Description
Object description
British marine served with No 1 Mobile Naval Defence Base Organisation on Crete, Greece, 5/1941; prisoner of war on Crete and Dulag 183, Salonika, Greece, Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg and Arbeitskommando E 503, Wiednitz, Germany, 5/1941-4/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as marine with No 1 Mobile Naval Defence Base Organisation on Crete, Greece, 1941: background to call-up, 1/1941; under sniper fire during landing on Crete; shooting down of Royal Air Force aircraft; German fear of Maoris troops; German airborne landings; volunteering for rearguard; wounding. Aspects of period as prisoner of war on Crete and in Dulag 183, Salonika, Greece, 5/1941-7/1941: capture and destruction of personal possessions; interrogation; transfer to Greek mainland; nature of Dulag 183, Salonika; abortive attempt to escape made by prisoner of war; attitude of German guards; aid from Greek civilians; lack of medical attention; prisoner of war morale; work parties; nature of train journey from Greece to Germany.
REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg and Arbeitskommando E 503, Wiednitz, Germany, 7/1941-4/1945: arrival at camp; rations; arrival of Red Cross parcels; pairing of prisoners of war for psychological support; location of Arbeitskommando E 503 at Wiednitz; joining working party in briquette mine; rations during first year; prisoner of war contingent and work regime; contrast between Nazis and other Germans; his own work in contrast with that of fellow prisoners of war; prisoner of war friction with Germans; prisoner of war sabotage; incident of prisoner of war dropping of brick on Nazi foreman's head; apparent anti-Nazis attitude of many Germans; bartering with Germans; story of Gestapo search; relations between prisoners of war and German and Ukrainian women.
REEL 3 Continues: prisoner of war relations with Polish women; German ill treatment of Soviet prisoners of war; aid given to Soviet prisoners of war by British prisoners of war; mixing of nationalities; how news was spread of D-Day landings, 6/1944; attempt of Germans to recruit prisoners of war to British Free Corps and hostile reception from prisoners of war; his attempts at counter-propaganda; organisation of entertainment; attitude towards behaviour of French prisoners of war; story of removal from Arbeitskommando E 503, Wiednitz to Czechoslovakia, 5/1945; last effort of Germans against Soviet Army near Brüx, Sudentenland, 5/1945. Aspects of liberation and return to GB, 1945: survival during first period of freedom in Czechoslovakia; rail journey to Karlsbad; Soviet Army female soldiers.
REEL 4 Continues: contact with Soviets; behaviour of Soviets; prisoner of war misuse of alchohol; hospitality of United States Army; return to GB; contrast between GB and continent, 1945; clash with regimental sergeant major over telegram to home. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg and Arbeitskommando E 503, Wiednitz, Germany, 7/1941-4/1945: reasons why he and his comrades were not escapers; contact with home; camp money and its uses; ersatz goods; contrast between First World War vintage guards and those who were casualties from Eastern Front; twitting German guards; smoking cravings; prisoner of war alcohol still; prisoner of war organisation and story of cooking dead bird; degree of prisoner of war quarrelling.
REEL 5 Continues: abuses by prisoner of war NCOs in charge of camp; prisoner of war clothing; dealing with vermin; attempts to make home comforts; attitude towards Germans; attitude towards Germans; long term effects of imprisonment; Germans' assumption that shaven prisoners of war were Jewish; Germans reaction to alleged diet of German prisoners of war in GB.