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This story is transcribed by me Graham Shepherd , from notes and discussions with Alan Otterburn , and will be added to the site with his permission . He understands the sites terms and conditions .

In May 1939 I joined the 2nd Royal Gloucester Hussars , a TA Regiment while living in Cheltenham . However I moved to work in Cranbrook , Kent in June 1939 as a General Clerk in a former Workhouse . This job was short lived since I was ‘ called up ‘ at the end of August .

Passing through London on the way back to Cheltenham , the Barrage Balloons were already up in the sky .

I joined the H Squadron of the 2nd Royal Gloucester Hussars . H Squadron was Cheltenham , F was Gloucester and G was Dursley and Stroud .

My first posting was to Ilfracombe in Devon where I was in training for about 8 months . This included Wireless operator , gunnery - small arms , morse code , servicing Bren and machine guns . We were then transferred to The Dukeries near Worksop , where we continued with similar training for a further 6/8 months . We were not sure why we were moved from Ilfracombe , but suspected that it may have been because in one of Lord Haw Haw’s propaganda broadcasts he stated that the Germans new the location of the 22nd Armoured Brigade . We were billeted with civilians while here , and in requisitioned hotels .

My next posting was to Skellingthorp on the Lincolnshire coast , where we carried out Coastal Defence duties , and from there to RAF Royston in Cambridgeshire for similar duties . Most of the pilots based here were Polish , and we witnessed many dog fights . While here I witnessed an amazing incident , a Polish pilot had to bail out from about 3000 ft , his chute failing to open and he landed on the concrete runway , but amazingly he survived .

After about 4 months we were transferred to Cranleigh in Surrey where our training began in earnest We now had about 6 tanks out of our full compliment of 52 . I was sent on a D & M ( driver and maintenance ) course at Bovingdon , together with a pal of mine Bert Vowdon , who was doing a gunnery course . Bert came from Jersey , which had already been invaded , and he had an Aunt in Southampton so we jumped the train to go and see her and hopefully get fed . There was a pub near to the railway station so we popped in for a quick pint , but it turned out to be quicker than we thought , the siren went and we had to go down the air raid shelter only having drunk half of our beer .

When we came out of the shelter the area between the pub and the docks had been flattened . We decided to give the Aunt a miss and went to Bovingdon .

On returning from Bovingdon , we were sent to Scotland to await our overseas posting . In early March 1941 we set sail from the Clyde on board the ‘ Strathmore ‘ . a P&O cruise liner as part of a convoy of 23 vessels , en route for Egypt . We called in at Freetown for supplies and were on our way again after 24 hours. before stopping off at Cape Town for 2 days . when we disembarked we were met by English speakers who took us to their home .
When we arrived at Port Said , our tanks had arrived by a different convoy , and I was given the task of riding on the train foot plate with our precious cargo of tanks to Alexandra . The rest of the men went via the Suez Canal .

We stayed behind the lines for about one month , before crossing the wire into the Libyan desert at Fort Medalina which was an Italian stronghold and bivouacked awaiting instructions to move to the front line . Unfortunately I suffered from dysentery and was shipped back to a base hospital at Amaria . The ward was full with men also suffering dysentery and we were deteriorating all the time until supplies of M & B 693 was flown in from Cape Town . There is no doubt that this saved my life . When I was sent back to join my regiment , I was given a note by the MO which stated that I should be give one months leave behind the front line . I gave this to the commander who basically laughed and ripped it up , informing me that we were moving up to the front line tomorrow and I would be with them .

So the real fight was about to start . We moved forward and had minor encounters with the Italians , but they generally surrendered easily and our first serious battle was at Sidi Rezegh with the Germans , where we knocked out twelve of their aeroplanes on the airport runway . Three days later as we headed for Tobruck we ran into very fierce German resistance at ElGubi and we only ended up with 38 of our original 52 tanks operational , the majority of which were damaged . I lost three crew wounded and took them to the field hospital . Back at the Squadron HQ we reassembled where I picked up an officer from one of the other squadrons , who advised that Rommel had virtually surrounded us , but there was still a gap available so we went for it in the hope that we could escape . However the German 88mm artillery which could hit us from about one mile was far to much for us to respond to with our 600 yard range 2lb Crusader tank gun , so the officer ordered me to abandon the tank and we were taken prisoner .This happened on 23rd November 1941 .

I was very tired having had very little sleep over the previous days so had a good first nights sleep as a prisoner of war . Next morning about fifteen of us were transported to Rommels headquarters where he personally congratulated us for putting up such a brave fight .

We were then transported to Derna , where we encountered " rather different Germans " who interrogated about 1000 prisoners on the sands . The interrogating officer sat at a trestle table and one New Zealander gave him some lip , the officer got up and dragged his revolver foresight butt down both his cheeks causing lacerations . We all gave our name , rank and number . We were then transported to Bengazi but on the way our convoy was spotted by the RAF who dropped about twenty bombs on us but we all survived .

At Bengazi we were housed in a warehouse at the port until on 7 December 1941 we were loaded onto an Italian cargo ship to be transferred to an unknown destination . There were about 1000 of us couped up in two holds . With only one escort destroyer as escort we talked amongst ourselves that if the RAF spotted us and eliminated the destroyer we would be confident of commandeering the ship which had a German Captain with an Italian crew .

