大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Jenny Ford on behalf of Flt./Lieut. Oliver J. Wells and has been added to the site with the his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Conclusion to Flt./Lieut. Oliver J. Well's experiences in Germany.

"As the Americans had reached the Elbe and halted there, we were confident of an early repatriation. After what seemed like interminable delays, a convoy of 19 US Army trucks arrived to take us West to the Elbe. Imagine our horror and frustration when the Red Army surrounded the trucks with guns, ordering us to get out again and even firing over our heads. The trucks returned empty to the Elbe and the Russians assured us that they would deliver us there shortly. The next few days involved the Russians making a list of all British prisoners, at which we individually decided to give false names as we had no wish by then to be on their records. I now believe there was some sort of high level negotiations going on involving the White Russian contingent who had been fighting with the Germans and were then prisoners in Allied hands. There seems no other explanation for this extraordinary behaviour. In due course we were indeed taken in Russian trucks to the Elbe and were then speedily repatriated, frist to Brussels in Dakotas and then in Lancasters to England. Sitting beside the pilot as we crossed the coast of England, I remember I found myself in tears of joy.

Here I must pay tribute to the magnificent work done by the international Red Cross. Without their efforts in very difficult circumstances I doubt I would be writing this now and have always felt deeply grateful. It was good too to be able to exchange letters with the brave and kind friends in Belgium whose identity I had kept secret from everyone until the end of the war. I found that they were all intact, including Raymond Itterbeek, the young guide who was caught with us on the train. He had been condemned to death but was luckily held by the Wermacht who went by the book. As the Allies advanced he was moved from prison to prison and his papers failed to catch up with him and the sentence never carried out. In June of 1947 I was able to revisit Liege to thank my kind friends properly and Fifi Fraipont came to England to stay at my home. Much later in 1944 I met Raymond Itterbeek in Brussels. He was by then Chairman of the Comet Line Association of brave people who helped British and American airmen to escape and we had a long talk over an excellent lunch.

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