1
25
2
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/689/9430/MBarkerR[Ser -DoB]-151001-01.pdf
b48880a1d568ec27ce83eae2a8005d70
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
Barker, Reg
R Barker
Description
An account of the resource
Two items. The notes for a talk given by Reg Barker to the Haywards Heath Historical Society on 24 June 2014 and an account of his Lancaster being shot down during an operation to Kiel on 20 August 1944. Reg Barker flew as pilot on Halifax with 76 Squadron and Lancaster with 635 Squadon.
The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Reg Barker and catalogued by Nigel Huckins
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
2015-11-23
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
Barker, R
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
[underlined] TALK TO THE HAYWARDS HEATH HISTORICAL SOCIETY at FRANKLANDS HALL by REG BARKER – JUNE 24, 2014 [/underlined]
As a veteran of Bomber Command I am very lucky to be alive. As you know, more than 55,000 of our less fortunate colleagues lost their lives in WW2.
At last, we have a superb memorial in Green Park in London to remind everyone of their sacrifice.
I like to think that the Memorial also recognises the 55,573 families who lost a son, or a brother, or a father, or an uncle. These families still grieve today for the loved ones whom they lost.
In December 1943 I was a guest at two weddings attended by 3 other Bomber Command Air Crew. In the following months, all 4 of us were shot down over Germany. 2 of us were killed and 2 of us survived as Prisoners of War. [underlined] THAT WAS THE REALITY for us Air Crew! [/underlined]
In spite of the losses, our Morale [sic] was very high, because we knew we were doing an important job to help bring an end to the long struggle to defeat Hitler and the Nazis and to [underlined] win the war! [/underlined] If we had [underlined] LOST [/underlined] our Country would have been INVADED, the Jewish population would have been rounded up and sent to CONCENTRATION CAMPS – where they would have been worked to death – or starved to death – and Men & Boys between the ages of 16 and 6 would have been sent to Germany as SLAVE-WORKERS, producing weapons of war, GUNS, AMMUNITION, AIRCRAFT and TANKS for HITLER’S GERMANY.
[page break]
[underlined] 2 [/underlined]
I volunteered to join the R.A.F. as Air Crew on my 19th Birthday. After initial training in this Country, I was sent across the Atlantic to Canada. There I was issued by the Canadian Air Force with a grey flannel suit. Was I going to spend the War playing GOLF in Canada? No, the plan was for me to travel to the United States, supposedly as a CIVILIAN, because at that time the U.S. was a Neutral Country. Neutral? Their President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a great friend to this country and the U.S. Air Force was training R.A.F. Pilots. How neutral was that?
So I was fortunate in being sent to the Southern States of Georgia & Alabama to be trained as a PILOT!
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour on Dec. 7, 1941, the United States entered the War and needed to expand their Air Force. So after I had completed my Pilot Training and been presented with my Silver Wings, I was told by the R A F that I was to serve with the US. Air Force as a Flying Instructor at Napier Field in Alabama, where the sun shines throughout the year!
During the following 12 months, I taught 26 American and R A F Cadets to fly the HARVARD, a advanced trainer which was great to fly and fully AEROBATIC!
As an Instructor, I was allowed to take to the skies in a Harvard at any time. So I gained a lot of extra flying experience.
[page break]
[underlined] 3 [/underlined]
I have always felt that I was extremely privileged to be the right age to be trained as a PILOT – and to end up flying the AVRO LANCASTER – The most successful R A F bomber of W W II.
The Lancaster’s performance, its ruggedness, its reliability and its sheer charisma endeared it to its crews, who felt proud to fly this famous aircraft.
In a letter which he wrote to the head of AVRO after the War, our Commander in Chief, Sir Arthur Harris, said:
“Without your genius and efforts we could not have prevailed, for I believe that the Lancaster was the greatest single factor in winning the War.”
More than 7.000 Lancasters were built- and half of that number [inserted] 3,500 [/inserted] were lost on operations against the enemy. Sadly, there are only 2 still fling in the whole world – our own Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster – and the Canadian Lancaster which flew here in August [inserted] 2014 [/inserted]. They have [inserted] been [/inserted] flying together at Air Shows around the country. Did any of you managed (sic) to see them flying together? I saw them at Eastbourne - & I must say they did look like 2 elderly ladies compared with aircraft of today!
