah.
CB: Right. Finally what was the most memorable thing -
JC: What was the -
CB: About, what would you say was the most memorable experience of your time in the RAF?
JC: My most memorable. Well I don’t think I had anything, you know. We just took it in our stride. We knew what we were doing we used to go in the afternoon and get briefed and then we’d go for a meal and then we’d go, stay together, we’d, once you, once you got briefed you stayed together as members of the crew.
CB: Right.
JC: You didn’t leave and then you’d go and have your meal, go out, go to your locker room, get all your kit.
CB: Right.
JC: Put it on, go together back to the aircraft and that was it so there was no chance of anybody going from one to another. They stayed together.
CB: What sort of rituals did people have before they went on ops?
JC: Well yes a ritual but nothing that you could say anything there was no nothing back behind it put it that way. I know people might think there was but why would they do that because they wouldn’t know whether they were going to get killed or not?
CB: So were people, how did people feel about the flight, the operation before they left?
JC: Well I suppose like anything else mostly because as I say most of our flights were at night so it was always dark when you went, well most of the time anyway by the time you got into top of Germany it, nervous maybe but but I never heard any complaints regarding that at all so I wouldn’t like to say one way or the other.
CB: How many ops did you do in total?
JC: I’m just trying to think myself. Do you remember?
AH: I think it was about six or seven.
JC: Either six or seven yeah six or seven operations.
AH: Yeah.
JC: Until we got shot down. Yeah. I know that.
CB: What do you think being a Pathfinder did for your likelihood of survival?
JC: Being a Pathfinder? No. I don’t think being a Pathfinder made any difference whatsoever. Not really.
CB: On the basis of whether the Germans could identify who you were -
JC: No.
CB: In the air.
JC: No. I don’t think so. There was nothing, no way, no way the Germans could identify one aircraft from another. To my knowledge anyway. Because there was no signals given. Once you were airborne, once you’d left the ground, field there was no communications between aircraft. Not to my knowledge anyway as an air gunner.
CB: Ok good. Final. I keep saying final but this is the final one.
JC: What’s that?
CB: What do you, what sticks in your mind most about your, what sticks in your mind most about the time when you were a prisoner of war.
JC: That’s a good question because I think the most, thing that was in everybody’s mind was how long we were going to be here because nobody knew how long you were going to be a prisoner of war and prisoners, don’t forget, prisoners were coming in regularly. Daily. Five or six would turn up one night. Two or three the next day. You’d never know how many was going to turn up and how long you were going to be there but it wasn’t until the Germans pulled out completely that we knew we were coming home eventually. Then we had to wait for aircraft to bring us home.
CB: Jim Copus in Hemel Hempstead thank you very much.
[machine pause]
CB: Right. Andrea’s just going to tell us the extra bit about the prison camp and the end of the time. What was that?
AH: Yes I think my father’s sort of forgotten towards the end when the Germans realised that they were losing the war and the, sort of, Germans, you know, were getting rather, sort of, jittery and you know, and they knew that, you know, they weren’t going to, sort of, be in power for much longer and they sort of then just left the camp and it was the Russians that were coming through. Although my father’s sort of spoken they were pretty awful to the villages and the treatment of the locals. They weren’t very nice people let’s put it that way although they liberated the prisoner of war camp and in fact one of the Russians, they gave my father some money, you know, sort of exchanged a note which we had for many years and now we can’t find it but it was in somewhere you know that we had at home and so but as you say they liberated them and then they sort of made their own way back sort of, eventually to, I’m not really sure of the actual details of, you know, how they got our physically from the camp, apart from just walking out. Who oversaw it because the Russians just sort of you know left them to it. They didn’t sort of aid them or help them in that respect apart from liberating.
CB: Ok.
AH: And that’s it really.
CB: And this is Stalag Luft 1.
AH: Stalag Luft 1.
CB: Yeah.
AH: Right in the north.
CB: Right. Thank you.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Interview with Jim Copus. Two
Creator
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Chris Brockbank
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
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2016-02-24
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Sound
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Pending review
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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.
Identifier
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ACopusJ160224
Description
An account of the resource
Jim Copus was born in Watlington and volunteered for the Royal Air Force when he was eighteen. After training, he flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 97 Squadron from RAF Bourn. On one operation he realised that it was very quiet. He could not get a response on his intercom so left the turret to investigate. He found that he was alone in the aircraft and seeing the escape hatch was open he grabbed his parachute and made his escape from the stricken aircraft. He landed near a farmhouse and following his arrest he was sent to Stalag Luft 1. He was a prisoner of war for fifteen months before the camp was liberated by the Russians and he was repatriated. Following his demobilisation, he worked in insurance, the Metropolitan Police and as manager of kennels.
