Description
Object description
YMCA Wartime Log (70pp) kept by Tony Bethell while a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III (Sagan), from December 1942 to January 1945, and then in Marlag-Milag Nord (Tarmstedt), until April 1945, containing a brief account of his capture in the Netherlands on 7 December 1942 after his aircraft was forced to crash land while he was on active service with No 268 Squadron, details of his escape attempts, including, notably, being the youngest escaper in the Great Escape (March 1944), cartoons, sketches and photographs depicting life in the camp, and printed ephemera; together with two telegrams reporting him missing in action (December 1942), three postcards to his former American host (April 1943 - April 1944), a small piece of black cloth which he used as a 'mourning square' to remember the 50 officers who were shot following their recapture after the Great Escape, official letter from the Air Ministry regarding his status as a potential war crimes witness (15 August 1945), theatre programme for 'Back Home' performed by a number of the camp's former prisoners in London (August 1945), selection of newspaper cuttings about the Great Escape, examples of paper currency used by prisoners and a postcard sent from fellow escaper Flight Lieutenant G A Kidder, one of those murdered, to a Mrs G Broomfield (July 1943), and a returned letter sent from her to him (April 1944); together with a ts illustrated memoir (98pp, compiled 1994 - 1995) containing his own narrative of his part in the preparations for the Great Escape, his own escape and failed attempt to reach Sweden with Flight Lieutenant J L R Long, their recapture and imprisonment by the Gestapo at Gorlitz, his interrogation and return to Stalag Luft III, also including details of the 76 officers who escaped and the Germans associated with the murder of the 50, extracts of diaries of the forced march to Tarmstedt (January - February 1945), and the second march from Tarmstedt to Lubeck (April - May 1945), kept by two fellow prisoners, and details of the 50th anniversary memorial services held in March 1994.
Content description
YMCA Wartime Log (70pp) kept by Tony Bethell while a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III (Sagan), from December 1942 to January 1945, and then in Marlag-Milag Nord (Tarmstedt), until April 1945, containing a brief account of his capture in the Netherlands on 7 December 1942 after his aircraft was forced to crash land while he was on active service with No 268 Squadron, details of his escape attempts, including, notably, being the youngest escaper in the Great Escape (March 1944), cartoons, sketches and photographs depicting life in the camp, and printed ephemera; together with two telegrams reporting him missing in action (December 1942), three postcards to his former American host (April 1943 - April 1944), a small piece of black cloth which he used as a 'mourning square' to remember the 50 officers who were shot following their recapture after the Great Escape, official letter from the Air Ministry regarding his status as a potential war crimes witness (15 August 1945), theatre programme for 'Back Home' performed by a number of the camp's former prisoners in London (August 1945), selection of newspaper cuttings about the Great Escape, examples of paper currency used by prisoners and a postcard sent from fellow escaper Flight Lieutenant G A Kidder, one of those murdered, to a Mrs G Broomfield (July 1943), and a returned letter sent from her to him (April 1944); together with a ts illustrated memoir (98pp, compiled 1994 - 1995) containing his own narrative of his part in the preparations for the Great Escape, his own escape and failed attempt to reach Sweden with Flight Lieutenant J L R Long, their recapture and imprisonment by the Gestapo at Gorlitz, his interrogation and return to Stalag Luft III, also including details of the 76 officers who escaped and the Germans associated with the murder of the 50, extracts of diaries of the forced march to Tarmstedt (January - February 1945), and the second march from Tarmstedt to Lubeck (April - May 1945), kept by two fellow prisoners, and details of the 50th anniversary memorial services held in March 1994.
History note
Cataloguer KM
History note
Catalogue date 2005-02-11