[page break]
[underlined] 4. [/underlined]
In September 1940 – when the Second World War had been going for a whole year – and the R A F FIGHTERS had fought off the German Luftwaffe in the BATTLE of BRITAIN – our PRIME MINISTER – Sir Winston Churchill – stated :-
“The FIGHTERS are our Salvation – but the BOMBERS alone PROVIDE THE MEANS OF VICTORY.”
• Bomber Command was the only FORCE which operated against the enemy from the day war broke out, right to the very end of the War.
• Bomber Command played an [inserted] ESPECIALLY [/inserted] important part in weakening the enemy in the run up to D-Day, by bombing their AIRFIELDS, damaging their RAILWAYS, destroying their wireless and RADAR stations and attacking their heavily fortified GUN BATTERIES on the coast.
• Bomber Command also played a very import part in deceiving the enemy, making Hitler believe that our Armies would invade the French coast near Calais; and thus give our Armies tune ti get asgire & establish themselves in Normandy.
• We were very effective in putting an end to the VIs, the DOODLE-BUGS which caused so much damage to London & the South-East in 1944.
[page break]
[underlined] 5. [/underlined]
Our four engined heavy bombers – Lancastsers Halifaxes and Stirlings – all carried a crew of 7.All 7 members worked closely together and we became a TIGHTLY-KNIT TEAM. As PILOT and CAPTAIN, it was my job to [underlined] fly [/underlined] the AIRCRAFT, but I depended on all the other members of my CREW to play their part.
We depended on our [underlined] Navigator [/underlined] to work out the course for us to fly – and the speed – to ensure that we would arrive at each night’s TARGET on time. The [underlined] FLIGHT-ENGINEER’S [/underlined] task was to monitor the behaviour of our 4 engines. Our [underlined] WIRELESS OPERATOR’S [/underlined] job was to keep in touch with our base in ENGLAND.\our [underlined] BOMB AIMER’s [/underlined] vital role as we approached the target was [inserted]to [/inserted] peer through his BOMB¬SIGHT and call instructions to me to ensure that he could release our BOMB LOAD at exactly the right spot:-“LEFT-LEFT, RIGHT, STEADY.”
When SEARCH LIGHTS were coming dangerously close or our 2 [underlined] GUNNERS [/UNDERLINED] thought we were about to be attacked by an ENEMY FIGHTER THEY WOULD SHOUT “CORK-SCREW PORT GO”. Having carried out this manoeuvre, the Pilot realised that the gunner was rather agitated, so in order to calm him he said “It’s alright Ginger, keep calm, GOD IS WITH US”! In a desparate (sic) voice, the Gunner replied “God may be up your end, but there’s a blasted Junkers 88 Fighter up this end!”
[page break]
[underlined] 6. [/underlined]
When I was flying 4 engined bombers – if a violent manoeuvre was needed to keep us out of trouble, I pretended I was doing aerobatics in a HARVARD. On one such occasion, a cannon shell from the ground hit our rea turret, but because our air craft was tilted at 90˚ with our wing vertical to the ground, a cannon shell went sideways through our rear turret without exploding!
It made a large hole, the size of a dinner plate in the Perspex on each side of the turret. My rear gunner saw a blue flash as the shell passed in front of his face, but he was unhurt. If the shell had hit the rear turret from beneath, it would have exploded and sent us all to our deaths.
On Operations we flew Halifax Bombers with 76 Squadron based at HOLME – or – Spalding Moor in Yorkshire and later we were chosen to fly Lancasters with a Pathfinder Squadron, No.635, based at Downham Market, in Norfolk. It was when we were flying as Pathfinders, five minutes ahead of the MAIN FORCE, that we were eventually shot down.
That happened on Aug. 26th 1944, the day after the Allied Armies in France had liberated Paris, after it had been occupied by the German Army for more than 4 years.
Our target that night was the German Naval Base at KIEL.
[page break]
[underlined] 7. [/underlined]
[underlined] KIEL was an important TARGET because it was where the German SUBMARINES were based. [/underlined]
Much of Britain’s FOOD came from other countries in SHIPS. Enemy submarines sank so man ships that there was a severe shortage of some foods. The Government therefore had to introduce FOOD RATIONING, which meant that each person was allowed to buy a fixed amount of food each week
In 1941 the RATION was 1 egg a week, and TEA, SUGAR, BUTTER and MEAT were also rationed. Lots more foods were rationed later, including SWEETS! There were NO BANANAS at all throughout the War.