Contributor
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Julie Williams
Language
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eng
Coverage
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Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
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Germany
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
Germany--Barth
Temporal Coverage
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1940
1942
1943
Format
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01:16:28 audio recording
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bale out
bombing
lack of moral fibre
Lancaster
Pathfinders
prisoner of war
RAF Bourn
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/497/8386/BCopusPJCopusPJv10009.2.jpg
a36f63034734e4e0f29c51ba59c98074
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/497/8386/ACopusJ150928.1.mp3
51fd30062c962d0e425f7b640183c74e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Copus, Jim
P J Copus
Copus, James
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Identifier
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Copus, PJ
Description
An account of the resource
Nine items. Two oral history interviews with Warrant Officer Percy James Copus (1922 - 2016, 1430308 Royal Air Force) who flew operations as a mid-upper gunner with 97 Squadron. The collection also includes photographs of himself and family, and account and maps of his last operation of the 27 March 1943 on Frankfurt, when his Lancaster was shot down and he became a prisoner of war.
The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by James Copus and catalogued by Nigel Huckins.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-02-24
Rights
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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. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.
Transcribed audio recording
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Transcription
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NM: By saying this is Nigel Moore. I’m with Mr James Copus.
JC: Yes.
NM: I’m at his house in Boxmoor in Hemel Hempstead xxxx. It’s Monday the 28th of September.
JC: Yes.
NM: And it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
JC: Yes.
NM: So can I just start by asking?
JC: Carry on.
NM: By asking you -
JC: Carry on. Get my breath back.
NM: Yes. Ok. Can you tell me something?
JC: I haven’t had lunch long and I’ve been sitting, just sat down.
NM: Right. Ok.
JC: And I got up with a bit of a rush I suppose.
NM: Take it easy and take your time.
JC: Fine.
NM: Take your time.
JC: You can see up there.
NM: What was, what was your life like before you joined the RAF? About your upbringing and childhood. Where did you grow up?
JC: Where did I grow up?
NM: Yeah.
JC: Well I was born in Watlington which is Oxfordshire. I don’t know if you know it.
NM: Yeah. I do.
JC: Watlington. Yes. And I joined the RAF in nineteen -
NM: What was, what were you doing before you joined the RAF?
JC: I was working in Stokenchurch at a chair factory ‘cause really there wasn’t a great deal of work about so you had to go where you could work and I lived at Stoke, I worked at Stokenchurch. That was seven mile away. Aston on a Hill, quite a hill. Anyway, it were interesting and I enjoyed myself. I always like what I do and I do what I like. I think that’s a good story anyway, don’t you? Anything else you would like to know?
NM: So, so, how did you, how did you come to join the RAF and when did you join the RAF?
JC: Well that’s a good question. I didn’t, I didn’t say, I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t tell my parents. I just went up to, up to Reading one Saturday morning and I came home and said I had joined the RAF. Well, I thought that was the best way to do it because I didn’t want to upset anybody and as I say my, I had a brother and a sister but they’re all dead now unfortunately, parents as well. And I went up to Reading and just went up there and I came home and said I was joined the RAF and they didn’t, well they were taken aback a little bit but I think they appreciated the fact that I volunteered so that made me happy as well. Yeah. Alright?
NM: So tell me something then about your training. How did you -
JC: Pardon?
NM: About your training.
JC: Training.
NM: Once you -
JC: For the RAF?
NM: Yes. Once you joined, what happened to you when you joined up?
JC: Well the first thing, first thing I’d do as soon as I got my call up I went up to Blackpool to go and do the square bashing. That’s what they called it in those days. I don’t know what they call it today but it was all marching up and down through Blackpool. Quite a nice place to go actually in, it was the, I’m just trying to think, it wasn’t summer and it wasn’t winter. It was somewhere in between anyway. I know that because it was mostly dry which was good and so I enjoyed it. It was very good. We were all stationed in separate billets. We weren’t in a block of flats that were, we were sent out to people, residents, you know so you got, you might be in one bedroom, house and two doors down the road was another one, another recruit. It was good. I enjoyed it as I say. Things changed to what it is today. Anything else?
