Description
Object description
British officer commanded submarine HMS Shark, 3rd Submarine Flotilla in North Sea, 1940 including sinking 6/7/1940; prisoner of war in Stalag XX-A, Thorn, Oflag IX-A/H, Spangenberg, Stalag X-B, Sandbostel and Marlag und Milag Nord, Westertimke, Germany, 1940-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of operations commanding submarine HMS Shark, 3rd Submarine Flotilla in GB coastal waters and North Sea, 1940 including sinking 6/7/1940: pattern of service with Royal Navy prior to taking command of submarine, 1940; German Air Force attacks on submarine off Stavanger, Norway, 6/7/1940; question of being captured and confusion caused by leaving identity on board depot ship; hospitialisation for wounds; character of wounds; concern that submarine had been scuttled; treatment during hospitalisation in Norway. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag XX-A, Thorn, Germany, 9/1940-11/1940: removal to camp after hospitalisation in Stargard Hospital; description of camp and inmates; problems attempting to prove that he was an officer; interrogations; conditions in camp; escape situation in camp; train journey to Oflag IX-AH, Spangenberg, Germany, 11/1940.
REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Oflag IX-AH, Spangenberg, Germany, 11/1940-1/1941: arrival at camp, 7/11/1940; character of accommodation; contents of Red Cross parcels; Christmas Day meals, 25/12/1940; cooking facilities; provision of drink; value of tobacco; payment of prisoners of war in camp money; his own financial situation; problems with his wounded leg. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Stalag X-B, Sandbostel, Germany, 1/1941-6/1942: car journey to station for transit to Stalag X-B; conditions in camp on arrival; accommodation; attitude to period of confinement in camp.
REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Marlag and Milag Nord, Westertimke, Germany, 6/1942-4/1945: arrival at camp, 6/1942; description of camp; accommodation; camp organisation; daily routine; boredom; weekly ablutions; sporting activities; camp committees; role of escape committee; use of dummy officer 'Albert' during escape attempts; his roles with escape committee and running canteen; fate of recaptured escapers; further details of work of escape committee; bribing German guards; prisoner of war skills; listening to hidden wireless set; use of coded letters to communicate with Admiralty; German punishments imposed on prisonersof war; prisoner of war reaction to German propaganda broadcasts; role of Nazi Party official in German organisation of camp.
REEL 4 Continues: German searches of camp; communal cooking of contents of Red Cross parcels; role of food committee; use of allotments to supplement rations; educational classes; camp entertainments; camp canteen; alcohol obtained from raisins and yeast; provision of materials for artists; playing card game bridge and other games; reading; refereeing rugby games; German searching of camp for escape tunnels; tunnelling in camp and problems of disposing of spoil; lack of feedback about escapers; factors necessary for a successful escape; camp rules; German relations with prisoners of war and attitude towards Geneva Convention; clothing situation; health facilities; attending funerals.
REEL 5 Continues: bugging of solitary confinement cells; question of officers working; religious life in camp; arrival of Fleet Air Arm personnel after capitulation of Italy, 9/1943; presence of informers; Norwegian and Soviet Navy officers in camp; use of orderlies; contact with other ranks camp; escape aids sent to prisoners of war from GB; correspondence with GB including coded letters; lack of contact with female sex; division of prisoners of war groups and relations; change in attitude of German guards as war progressed; relations between German guards and prisoners of war; question of co-operation with Germans; attitude towards Germans; degree of knowledge of German war crimes.
REEL 6 Continues: personal morale; need to set example as naval officer; effect of Allied heavy bombers flying over camp. Aspects of liberation from Marlag und Milag Nord, Westertimke, Germany, 4/1945: receiving instructions to stay in camps on liberation; arrival of British Army troops; reaction to being liberated; treatment by liberators; return to GB; reunion with mother; adjusting to return to GB; attitude to experiences and survival as prisoner of war.
