Fathers Story

FATHER’S STORY

After our capture we were marched through France and Belgium. We were then put on railway trucks and taken to Trieste, just outside Germany. After two days there we had to sleep in the field as there was no other accommodation. We were again loaded into trucks and taken to (Thorn) in Poland. There were two camps, Fort 13 and Fort 12. I was in the smaller, Fort 12. The rations were so poor about 700 men died between both camps within the first 6 months and we were so run down we were covered in lice. About this time I volunteered for a working party, here the rations improved a little. After a few months we were taken back to Fort 13. By then the Red Cross was getting through and this improved things a lot. After another two working camps, one at Wyppyr (?) and one at Cracow, from here I applied to be sent to an N.C.O’s, this was just outside of Thorn. There were two barbed wire fences and about an 8 foot path between us and the Russian P.O.W camp. There P.O.W’s were treated very poorly. One of them who we called for used to crawl under the wire into our camp at night where we gave him something to eat and a smoke, until one night, shortly after he left there was a shot and when we went out we could see him lying between the fences and groaning with pain. A doctor with us said he could have saved Joe but the Jerries would not let him near until it was too late.

Another time the Russians were making a lot of noise so the guards put four dogs into the compound to quieten them. The next morning there were four dog skins pinned up on the barbed wire. The Russians were paraded on the square and we thought the Jerries were going to turn the machine guns on them but a few a few of them were beaten up with rifle butts things calmed down again. Every so often we would go to the railway yard with a guard to unload our Red Cross parcels. On one occasion there were three tanks in the town square, a new Tiger tank, a Russian T34 and an old British one. The officer in charge allowed us to inspect the Russian and British ones but not the Tiger, although he said he did not know why as shortly Britain would sign a treaty with Germany then help them to fight the Russians.

At all camps the guards were changed every so often and we did get one or two bad ones but on the whole they were decent chaps. At no time did I hear of anything about slave camps but at one time some Jerry officers came and tried to talk us into joining the British Corp. to fight against the Russians, but to my knowledge on-one volunteered.

When the Russians were getting too close for comfort we were marched out of the camp towards Germany but after two days I think the Jerries were too scared to worry too much about us, that made it easier for us to escape from the march and finally get through the Russian lines.

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