Interview with Robert Frettlöhr

German civilian worker in Thyssen Steelworks, Duisburg, Germany, 1938-1942; radar mechanic served with German Air Force in Germany, 1942; private served with 4th Parachute Regt, 1st Parachute Div in Italy, 1943-1944; prisoner of war in United States of America, Belgium and GB, 1944-1948

REEL 1 Background in Duisberg, Germany, 1924-1942: family circumstances; education; work as electrician at Thyssen Steelworks, 1938-1942; family living standard pre-1939; pre-war interest in gliders; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 9/1939; stories his parents told him about French occupation of Rhineland in 1920s and rise of Adolf Hitler; start of Allied bombing of Duisberg. Aspects of period as radar mechanic with German Air Force in Germany, 1942: joining German Air Force at Münster, 4/1942; role as radar mechanic; appearance as 'stooge' in operas at Dresden. REEL 2 Continues: reasons for volunteering for airborne forces. Period of training with German paratroopers in Germany, 1943: paratrooper training at Wittstock; use of German style parachutes; distinctive uniform of German paratroopers; narrow escape from Allied air raid. Recollections of operations as private with 4th Parachute Regt, 1st Parachute Div in Italy, 1943-1944: work as pioneer; minelaying in Pescara area; technique of dodging shells; question of observing Geneva Convention during mine-laying; move of unit to Monte Cassino, 2/1944; Allied bombing of Monte Cassino Monastery, 15/2/1944; method of firing 'Ofenfohr' anti-tank weapon; anti- tank weapons unit equipped with during 2nd New Zealand Infantry Div's attack at, Albaneta Farm, 3/1944; entry into Monte Cassino Monastery, 18/3/1944; in rest area at Aquino, 28/3/1944. REEL 3 Continues: relations between Germans and Allied troops during Battle of Monte Cassino; problems of getting supplies into the Monte Cassino Monastery; motivation of troops in action; Polish assault on monastery, 5/1944; wounding in left leg and capture by troops of the II Polish Corps, 17/5/1944; question of rectifying false story of Polish atrocity during capture of Monte Cassino, 5/1944; reception American reporter got from German prisoners of war at Monte Cassino, 17/5/1944; origins of false atrocity story; treatment by Polish captors, 17/5/1944; medical treatment he received from United States Army troops; nervous breakdown he suffered after Battle of Monte Cassino; attitude to having served at Monte Cassino and return to area after Second World War. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Italy, United States and Belgium, 1944-1946: conditions as prisoners of war in Italy; landing of prisoners of war at Norfolk, United States of America. REEL 4 Continues: reaction to amount of rations available at Camp Reynolds, Kane, United States of America; work as electrician and lumber-jacking at Camp Reynolds, Kane, United States of America; treatment of prisoners of war by new commandant at Camp Reynolds, Kane, United States of America, 1945; arrangements for repatriation of Germans from United States of America, 1946; voyage from New York, United States of America to Ostend, Belgium; conditions in Camp 2128 near Brussels, Belgium; transfer from Ostend, Belgium to GB. Aspect of period as prisoner of war in GB, 1946-1948: arrival at Tilbury; move to interrogation camp at Comrie; electrical work at RAF Lindholme; playing double-bass at RAF Lindholme. REEL 5 Continues: prisoner of war band at RAF Lindholme, 1947; story of meeting future wife at RAF Lindholme. Aspects of period as civilian living in GB, 1948-1959: reasons why he was not permitted to work in his own trade in GB; marriage in GB, 6/1950; work in building industry in East Yorkshire, 1950s; treatment received in GB after Second World War; attitude to having served with German Airborne Forces during Second World War.