Description
Object description
Very vivid ms journal (49pp) covering the period January 1941 (when he joined the Royal Marines as a Marine at Portsmouth) to April 1945 and describing, briefly, his voyage via Egypt (February - May 1941) as part of 'A' Battery to Crete, German air raids there and his capture at Suda Bay, and, in greater detail, his experiences as a prisoner of war in harsh conditions in Greece (June - August 1941) and in Germany at Stalag IVB, permanently based at Arbeitskommando 502 at Burghammer, including many details of work (largely at a mine and including details of strikes and POW work volunteers), medical treatment (dentistry and removal of his appendix), food (generally adequate because of Red Cross parcels and thefts from local orchards), pastimes (mainly football), war news, morale among POWs and Germans, his good relations with Germans, Allied bombing raids and the immense freedom of movement enjoyed by POWs; notebook containing ms diary (14pp April - May 1945) of conditions and events during the evacuation away from the east, the German surrender, liberation by the Russians and transfer to American care; small notebook containing a different and equally vivid journal (65pp) covering January 1941 - August 1943; YMCA log containing ms account of POW life (11pp); 2 notebooks of ms German language exercises; ms poems (31pp); photographs of people and scenes from camp; miscellaneous items including an unusual printed POW postcard and his full Certificate of Service (Form 138A).
Content description
Very vivid ms journal (49pp) covering the period January 1941 (when he joined the Royal Marines as a Marine at Portsmouth) to April 1945 and describing, briefly, his voyage via Egypt (February - May 1941) as part of 'A' Battery to Crete, German air raids there and his capture at Suda Bay, and, in greater detail, his experiences as a prisoner of war in harsh conditions in Greece (June - August 1941) and in Germany at Stalag IVB, permanently based at Arbeitskommando 502 at Burghammer, including many details of work (largely at a mine and including details of strikes and POW work volunteers), medical treatment (dentistry and removal of his appendix), food (generally adequate because of Red Cross parcels and thefts from local orchards), pastimes (mainly football), war news, morale among POWs and Germans, his good relations with Germans, Allied bombing raids and the immense freedom of movement enjoyed by POWs; notebook containing ms diary (14pp April - May 1945) of conditions and events during the evacuation away from the east, the German surrender, liberation by the Russians and transfer to American care; small notebook containing a different and equally vivid journal (65pp) covering January 1941 - August 1943; YMCA log containing ms account of POW life (11pp); 2 notebooks of ms German language exercises; ms poems (31pp); photographs of people and scenes from camp; miscellaneous items including an unusual printed POW postcard and his full Certificate of Service (Form 138A).
History note
Cataloguer PHR
History note
Catalogue date 1992-09