Unfortunately we were attacked by a British submarine when we were near Petras off the Greek coast , but it was our ship which was hit and not the destroyer . The front of the ship quickly went under water bringing the stern just out of the water with the props still rotating and unfortunately many men who had gone overboard were sucked into the ships propellers by the seas turbulence and their bodies were cut to pieces . I was at the top of the stern at the time and witnessed it all . It was horrendous the sea turning very bright red .

The German commander did a good job in bringing the stricken ship into port area stern first and the 350 of us who survived managed to get ashore before the ship sank .

Greece had been occupied by the Germans but had handed over control to the Italians . There was no direct way out of Patros Bay , so a Beeches Buoy was set up the cliffs to hoist us all up , from where we were taken to the town of Petras . Since we were an unexpected arrival we were all housed in " fruit drying sheds " . We remained locked inside here for the next six months , only being allowed outside the building to use the " pole and plank " for the loo ! If we only needed to pee there was a large container within the shed to be used .

Food was meagre but OK - typical meal was macaroni stew , but it was very watery , with dried figs available once a week . I still managed to keep healthy despite this . One of our main worries was that we did not know what was happening , except on one occasions the Italians were very happy and we learnt that they were celebrating the Japs bombing of Pearl Harbour - 7 Dec. 1941, the same day we were torpedoed . Of more concern was the fact that our family did not know where we were , and I learnt later that they had been informed that I had been " posted missing - believed killed " .

During May 1942 we were moved by ship to Brindezi in Italy and from there transported about 80 miles in trucks to the well established POW camp PM3450 at Gravina . The camp held about 2000 prisoners including many English officers and M/O’s . From here we were allowed to write to our next of kin , and when I received a reply from my family they were very relieved to hear from me as it confirmed the information in a letter they had received from a lady a few days earlier which included a report she had got from the Vatican listing POW’s and my name was on it .

I remained at Gravina until the invasion of Sicily in early 1943 , when we were all moved further north and back into German hands . We were put into cattle trucks , 50 to a truck , and kept in with strands of barbed wire . Our destination was Mulburg On Elbe , home of Stalag 1V B . My POW number was 225956 . I was to remain here for about 8 months . Many of the RAF lads there were technicians , and they managed to get together the necessary parts to build a small wireless . We all subscribed to getting our German guards to supply the parts , mine by using fags . It was excellent to be able to get news direct from London , and not have to endure the usual German propaganda . The Germans found out that we were getting news and the Gestapo arrived to search our compound , but they could not find the wireless .

As a reprisal our complete compound of 1000 English speaking prisoners were sent to the concentration camp at Jacobstahl , about 25 km from Milburg . We were marched there in sub zero temperatures and the site that met us was depressing . There was snow on the ground , and as we went through the camp gates the Commandant’s office was located there with steps leading up to it . On the steps there were 14 Russians kneeling in the snow - they were all dead and had been there for three days .

Each compound was separated by barbed wire , and about 14,000 Russian and Polish prisoners were there . In the immediate compound to us there was a huge pit about 50 yds . long by 10 yds . wide which was full of lime . Every day many dead Russians were thrown in - they treated the Russians terribly . Apparently Stalin's son was a prisoner here . On one occasion three Russians attempted to come through the barbed wire begging for food . Although our food ration was very small it was much more that the Russians received . Our food consisted of small portions of Rhy bread , skilly , mule & potatoes . We had our own cooks and were allocated a ration of wood for cooking . Everyone was now very thin .

On one occasion two German guards arrived with Alsation dogs to turn out some Russians from the next compound and the dogs went into one of the huts never to come out again ! The guards certainly did not go in after them !

There was a trip wire around the inside of the compound fence about 10 ft. in and at 3 ft high , and no one was allowed to cross this and when one of our compound did cross - we don’t know why - he was shot instantly . The average camp sentry was OK , the majority having come back from the Eastern Front , so they knew that they had it good .

In March 1945 with the allies closing in from all directions the English speaking compound was moved on to a POW camp at Fallingbostal between Hanover and Hamburg . We were only there for a short time before being marched to Luneburg Heath where we were marched from one side of the Heath to the other about three times over an eight week period .

This was to be the last episode of my life as a German POW , when at Luneburg on 7 May 1945 we were freed by UK & USA forces .

We received immediate medical attention and real food - my first white bread for 3 ½ years !

However I must point out the value we placed on the Red Cross parcels which we received throughout the war - they were something to look forward to . It was the desire of the British Red Cross to endeavour to supply parcels to all prisoners monthly , but with pilfering by the Germans , and the bombing of trains we got one on average every three months . They were an invaluable supplement to the meagre diet supplied by " our hosts " , and no doubt saved lives of not a few but 1,000’s of prisoners . In addition to the British Red cross we also received them from the Canadian Red Cross which always included a supply of powdered KLIM ( MILK ! ) which was very valued . The British parcels came from many places , but the Bermondsey parcel was special ! . The Germans always claimed that such parcels would be invaluable if we escaped and put their bayonets through all tins like condensed milk , which meant that we had to use it quickly whereas we preferred to make it last - still it was a good scoff for a few days . The Italians were more easy going . Coffee was an invaluable for bartering - mainly for bread - particularly with the Italians

After about 5 days they started airlifting us out from a local airfield , 25 at a time in Lancaster's . I was flown into Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and the sight of the green fields as we approached was unbelievable .

After having leave , I reported back to Devises in Wiltshire where I had the cushy job of Postal Clerk . This took me frequently into the NAAFI where I struck up a friendly relationship with the ladies , who let me have chocolate for my Elsie !

I then went to Morpeth before being demobbed in March 1946 at Northampton .

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