NM: So, and what sort of, what form did the training take?
JC: First, most of it was square bashing, learning how to as you’d appreciate as good twenty four of us at a time maybe even more square bashing and we did that for two or three solid weeks and then then we moved on from there and it wasn’t until, oh I forget how long it was afterwards that I volunteered for aircrew. Well, I went up to Reading actually and I went and didn’t tell anybody, I just went up to Reading and I said, ‘Can I join the air force?’ and I went from there so.
NM: So, so in Blackpool you volunteered for, for air crew.
JC: Yeah.
NM: And you became a mid-upper gunner.
JC: I mean I did end up as a mid-upper gunner, yes.
NM: Did you volunteer for that or was -
JC: Oh yeah. I volunteered for it. Yeah. Yeah. Well I wanted to, once I got there I wanted to do something and I thought the only thing I could do is to, I don’t mind being an air gunner. It makes no difference. I can’t fly the plane so I’d got to do something else and -
NM: So, what was the training like for a gunner?
JC: It was very good and the training was very good. I went over to the Isle of Man and places like that doing different training, doing, and that so we did, we did most of the training from the Isle of Man in, well aircraft in those days were a little bit different to what they are today and enjoyable. I enjoyed what I did. The most important.
NM: And from your air gunning training –
JC: Hmmn?
NM: From your training -
JC: I was training as an air gunner. Yeah.
NM: Yes.
JC: Yeah.
NM: How did you then move on towards operations?
JC: Well I don’t know how that we did move around from there. It was, I was flying you know just going from the Isle of Wight, no the Isle of Man, we were flying from the Isle of Man. Going out there, flying around and training and then from there I went up to Cambridge and from there went on to more training and more flying and we did a lot of night flying getting used to flying at night. Used to go for sometimes we were out for eight hours flying. It was a long time up there. No, but as I say I enjoyed it. It was something I wanted to do and the war was on. I enjoyed it.
NM: So when did you meet the rest of your crew?
JC: Now, I didn’t meet the crew until oh I suppose the Isle of Man and I met up with most of them. Didn’t meet them all at once. I met them all separately. They were different training you see. There was the pilot and the navigator, they were all training and different and then we all got together and then we used to go out on training flights. Everybody. Each crew went out individually as a lot with the crew and we went on night flying, mostly night flying in those days. Yeah. It was alright. It was a long time ago. I can’t remember everything.
NM: You were straight on Lancasters were you?
JC: Not on Lancasters at the time, no. No. No. No. We were, no they weren’t Lancasters. They weren’t Lancasters until we got into the squadron?
NM: Ok.
JC: No.
NM: So, so your training flying was done on other aircraft, yes?
JC: Other aircraft yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
NM: As a complete crew.
JC: There was, no when you say a complete crew. There was a pilot and then yourself in the turret. Maybe three of you in there, in it but certainly it wasn’t seven. So, no as I say it was all interesting and I was, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed what I did.
NM: So when you met up with the full crew, when you -
JC: Yes. Once we met the crew you all trained together and once we trained together went on operations.
NM: Tell me something about the crew members.
JC: Crew members.
NM: Yeah.
JC: It’s trying to remember everybody now. It was such a long ago, as you know. Let me think. Cooper. Cooper was the pilot. I remember him. Yeah. Mac. Always called him Mac anyway. He was the navigator and the rear gunner was, the rear gunner was called Slick [laughs]. We had nicknames for everybody and I was the mid upper. I remember lots of things but as I say again it’s such a long ago now, as you appreciate. I’ve enjoyed myself but I’ve always try and do that. Even now. Yeah.
NM: And you were posted down to, you were posted to 97 squadron.
JC: Yeah we got eventually down to 97 squadron. Yeah. Yeah.
NM: Tell me about life on 97 squadron.
JC: Well 97 squadron, we were the Cambridge, just up, up not very far away from here to that extent. Cambridge. And it was a fully operational station and we had problems. Wherever you went you had problems ‘cause I remember going out one night we were all , all ready to go, all on a plane and it was, I mean there was no lighting to that extent and we were going down the perimeter track. The next thing you know we were up one side. It had gone down a trench, in the trench. We got stuck so we couldn’t go out that night. That was funny. The things were happening. You never realised what can go on but flying was alright. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed flying. Have you flown? Have you ever flown?
NM: I have yes but -
JC: Pardon?
