大象传媒

This story is submitted by Helen Hughes of the People's War team in Wales, on behalf of Eddie Gurmin and is added to the site with his permission.

When I was captured, I was taken then鈥�.all RAF air crew went to a camp called Dulag Luft which was near Frankfurt where you were questioned. When you first went in there you were put into solitary confinement 鈥� they took away all your clothes, they gave you an old pair of trousers, to put on and they used to x-ray the clothes and go through them. We used to have two maps hidden in our jacket there on silk. A map of France and a map of Germany on silk and we also had a compass sewn into the band of our battledress. Well they found the maps, they didn鈥檛 find the compass thank goodness. Then they used to give us bogus Red Cross forms. They鈥檇 say 鈥淭his is a form from the Red Cross will you fill it in鈥� and I looked at it and said 鈥淕et knotted 鈥� I鈥檓 not filling that in鈥� and this interpreter said 鈥淐ome on, it鈥檚 a Red Cross form, fill it in鈥� and what they wanted was the name of your squadron and every damn thing. So I said 鈥淚鈥檓 not filling that in鈥� he walked to the door and opened the door and he looked back at me and said: 鈥淵ou know what this means don鈥檛 you?鈥� I said: 鈥淣o, what does it mean?鈥� He said 鈥淚f you won鈥檛 fill in any forms your parents will think you are dead.鈥� Well of course, I was only twenty at the time and so I thought about that鈥︹�nd he had packets of Gold Flake cigarettes he said 鈥淐ome on鈥ave a fag鈥� and of course, I don鈥檛 smoke, so I said 鈥淚 don鈥檛 smoke mate 鈥� Keep 鈥榚m鈥� He came back to the table with his form and said 鈥淐ome on, come on鈥�. He gave me a pencil and I filled in my name rank and number and stood up and he said 鈥淐ome on, carry on鈥� and I said: 鈥淣o, mate鈥hat鈥檚 all you鈥檙e having鈥� He was really annoyed. The following day they take you into the main camp. And when they had fifty prisoners there they moved you to a permanent camp. So I went to a camp called Stalag 3 E鈥hat was my prisoner of war number 111. There were only 200 of us there. All RAF air crew. The Red Cross didn鈥檛 know we were there so we didn鈥檛 get any Red cross parcels. We were actually starving and freezing to death. We had one blanket each, we never took our clothes off for six months it was too cold. Two blokes had to sleep together otherwise you鈥檇 have died from hypothermia. Then we were getting a loaf of bread between eight men for a day, a cup of watery soup and a couple of spuds 鈥� that was your lot. We were so hungry I ate grass, I ate paper. There was one chap there, when he baled out he lost his flying boots so he had a tatty old pair of German army boots and he cut the tongues out and ate them. He ate the tongues out of his boots鈥e were that bad. They let us keep our flying boots. They took all our flying clothes off us, but they let us keep our boots 鈥nd then one night twelve blokes escaped鈥hey knocked a hole through a big stone wall and escaped. The following day they came in and took our flying boots off us and gave us some old french sabots 鈥� it was just a bit of wood shaped roughly like a shoe, flat with a bit of catskin across the top. Then we started making a tunnel鈥ctually from underneath my bed. So we started digging this tunnel and because I was Welsh and I was small they thought I was born in a coal mine, so I was stuffed down the tunnel left, right and centre. We were getting on with this tunnel, and thought we鈥檇 get it ready for August when it was warmer outside and there were apples on the trees and swedes in the fields鈥�. And suddenly in April the Germans said 鈥淲e鈥檙e moving you鈥� and they were moving us to Sagen, the Great Escape camp. There were four barracks there鈥 was in barrack number two and that was where the tunnel started from. And we thought 鈥淥h god, which barrack will they move first鈥� 鈥�.and they said they were shifting half of us next week. Luckily they left the barrack with the tunnel in it鈥o we worked like hell, day and night鈥ot the tunnel through鈥nd the night before they shifted the rest of us we managed to get through the wire and break the tunnel and when they came into collect all the blokes they were 52 men short. Fifty-two men had got out through the tunnel, there were only 48 of us left. They got us on parade and they were bringing all the army and navy and air force units round there and all the civilians fetching them in and saying: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what they look like 鈥�.now go out and look for them鈥�. It was on the German wireless they had spotter planes overhead looking for them and the German civilians were spitting in our faces when they came in. It was raining, it was cold鈥hey kept us there on parade without food, without water for 13 hours. Then the next day they took us to Sagen, the Great Escape camp. And in Sagen at that time, it was a big camp, with a big wooden fence down the middle and I was a warrant officer鈥�.they kept Commissioned Officers one side and non-commissioned officers on the other side. And we were there for 15 months. Then they decided to make it an all officers鈥� camp. So they shifted us鈥he NCOs鈥� to a camp in East Prussia鈥 place called Heydekrug 鈥�.and we were in Heydekrug for about 12 months鈥� I used to take part in the shows, we put stage shows on.

Then the Russians started advancing towards East Prussia trying to cut East Prussia off. So they got us down from East Prussia. And evertime we moved we were in cattle trucks, you know, they got us down from East Prussia in cattle trucks and they took us to a camp in Poland called 357 and we were only there for a month and the Russians were still advancing and they shifted us from there then, onto a camp called Fallingbostel in the middle of Germany. And that鈥檚 where I was when the camp was liberated. I ended up with TB. I was in the camp hospital 鈥ou鈥檝e heard of the march 鈥� the great march. Well I should have gone on the march but before the march a German officer, a doctor and our own doctor, the prisoners doctor, Doctor Pollack, they came round examining everybody and they said oh no he can鈥檛 go he鈥檚 too ill. I had TB so I stayed in the hospital and the rest of the boys were marched out. I was released a bit earlier by the Desert Rats 鈥�.and the first tank into the camp 鈥� sitting on top of the tank was the chief reporter for British Movietone news . I asked him for his autograph 鈥nd he asked me 鈥淗ow long have you been a prisoner鈥� I said 鈥淔our years鈥� and he said 鈥淕ood God鈥�, he said 鈥� and you鈥檙e still sane!鈥� and I said 鈥淲ell that鈥檚 debatable鈥� and then I flew home from Germany. That鈥檚 the telegram my mother had when I was reported missing.

We were flown home from Germany, when I got home I wasn鈥檛 married, I didn鈥檛 have a girlfriend, I was completely free鈥ut of course we鈥檇 been locked up. The RAF were locked up all the time we were never never never allowed out of the camp鈥�.so I was shy of girls, I really was. Anyway I met my wife on her twentieth birthday. She was the first girl I鈥檇 really spoken to and come October 1 2005..we鈥檒l have been married sixty years.

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