My brother, Bombardier B A S Macdonald (Basil), died in Lamsdorf from the after-effects of an industrial accident – a thrombosis that travelled to his heart and stopped it. He was 23 years old. He took part in amateur dramatics in the camp: I have a photo of him (below) sitting beside the actor Denholm […]
Saunders, Tommy ‘Sandy’
My uncle, John Thomas ‘Sandy’ Saunders (1st. Batt. The Tyneside Scottish, Black Watch) was captured in France on 27th May, 1940, and he died Friday, 21st July, 1944. He was shot by a guard, along with another prisoner, after an argument over the cutting and stacking of wood, whilst working in a forest. The War […]
Cowan, Frederick
My late father-in-law, Fred Cowan , was in the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment and he was was captured in Tunis on 30 November 1942. He was transferred to Stalag VIIIB where he remained until his release in April 1945. But that’s all we know and we’d very much like to know more. For instance, we […]
Bryson, John ‘Jack’
I was not yet 3 months old when my father, Jack Bryson, passed on, in January 1957 and so only know about him from what my mother told me. But there are quite a few gaps in his war story, and so if anyone can fill those in for me, I’d be very happy to […]
Hogarth, James McCall
I was a Troop Sergeant Major in the 1st Lothians & Border Yeomanry, Royal Armoured Corps of the 51st Highland Division and was wounded on 10 June 1940 at Cany Barville and taken prisoner two days later at St Valery. I was then shuttled between various hospitals in France, including Forges-Les -Eaux, Hopital D’Ernemont in […]
Vaughan, John Henry ‘Jack’
My father, John Henry “Jack” Vaughan, (see photo left) passed away at the beginning of this month, and here is his story: Jack deducted one year from his birth date so that he could join the Royal Horse Guards at 17. In January 1940, the regiment took horses to Palestine and there he rode as […]
Kelly, John ‘Jack’ or ‘Spider’
My dad is John Kelly although everyone calls him Jack, or Spider. He’s from Sheffield, was in the Royal Engineers during the war, and was captured in France. Here is something he wrote about it: “We sailed out of Newport, Monmouthshire on the 14th of Sept.1939 and three days later, we arrived in St.Nazaire, France. […]
Habron, Paddy
Dad joined the Prince Of Wales Regiment of Yorkshire at the outbreak of war, then volunteered for special ops and joined the No 3 Commando at Achnacary in Scotland. He took part in the raid on Vaagso before being taken prisoner during the Operation Jubilee, the ill-fated Dieppe raid. Dad was captured at Berneval-sur-mer and […]