NM: Yes, I have.
JC: Oh good.
NM: But -
JC: Yes. It’s something you can take to or you can’t isn’t it?
NM: What was, what was life like on the squadron when you weren’t flying?
JC: Well it was good. Good. We never had to worry because depending on the weather you got up in the morning you went on parade, well on parade, you went into the hut, you went in to the hut and you met everybody else in there and they just came in and said, ‘Right. No flying today,’ and that was the end of it. We’d go our own way. But then if there was flying then we’d go and get the crew together and we’d go out and dress up and go out. Yeah. It was, well in those days, I don’t know what it’s like today but in those days it was, it was one for all and all for one if you know what I mean. [laughs] No, I enjoyed it.
NM: So when you weren’t flying what did you get up to?
JC: Er what did I get up to? Mostly I’d go into London. I’d get out of the camp and go on the A1 and, and come down and pick up my girl, meet my girlfriend. So we all had things like that happening. As long as you got back in time the next morning it didn’t matter ‘cause you went on, you’d go on parade in the morning and they’d say, well depending on the weather of course and they’d say, ‘Well there’s nothing happening today. See you tomorrow morning.’ If not we’d go out with the crew and go out on a cross country. Take a, we’d do a cross country flying. Sometimes we’d go on dog legs well anywhere from Cambridge. Dog legging here all the way to Scotland and back. Boring but [laughs]. Other than that it was alright. I enjoyed it.
NM: And you were in the turret the whole time.
JC: Hmmn?
NM: You were in the turret the whole time.
JC: Oh yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Once you were up there you can’t, you don’t move around. No. Nobody, nobody moved once you got in the aircraft. You were there and that was it till you landed. Oh it was interesting.
NM: Tell me about your operations.
JC: Operations. We didn’t do many. Only went on, I think I got shot down on the sixth, it was the sixth operation. Sixth one. And I remember that quite clearly because we were flying across France. We’d gone across there, we’d crossed over into France ‘cause we were down to, up rather about eighteen thousand feet I suppose by the time we got there and it was like daylight. It really was. You could see everything, you could see all around you and I was amazed at what we could see up there at that time of night and I didn’t see the fighter because he’d come up behind us. He came up underneath and I was lucky because I was in the mid upper, I was a mid upper gunner just slightly to one side of the aircraft and the aircraft, the fighter came up underneath and behind but he never hit me at all. I was sitting in the turret and the bullet, obviously he hit other crew and that was it. I got out of there. They didn’t, they never said anything but I got out the turret, went back to the rear door, put my parachute on and that was the end of that because I couldn’t get out of the door. I had to get, couldn’t open the door so I had to go back through the aircraft and go down the nose. That was the worrying because as I say it’s, if you’ve been in an aircraft and your stuck in the tail of the air craft and you’ve got to walk back through the fuselage and find the hole to go through and I went through it and that was it and I suppose I came down and got somebody’s back garden, landed there and they all came out to look and took me inside the house, sat me inside the kitchen in the house and everybody in the village came around to have a look but I wasn’t bothered. It didn’t affect me. I mean I was never attacked in any shape or form so I can’t go into that. There was nothing. Nothing happened and then I suppose after a couple of hours the local police arrived and they took me to a police station and that was it. Well, apart from staying all those fifteen months. Yeah. Anything else?
NM: Well, yes.
JC: Go on then. I don’t know what you’re wanting to ask.
NM: Did you, did you manage see any of the crew again after you bailed out?
JC: I’m just trying to think about that. Have I seen the crew? I think I have, periodically, yeah because that was such a long time ago isn’t it when I think about it. So no I don’t think I saw many after that, once the war broke out because they all went in different directions. I did meet the skipper once. Yes.
NM: So they all survived did they?
JC: Hmmn?
NM: They all survived the shooting down.
JC: Oh yeah. Yeah. Did we? No. No. No. No. No we got shot down. The rear gunner was killed. He was, he was the only one I think that was, that was lost on the flight. He was in the tail and I looked out and I couldn’t find anybody. How long, I had to go back, back up the fuselage. I had to get back out of my turret, get my parachute on, I tried the back door, couldn’t get out of the back door so I had to up to the front again and there was nobody there. I just went through the hatch. Yeah. That was, that was yeah that was maybe a bit worrying and scary.
NM: When there was nobody there. Yeah
JC: Yeah.
NM: Yeah.