Not only were German submarines such a serious threat to our FOOD SUPPLIES, after D.Day when our Armines in France had to be supplies with EVERYTHING by SEA, they were a serious threat to the ships which had to cross the Channel each day.
[page break]
8.
After we had successfully bombed our target, we set course for home.
Suddenly there was an explosion, a vivid flash and the aircraft was thrown onto it’s back. I managed to regain level flight, but soon realised that the cables to the tail plane were damaged and that I could no longer control the aircraft, so I gave the order to bail out.
At almost the same moment, the nose of our LANCASTER plunged [inserted] VIOLENTLY [/inserted] downwards and the aircraft went into a vertical spinning dive. Our four Rolls Royce Merlin engines were now driving us at a very high speed headlong towards the earth.
The reason for this calamity, as I learned later from our Rear Gunner, was that the whole tail section of our aircraft had broken away from the fuselage. His turret was still attached to the TAILPLANE, but he had NO ENGINES – and NO PILOT! Fortunately he was able to climb out of his turret and descend to earth by parachute.
Because the aircraft was spinning furiously, I was lifted out of my seat and pinned hand up against the cockpit roof along with 3 other members of my crew.
Such was the “g” force, that it was impossible to move so much as my little finger – and it quickly caused me to black out, to become unconscious.
[page break]
[underlined] 9. [/underlined]
THEN A MIRACLE HAPPENED!
[underlined] I found myself in the Sky [/underlined] – regaining consciousness in the cold night air – and I could see my blazing aircraft close by!
Instinctively IO tugged at the RIPCORD and as my parachute blossomed above me, I could see that I was about to drop into the tree tops, which were FLOODLIT by my BLAZING Aircraft.
As I landed in the TREES, my LANCASTER crashed a short distance away. I climbed down through the branches and landed safely on a cushion of leaves.
Overhead I could hear the main force of bombers making their way home to England and wistfully – I thought of the air-crew breakfast of eggs & bacon to which they were returning!
An excited crowd quickly surrounded me, each and every one of them grabbing my tunic or trousers, holding me as tightly as possible, no doubt so that each of them could claim to have captured the English “terror flyer” which they called me.
After being captured I spent five days and nights in solitary confinement. I was interrogated each day and I was subjected to various threats, but I stuck to the rule of disclosing only my name, rank and number – and this was eventually accepted by each of my interrogators.
[page break]
[underlined 10. [/underlined]
How did the enemy manage to shoot us down without our having any warning? Years later I learned that [inserted] JU88 [/inserted] German fighters were able to hone in on our H2S Rader Transmitter. I also learned that they were equipped with upward firing guns. Instead of attacking us from above and behind [inserted] AS WE EXPECTED [/inserted], they were able to position themselves directly below us, where they were completely hidden from our view. The Germans gave this system the code name “Schrage Music” [sic], meaning Jazz Music. Many of our Bombers were lost this way. It has always been a great sorrow for me that while 5 of us survived [symbol] as Prisoners of War, 2 members of my crew lost their lives – my Bomb Aimer and my Upper Gunner.
THAT NIGHT, my Squadron lost 3 LANCASTERS of the 16 which they had sent to bomb KIEL. This was a loss rate of almost 20%, together with 21 experienced Pathfinders.
The remaining mystery is how the 4 of us who were trapped UNCONSCIOUS under the cockpit roof could have had such a miraculous escape from certain death. Perhaps the centrifugal force, the “G” force, created by the spinning aircraft caused the Perspex roof to give way under the combined weight of our 4 unconscious bodies – and to hurl us out into the sky. We quickly regained consciousness in the cold night air, just in time to be saved by our parachutes.
[page break]
[underlined] 11. [/underlined]
I spent the last 9 months of the War in a prison camp – STALAG LUFT 1 – where there were 9,000 air crew from many nations – Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Poles, Czechs, - as well as huge numbers of R.A.F. from this Country.
During the early months of my captivity, we POW’s received a Red Cross Food parcel every week. They were a real life-saver! However during the last 4 months of the war, we received [underlined] NO [/underlined] parcels! We had to survive on the German ration of 1 bowl of thin potato soup each day – with 2 or 3 slices of Black bread. By the time the Russian Arrived to liberate us on May 1st 1945, we were really starving! That was a day of great rejoicing!
The Russians found a huge store of Red Cross parcels and issued each of us with 4 parcels! So for the next 2 weeks that it took to organise our return to England, every day was like Christmas Day!
Having flown to German in a Lancaster, I was flow home in an American B.17, a Flying Fortress. We landed at Ford Airfield, just along the coast in Sussex.
[page break]
[/underlined] 12. [/underlined]
After the War the Irvin Parachute Co. presented me with a gold caterpillar brooch. This is a constant reminder that I owe my life to the caterpillars which had spun the silk thread from which my parachute was manufactured. I wear my caterpillar brooch with Gratitude and Humility!
If you have been to see the Memorial, you will have noticed that in W W 2, we Air Crew were 9 feet tall. We have all Shrunk a bit since those days!
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
Talk to the Haywards Heath Historical Society
Description
An account of the resource
Opens with mention of Bomber Command memorial in Green Park and 55,573 despite killed, moral was high due to belief that winning was vital. Tells story that he was guest at two weddings in 1943 with three other members of Bomber Command and that all four were later shot down with two killed. Tells of training in United Kingdom and southern United States and that he was kept on as an instructor for a year after his wings award. Says he was privileged to fly Lancaster which was rugged and reliable and quotes congratulatory latter from Sir Arthur Harris to the head of Avro. Mentions 7000 Lancaster built and 3500 lost in operations. Mentions that Bomber Command was only organisation to fight throughout the war and talks of its contribution to war including D-Day preparation, deception operations and V-1 attacks. Outlines the role of all seven members of the crew and how they operated as a team, especially when attacked by fighters. Tell story of being hit by an anti-aircraft shell while in 90° bank. States that he flew on Halifax with 76 Squadron and then Lancaster with Pathfinders. Shot down on an operation to Kiel. Explains importance of Kiel as submarine base and effect they could have on on British food supplies. Describes events when shot down where tail with rear gunner was detached from fuselage and he was pinned in cockpit by g force. Describes miracle escape, parachuting and reception on ground. Later found out that was shot down by Ju-88 which could home on H2S and had upward firing guns. Five of his crew escaped aircraft and two were killed. Describes life as prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 1 and repatriation on B-17 to RAF Ford.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Reg Barker
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014-06-24
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Twelve page handwritten document
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
MBarkerR[Ser#-DoB]-151001-01
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.
United States
Great Britain
England--Sussex
England--Haywards Heath
Atlantic Ocean--Baltic Sea
Germany
Germany--Kiel
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1943
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.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Sally Des Forges
635 Squadron
76 Squadron
air gunner
aircrew
B-17
bale out
Caterpillar Club
H2S
Halifax
Harvard
Ju 88
killed in action
Lancaster
memorial
Normandy campaign (6 June – 21 August 1944)
Pathfinders
perception of bombing war
prisoner of war
RAF Downham Market
RAF Ford
RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor
Red Cross
shot down
Stalag Luft 1
submarine
training
V-1
V-weapon
-
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/837/34464/BGoldbyJLGoldbyJLv1.1.pdf
a2af61ec805d86ca71c6b1c21464bd57
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
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
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
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
Goldby, JL
Transcribed document
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.
Transcription
Text transcribed from audio recording or document
JOHN GOLDBY
THE LAST DAYS IN STALAGLUFT 1 30 APRIL – 13 MAY 1945
Monday 30th April 1945
All to-day the Jerries have been demolishing detector installations and equipment in the Flak School. By this evening most of the items have left the Camp and it looks as though we shall be left here in the care of the S.A.O.
Many heavy explosives in the Flak School and on the aerodrome beyond. There was no count on parade tonight – but the Jerry Major appeared to be tight.
At 9pm the W/O told us that from 8am tomorrow we should no longer be P.O.W.s as the Kommandant was officially handing over. We had an extra biscuit, butter and marmalade to celebrate.
Tuesday 1st May 1945
Today the guard posts are occupied by Americans wearing M.P. armbands, instead of the usual old goons. A white flag flies over the camp. The rumours are flying 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 2 kms. south of Barth. The Burgomeister of Barth is said to have shot himself. At 1pm. we heard the BBC news and now at 14.20 hours we are listening to Variety Bandbox.