JC: [?] but there again I’m alive and that’s the most important.
NM: So you were taken to a police station.
JC: Oh yes. Yes.
NM: Tell me about your, the next fifteen months then as a prisoner of war.
JC: Well yes we went from various places to, from one place to another on a railway trip from one part of a town to another you know and once they got that we went into we were confined to places where we had to be, didn’t have to talk to anybody so, no, I mean a bit scary but got over it. No. No.
NM: So you were in a prisoner of war camp.
JC: Yes Stalag Luft 1. I don’t know if you know the Stalags. Up in the Baltic. Overlooking the sea there. The Russians were on the other side, the other side of the water. So -
NM: So describe life in Stalag Luft 1 for me.
JC: Pardon?
NM: What was life like as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 1?
JC: Well it’s what you made it really. Either, you either got on with it or you moped around and did nothing. No, I went out and I used to play football when I could and things like that and walk around the camp, but you had to do something. You just couldn’t just sit around. I mean some people, some of them did but I couldn’t do that. I used to walk around if I could, go from one compound to another. There’s not much you could do because they had, well I don’t know who they were, they were foreigners at the camp and they did all the dirty work so we were fortunate in that respect. Yeah.
NM: So how many of you were in your -
JC: Pardon?
NM: How many of you were there in -
JC: In the camp?
NM: In the camp, yes.
JC: Oh now that’s a good question.
NM: How many in your hut?
JC: Oh in a hut. Twelve. About twelve to a hut and there were, must have been, let me think one, two, three, four, five, about six, six, seven huts. Yeah. Maybe more.
NM: All RAF? Were they?
JC: Yeah all RAF, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
NM: So did you make many friends in the camp?
JC: Well, I must have done, must have done but I never kept up with anybody special really. Not once I left and moved around from one place to another. You make friends obviously but then you go on and make further friends. Like anything else.
NM: Were there any other incidents of note? Did people try and escape or were there -
JC: Well it wasn’t a very good place to try and escape because on one side of it was all you were out at the sea so there was no way you could go from there unless you had, well as I say we were out on the Baltic so, no. There was no there was no way. Some people tried to escape and they got out, they got out of the camp but they were never out for long so there you go. There again there were other things you could do. I went, there was three, three prisoners there used to go into the village, local, well, the [?] village doing repairs to various things that wanted repaired and I asked them if it was possible to go with them one day and I went down. I had to go and find somebody with a hat, different clothes that I could go and find and be different to the others and I went down to this family. They introduced me to this family and when I was there the daughter arrived and she was crying her eyes out and I thought, ‘Oh God, what have I done now?’ It wasn’t nothing to do with me apparently. She was, she’d just been ordered to the Russian front. That was the reason. So it was a bit scary you know. I didn’t like to see that but I had to put up with it. No.
NM: So you had a chance now and again to go out of the camp but -
JC: Well yeah if you could, you could go out if there was two or three used to go bookbinding and sometimes you know you’d say to them, ‘Is it, is it possible to come with you?’ and they’d go and find out. I didn’t go out, I think it was two or three times about, that was all I went and otherwise you just sat around doing nothing and I didn’t like that. Doing bookbinding. But they had to do it because they kept the books up to date for the camp you know. Ok.
NM: Were you in communication at all with your parents?
JC: Pardon?
NM: Were you in communication at all with your parents? Were you able to write to your parents?
JC: Well, yes, you were allowed. Yeah but not, I think it was once a month I think you could do it. You could write a letter once a month and then it had to be censored so other than that prisoners of war like everything else you’re confined to barracks, wire and that’s it. No. I, we used to have fields, you know quite decent fields to play around in. We had, you could play football and things like that. And no we didn’t, there was always something going on. We had an officer, a German officer he he was at the old type of German and he used to come up, walk through the compounds and one day he came in and he found a couple of Americans there fencing. Well not with, not with swords or anything like that so he stopped and watched it, watched them for a while and then he said, he just took his belt off and showed them how it should be done. That was interesting. Yeah. But nothing else happened. No. We had a lot of foreigners there, foreign men doing the, all the dirty work. We didn’t have to do any work at all. Couldn’t grumble.
NM: So you weren’t -
JC: No.
NM: You weren’t treated roughly at all by the Germans. Or -
JC: No. No, not really. We were never, never hassled by them at all whatsoever. No.
NM: Even when you were shot down did they question you, interrogate you?