Tonight at 22.15 approximately a Russian lieutenant and either a civilian or Russian soldier arrived in Camp. Cheers echoed throughout the compound. We have been waiting for this for some time! Good old Joe! The main Russian body captured Stralsund today. Hear the 9 pm. BBC news. Public house times to be extended on VE Day – good show, I hope we’re home for it!
At 22.30 it was announced that Hitler is dead – I hope it was one of Berlin’s sewers. Perhaps the B……ds will capitulate now. Light on until midnight by order of Colonel Zenke. Special cup of hot milk at 23.15 to celebrate Joe’s arrival. More Russians expected tomorrow.
Water shortage.
Wednesday 2nd May 1945
The Russians said we were to march out and we packed in preparation to leave at 6 pm.. One Red Cross parcel issued to each man for the journey. We ate several meals in quick succession to get rid of c…… stocks and shared out as much as 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 round – some even got into Barth. Rumours of 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.
[page break]
- Page 2 -
Thursday 3rd May 1945
German armies in Italy and Austria surrendered to Alexander. Monty’s boys in Lubeck. Russians in Rostock. Both captured. Berlin fallen. Hamburg declared an open city. Have been told that the airfield is being cleared of mines so that we may be flown out. Hope it’s true and that the kites arrive pretty quickly. Heard earlier today that we were in contact with London, Washington and Moscow to see what they intended us to do.
Ate colossal (comparatively speaking) amounts all day. On K.P. – a hell of a job today. Water situation better. From midnight to-night we use Russian time! An hour in advance of our present time.
Friday 4th May 1945
Airfield expected to be clear by 2.00. All Germans in North-West Germany, Holland, Denmark, Heligoland and …….. were ordered by Admiral Donitz to surrender unconditionally. This is to take effect from 08.00 hours tomorrow, Saturday May 5th. 1945.
Saturday 5th May 1945
A Russian general inspected our barracks in the morning. In the afternoon Marshal Rokotovsky came to report with Colonel Zenke. 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 to make final arrangements for our evacuation. Wish they’d get a move on. Listened to radio recording of the signing of the unconditional surrender by the German staff. The commentary was by Monty.
Sunday 6th May 1945
Still waiting. The Colonel reported his former broadcasts saying that things were being done for our evacuation. Johnnie evacuated himself.
Monday 7th May 1945
A Lt. Colonel of the 6th Airborne Division came from Weismar today to reassure us – and we needed reassuring too – that we could expect to be flown out within the next few days. He could not state which day it would be but it would definitely be only a matter of a few days. Question: How long – or short – it is a few days? Apparently we shall be flown direct to England. Good deal! Other P.O.W.s are still being flown back by Lancs. Have just heard that …. are passed ‘thro Reception Centres on 48 hours. Daks and Commandos are being used – 25 in a Dak and 40 in a Commando. Most P.O.W.s have to be helped into an aircraft – they’ll get a shock here. We shall run like stink when the kites come. Heard that tomorrow is VE Day and the following day a holiday. I am bloody annoyed that we are going to miss he [sic] celebrations and so is everyone else.
[page break]
- Page 3 -
Sunday 6th May 1945 (continued)
Saw a Russian concert this afternoon and it was damn good. No-one – or very few – understood a word, but what the hell !!!
Monday 7th May 1945 (continued)
At the moment 21.50 Russian time a bod (I think it’s Alfredo Campoli) is playing a composition on the violin which I heard at one of the St John’s Socials. It may be called “The Canary” – I’m not sure. The chap who played it at the Social was Mr Butwick I think – will check up in a few days time when I get home.
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 that next of kin are informed.
Goebbels, his wife and daughters took poison apparently.
War ends after 5 years and 8 months.
Unconditional surrender made at 2.41 am. French time today to FM Montgomery. Location – Rheims.
Tuesday 8th My [sic] 1945
Have just heard the Prime Minister’s speech declaring that the European war is at an end. The cease-fire officially takes place at 00.01 tomorrow Wednesday May 9th, but fighting – except for some 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 thing in England very soon.
Listened to the King’s speech and I guess the family were listening too. Do they know where I am I wonder and did they hear the announcement on the radio at 22.00 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 4,500 P.O.W.s. Come on boys – let’s get out of here?