JC: Oh well yes yes we got interrogated, got isolated for that but we wouldn’t tell them anything anyway. Not what they wanted. [?] said, ‘No I don’t know anything about that.’ Whatever. And no, as long as you as long as you told them some story or whatever it didn’t matter. It didn’t, didn’t have to be the truth and they couldn’t find out anyway. So, no, that’s going back a long time now isn’t it?
NM: So they wanted to know what squadron you were with did they? And -
JC: Pardon?
NM: They wanted to know which squadron you were with. What sort of questions -
JC: 97 squadron.
NM: Yeah. Which squadron, I mean what sort of questions did they ask you when you were shot down?
JC: What, what on the -
NM: The night you were shot down and you went to, you were interrogated -
JC: Oh.
NM: What did they want to know from you that you wouldn’t tell them?
JC: Well they wanted to know the names of the crew. I wasn’t saying, I said, ‘I don’t know them,’ I said, ‘I only joined them, I only went with them tonight.’ So, I wouldn’t tell them anything. I couldn’t do, well I could but I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t say anything. I said, ‘I’m sorry but I’ve only, this is my first night with that crew,’ so I couldn’t tell them any information and they accepted it in the end so, good.
NM: So you were in a prisoner of war camp for quite a long time.
JC: Fifteen months.
NM: And how did that come to an end? How were you liberated?
JC: We were liberated by the Russians.
NM: Tell, tell me about that. How did that happen?
JC: Well they came, we were out, you could see the front of the camp and across the water and the next thing we know the Russians came in and liberated. We got confined to camp though for a while. They didn’t want us to mix for some reason or other but eventually we all got out together, marched out the camp and we had to march quite a way too. To the nearest aerodrome to get picked up. Flew us home. Flew down to the south coast. Yeah.
NM: So you were flown home.
JC: Yeah.
NM: In -
JC: We were all flown home.
NM: In what? Lancasters or Dakotas or -
JC: Well, they were in all sorts of aircraft they were. Whatever aircraft was available. That was what it was all about. No. I mean, no we never came back in a Lancaster. I’m sure I didn’t because there’s not a lot of room in a Lancaster. I don’t know if you knew that. No. Not a lot of room. So -
NM: So what was the feeling like when you knew you were coming home again?
JC: Wondering I suppose, we were curious what it was like at home. What we’d missed or we hadn’t missed and how people were going to react and things like that but on the whole it turned out ok. Yeah. I’ve no complaints.
NM: So had the war finished by then or was the, had the war actually finished by the time you were flown home?
JC: Had the?
NM: Had the war actually finished by the time you flew home.
JC: Well yeah you couldn’t fly anymore. That was the start. Once you were home. I was in the air force not long. I didn’t stay there long after that once I got home but we got moved around a bit and so I thought I’ll leave. So I got out. Came out the RAF. I didn’t stay. No. People, well some stayed on but no I’d got out, got out of the system I suppose. Didn’t go -
NM: So what have you done since you were demobbed from the RAF?
JC: What have I done? Well I’ve done sorts, many sorts of things really I suppose. I’m just trying to think what I did. I finished up as a driving instructor. That was because it gave me more freedom. I had my own driving school and so I enjoyed that.
NM: Do you keep in touch with anybody from the RAF? Did you keep, did you go to reunions? The squadron -
JC: Did I?
NM: Do you ever go to squadron reunions?
JC: No. No. I were never keen on things like that.
NM: Oh right.
JC: No. Well I haven’t been to any of them and as I say I don’t go now and I don’t suppose there’s any now.
NM: You were contacted last year to go up to Coningsby though were you?
JC: Yes I’m going up there. I’ve got the book there. You saw that.
NM: Yeah. How did you get that invite?
JC: Pardon?
NM: How did you get that invite? Did someone write to you to invite you to -
JC: Well yes you get you always get these things happening and you just go. There’s lots of places you, these things happening. I’ve got the book as I say. I’ve got it booked to go. That’s not long and far away anyway.
NM: So when you look back on your time -
JC: Hmmn?
NM: When you look back on your time with Bomber Command what do you, what do you think about, how do you feel about your time in Bomber Command when you look back?
JC: Well all, I mean what I do I look on it as something I did and I wanted to do and it was a hell of an experience. That’s all. It’s not everybody can go out and say I’ve been, done this, I’ve done that so I’m quite pleased with what I’ve done and I’ve got not no regrets at all in my life at all in that respect. I’ve done what I wanted to do. Plus extra. But no I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed my [lived through?] that.
NM: How do you think –
JC: Anything you want to ask me?
NM: How do you think bomber command had been treated by history?
JC: Eh?
NM: How do you think Bomber Command had been treated in terms of recognised for its contribution during the war?
JC: Well I don’t know whether Bomber Command has ever recognised it. Not that I do really I mean I’ve got things like that but they never come, never come directly so I don’t think they ever kept up. Not really. You surprise me in a sense they didn’t.
NM: Ok.
JC: Not everybody would ever go through that again, I hope anyway but you can’t, you can’t help it, you can’t miss anything out. You’ve got to relive now and again and hope and as I say I got through it and I’m lucky and I’m happy about it so that’s all I can say.
[Machine pause]
Next thing I know the rest of the crew disappeared. I looked up and there was nobody there so I went back to, I went back to the rear door to open the rear door. Couldn’t open it so had to walk back through the fuselage and drop down to the nose. That was a little bit scary.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Interview with Jim Copus. One
Creator
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Nigel Moore
Publisher
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IBCC Digital Archive
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-09-28
Format
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00:37:59 audio recording
Type
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Sound
Identifier
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ACopusJ150928
Conforms To
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Pending review
Rights
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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
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Julie Williams
Language
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eng
Description
An account of the resource
James Copus grew up in Oxfordshire. He volunteered for aircrew and after training, became a mid-upper gunner and flew operations with 97 Squadron. He remembers a crash while taxiing to take-off, baling out of his empty Lancaster and how he kept himself occupied while a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft 1.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force. Bomber Command
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany
Great Britain
England--Cambridgeshire
Germany--Barth
97 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
bale out
bombing
crash
Lancaster
Pathfinders
prisoner of war
RAF Bourn
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
take-off crash
training
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Title
A name given to the resource
Barth [place]
Description
An account of the resource
This page is an entry point for a place. This heading is also used for: Stalag Luft I; Stalag Luft i, Stalag Luft 1. Please use the links below to see all relevant documents available in the Archive.
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1902/PHemsworthR1508.2.jpg
35131dfac030826dde9d9a7271bfb86c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Stalag Luft 1
Description
An account of the resource
Blocks of huts and other buildings stand in the camp area. Sections of barbed wire and a guard tower are visible. In the distance, the Barth church tower.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR1508
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1862/PHemsworthR15060027.1.jpg
f7f35680299d79ca31d351d19bdbc623
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
F35 Christmas 1940. Stalag Luft 1
Seven airmen at Christmas 1940
Description
An account of the resource
Seven airmen seated round a table. They are about to have Christmas dinner. The table is set with cutlery, glasses of beer, presents and a cake.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1940-12-25
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1940-12-25
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15060027
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection F
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1859/PHemsworthR15060024.2.jpg
904d6625d2887314b7eac84a1fb980e1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
F32 Stalag Luft 1
Panorama of the huts at Stalag Luft 1
Description
An account of the resource
A panoramic view of the camp from the roof of a hut. Several huts can be seen.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15060024
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection F
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1857/PHemsworthR15060022.1.jpg
ac2d69725f6ff6e423ee5e96c528b358
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
F30 Would Be Escapees Recaptured. Stalag Luft 1. 4
Description
An account of the resource
Four men, three carrying milk churns. behind is a hut.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15060022
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection F
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
escaping
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1856/PHemsworthR15060021.1.jpg
94823ebee4864494efd4ce079a692fd0
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
F29 Stalag Luft 1
Description
An account of the resource
A watchtower at Stalag Luft 1. It is at the corner of fences. In the distance is a church and village.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15060021
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection F
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1644/PHemsworthR15020054.1.jpg
db0e44c87f504cf473cfa247bf627b2a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
B55 NCO's Soccer Team. Stalag Luft 1. 41
Non-commissioned officers' football team
Description
An account of the resource
Eleven men in three rows, kneeling, sitting and standing in front of a goal. Behind are their huts.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1941
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15020054
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1941
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection B
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
prisoner of war
sport
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1643/PHemsworthR15020053.2.jpg
a828da1c90efe9a07c15f7139dcef98e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
B54 Funeral of Sgt. J. C. Shaw. Stalag Luft 1. Jan 42
German wreath on the grave of Sergeant J C Shaw