Wednesday 9th May 1945
Sun bathing 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. Was the ……. message re Russian transport to Weismar gen? I doubt it……took out P.O.W.s from the Lubeck area.
At 08:00 hours on BBC radio – ‘All men at Stalag I. Both near Stralsund, Pomerania, Germany are to remain in the camp and not make for the allied lines’.
[page break]
- Page 4 -
Thursday 10th May 1945
On KP again today. 10,000 more P.O.W.s flown out by 500 BC aircraft – and we’re still here. Col. Zenke made an appalling speech again tonight. He is going to get us all souvenirs etc. !! The rumour is that all British personnel are going to be taken by transport ro [sic] Weismar and flown home from there. Also that we should have been there (Weismar) yesterday. C/O Weir is supposed to have gone there today to try and get us out. He may have split with Col. Z. I hope so as Z hasn’t a bloody clue. Listened to ITMA 21.30 – 22.00. Last time I heard it was on Wednesday 6th. December 1944 from 14.30 – 15.00. I was changing in my room for the op. and could hear it on someone else’s radio.
Friday 11th May 1945
Sun bathed again today.
There is a meeting of the wheels to-night. Final arrangements for our evacuation are said to be the subject for discussion. C/O Weir seems to have been arranging with the Russian Commander of this area, Col. Gen. Butow, for aircraft to land here to take us out. Col. Zenke has just announced that aircraft are expected here tomorrow or on Sunday. Russian passports are being signed up in preparation. It really looks as if we are going soon.
S/L Evans had us fill in forms of interrogation which he signed. This gives us a clearance chit to be presented on arrival in England which should hasten our departure from the receiving centre. A Cabinet order says that all P.O.W.s are to be with their families within 24 hours of arriving in England. Length of leave is uncertain.
Some reports say 56 days, some 42 days and others a month.
Nearly 80,000 P.O.W.s have been returned to England so far. There can’t be many more!
Eisenhower has just repeated his ‘Stay put’ message.
Saturday 12th May 1945
G/C Green on parade this morning said that evacuation was due to start this afternoon.
Sick Quarters are first on the list, then come the British Personnel in the following order –
Blocks 8, 9, 10, 11 etc. so we are in a good position. What’s the betting I click for a clearing job which will mean a delayed departure?
At 2 pm. the first U.S. aircraft arrived at Barth aerodrome. Two Daks for hospital cases and the rest Fortresses. Joe here is in charge of mopping-up operations in the block so I shan’t get away until tomorrow. The rest of the boys in the room buzzed at 3 pm.! Six lads and I stayed from 3 pm. until 9 pm. clearing 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.
[page break]
- Page 5 -
Sunday 13th May
Paraded at 6.30 am. And after a roll-call we marched out to the airfield. At 7.30 am. the first Forts arrived. We have spilt into groups of 25 and as each Fort came round the perimeter track we embarked. We were airborne at 8.30 am., and flew fairly low direct to England, having a look at Bremen and Hamburg on route. As we were using Russian time we had to put our watches back 1 hour to correspond with DBST. We landed at Ford in Sussex at 11.30 DBST. This completed the trip I set out on on the Dec. 6th last. It took too bloody long for my liking.
I have recalled the following dream I had some time during my incarceration. Obviously it was prompted by my fear that my family did not know my fate. I returned home to reassure the family that I was safe, in reasonably shape, and in a German P.O.W. camp. Having told the family this I prepared to leave, much to their puzzlement – ‘Why,’ they asked, ‘ since you are now home do you propose to leave?’ ‘Because I am still a P.O.W. and my place is a German P.O.W. camp’ I replied.
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
The Last Days in Stalagluft 1 30 April - 13 May 1945
Description
An account of the resource
The long drawn out wait for John's return to the UK from the camp.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
John Goldby
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
Germany--Barth
Germany--Stralsund
Germany--Rostock
Germany--Berlin
Germany--Hamburg
Germany--Wismar
Germany--Bremen
Germany--Lübeck
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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Text. Memoir
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Five printed sheets
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BGoldbyJLGoldbyJLv1
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
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1945-04
1945-05
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Georgie Donaldson
B-17
C-47
entertainment
Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945)
Lancaster
prisoner of war
RAF Ford
Red Cross
Stalag Luft 1