Description
An account of the resource
A wreath from the Luftwaffe on the grave of Sergeant J C Shaw. It contains the words 'Die Deutsche Luftwaffe'.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15020053
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection B
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
escaping
final resting place
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1642/PHemsworthR15020052.1.jpg
31c126462899c6681b3ef83e36462d50
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1642/MHemsworthR1472158-150729-01.2.jpg
0a08d32f46f9acef0daefe936ee0ef92
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
B53 Funeral of Sgt. J. C. Shaw. Stalag Luft 1. Jan 42
Group of airmen standing at the grave of Sergeant J C Shaw
Description
An account of the resource
A group of airmen at the internment of Sergeant J C Shaw. Two, on the left are saluting. Other airmen are holding wreaths for the grave. Light snow on the ground and trees bare of leaves in the background.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15020052
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection B
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph with an explanatory note
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
escaping
final resting place
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1641/PHemsworthR15020051.1.jpg
7a71aff2fe2797bf6abc59c70df6a0ee
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
B52 Funeral of Sgt. J. C. Shaw. Stalag Luft 1. Jan 42
Four airmen at the funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw
Description
An account of the resource
Four airmen stand at the grave of Sergeant J C Shaw. On the right German soldiers fire their rifles in salute.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15020051
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection B
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
escaping
final resting place
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1640/PHemsworthR15020050.1.jpg
2150dd5fbd6611a3a8977b7e438bd0e9
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
B51 Funeral of Sgt. J. C. Shaw. Stalag Luft 1. Jan 42
Airmen saluting at the funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw
Description
An account of the resource
A German officer and two airmen in greatcoats saluting at the internment of Sergeant J C Shaw. Other airmen are holding wreaths to be laid on the grave. In the background the graveyard is lightly covered in snow, with the trees bare of leaves.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15020050
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection B
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
escaping
final resting place
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/152/1639/PHemsworthR15020049.1.jpg
c2b6e139ac3beaed0b12f0ba5801f179
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Hemsworth, Ron
Ron Hemsworth
R Hemsworth
Description
An account of the resource
266 items. The collection consists of one oral history interview with Ron Hemsworth (1472158 Royal Air Force) and 265 photographs, mostly taken at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camps
The photographs have been organised according the initial letters of the caption.
A consists of 19 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. They cover the non commissioned officers’ arts & crafts exhibition: some models are for display and others are for use; there are also paintings and jewellery.
B of 54 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft, covering sporting, theatrical, musical and model making activities. The funeral of Sergeant J C Shaw, who was shot whilst attempting to escape is covered with several photographs.
C consists of 42 photographs taken at the sports day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1942. Activities include rugby, running, high jumping, long jumping, long distance walking, shot putting, discus throwing and basketball. Betting on the events was carried on.
D consists of 42 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in 1942 and 1943. They cover theatrical, musical and model activities. The plays were written or adapted by the airmen. Some of the models seen in section A are being sailed or steamed on the camp pond.
E consists of 39 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in March and April 1943. They cover three plays written or adapted by the airmen.
F consists of 28 photographs taken at Stalag Luft 3, Stalag Luft 1 and Dulag Luft prisoner of war camps. They cover two plays written or adapted by the airmen. Also shown are views of the camp, four recaptured escapees, a sentry in his box, the NCOs rugby team and Christmas dinner 1940.
G consists of 38 photographs taken at the Flieger Jockey Club Gala Day at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in August 1943. There are many varied fancy dress themes in addition to jockeys - an American cheerleader and an Uncle Sam, cowboys and Indians, a Welsh and a Scottish section, Indian (Asian) marching band, Maoris, Highland dancing, a lot of men dressed as women, bands, top hatted 'toffs'. Betting activities were carried out on the results of the hobby horse type races shown.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Ron Hemsworth and catalogued by Barry Hunter.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Hemsworth, R
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-08-04
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
B50 Funeral of Sgt. J. C. Shaw. Stalag Luft 1. Jan 42
Wreaths on the grave of Sergeant J C Shaw
Description
An account of the resource
The grave of Sergeant J C Shaw covered in wreaths. In the background are more graves and bare trees.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1942-01
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
PHemsworthR15020049
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1942-01
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Hemsworth, Ron collection. Subsection B
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
IBCC Digital Archive
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
One b/w photograph
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Royal Air Force
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
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.
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photograph
escaping
final resting place
prisoner of war
Stalag Luft 1