大象传媒

In Chapter 1, I related how I was shot down near Stavanger, Norway in May 1942, and spent several months recuperating in hospital in Norway. Chapter 2 describes life in POW camp at Stalag VIIIB Larnsdorf Ober Silesia.

An Idea of Escape

Stalag VIII B, as I have mentioned, was an army POW camp consisting largely of the lower ranks. Under the Geneva Convention, POWs below the rank of corporal could be pressed into working parties by the occupying power. The working parties were billeted away from the camp and worked in mines, factories, agriculture and forestry.

We in the RAF sections were all ranked sergeants and over, so were exempt from working for the Germans. Most escapes from Stalag VIII B were done from these working parties, whereas those of us in the RAF compound were completely isolated for the first two years and had no contact with the army POWs. It was only in 1944 that the authorities opened the gates and allowed free movement within the Main camp and it was now possible to meet other army ranks who would be sent out on working parties. My friend Phil Bridgeman and I decided to arrange with the army men to swap identities and so be sent on a working party, with the idea of organising a possible escape. We eventually managed to do a swap. But before describing this adventure it is necessary to tell of how the Germans came about the tying of hands of all the RAF POWs.

The Tying of Hands

On 19th August 1942, a commando raid was made by British and Commonwealth forces at Dieppe, on the coast of France. During the action, the commandos captured a number of German soldiers. In order to conserve manpower during the action, the German prisoners had their hands tied temporarily behind their backs. The German High Command made a great amount of propaganda over the tying up to prisoners, 鈥渃ontrary to the Geneva Convention鈥�, a laugh really as they hardly kept to all the rules as far as prisoners of war were concerned.

Because of the tying-up episode, the Germans had to take reprisals, so the RAF in Stalag VIII B were selected to be punished in retaliation to the Dieppe raid by having our hands tied. Each morning, all RAF prisoners had their hands tied together (with Red Cross parcel string, to add insult to injury), and untied in the evening. We had to eat, smoke, and go to the toilet with our hands tied. Anyone caught with hands untied was marched to the guard room to spend the rest of the day standing face to the wall, plus much shouting etc from the German guards. After a month or two the string was replaced by hand cuffs, each cuff attached to a chain of about 18 inches in length. At least it allowed one to put one鈥檚 hands in a pocket. Each morning the guards would arrive with the hand cuffs and apply them to every prisoner. In the evening, the guards had to remove them, which required turning a thumb screw key to release the spring. This was laboriously done by the guards with no help from any of the prisoners, although we could easily remove the hand cuffs by inserting a knife blade under the catch and lifting it up. After all the hand cuffs had been removed they were counted and invariably there were one or two short. This again resulted in much shouting and swearing by the guards, often waving revolvers and becoming quite hysterical. After a recount, the number would be correct and on occasions even an extra one would turn up. In this way the POWs were able to harass the guards and keep them checking and rechecking, very tedious and frustrating for them.

After several months, the prison guards must have tired of the whole stupid exercise. After what must have been 10 to 12 months the whole thing was abandoned.

It was at about this time that British and German POWs seriously wounded or terminally ill were exchanged via the Red Cross. I think the returning German POWs detained in Britain or Canada must have reported on how well they were treated in comparison with British POWs in German camps, because the authorities did relax to some extent.

Escape Plan forms

The gates of our prison within a prison were opened, and we were able to meet with the army prisoners, many of whom were South Africans captured in North Africa and had come via Italy. All had horrendous tales to tell: packed into sealed cattle trucks with no toilet facilities, lack of fresh air. It requires little imagination to visualise the dreadful journey.

Phil Bridgeman and I made contact with the army men who would shortly be going out on a working party, and who were willing to change places with us and swap identities. I became A.S.C. Bailey of the Army Service Corp, a driver, whose Christian name I can鈥檛 remember, nor the fellow Phil changed with. It was of course necessary to memorise the names of Bailey鈥檚 mother and father and family, plus other small details in case one was interrogated.

Eventually we set off from Lamsdorf Stalag VIII B which had now been converted to 344. We were to join a working party in a forest area, tree felling, cutting and removing timber. There were about a dozen POWs in this working party. Some had been there a long time and were quite settled. They of course knew immediately that we were not army but RAF. We had been warned that there was always the possibility of being 鈥渟hopped鈥� by your own people, particularly if by attempting to escape it upset their settled lives in the working party.

After hardly a week in the forestry job, we were all moved to a paper making factory. Here the chances of attempting an escape seemed much better as the factory exported its products to Turkey (a neutral country). The idea was to hide oneself amongst the packing cases in a roadway truck, with sufficient food and water to last 3-4 days. However, believe it or not, hardly had we settled in, when we were moved once again. Whether the Germans suspected anything I do not know. Phil and I were moved to a lime factory; one job was to load cocoa 鈥攑an trucks with lime kilns, plus a lot of dust.

End of the plan

After we had been at this place for some weeks, I was called out by one of the guards and told I was to return to Lansdorf Stalag 344 immediately. No reason was given. At the time I was pleased to be leaving the lime quarry and the kilns, but a little apprehensive of being called back to camp. Perhaps the swap in identity had been rumbled. Phil stayed behind.

On arriving back at the Stalag, I was marched before the Kriegsgefangenen Officer (war officer), identified as A.S.C. Bailey. I was told that I was being charged with putting a German woman in the family way, and that in due course I would be summoned to attend a civilian court for trial. I of course completely denied the charge. I couldn鈥檛 seek out Bailey quickly enough to change back to my true self.

Eventually Bailey was taken to court. At the trial he had a Swiss Red Cross lawyer to represent him. The pregnant woman was also on trial as it was a very serious offence for a German woman to co-habitate with a POW. Apparently she told the court that she had misled Bailey in telling him she was Polish. This apparently exonerated Bailey and he got off with a light sentence, whereas I understood the woman was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. I never saw Bailey again; I can only hope that after the war he sought out this lady and did the right thing.

A week or two later, Phil Bridgeman returned to the camp. Our efforts to plan our escape came to nought. Only a handful of prisoners managed to get away successfully from Stalag VIII B (344). To get anywhere near Switzerland required long journeys by train, and having proper (forged) identity documents, work permits, etc., plus the ability to speak German, or if posing as a French worker, enough French to bluff your way through the many security checks during rail travel, which also required an adequate supply of Deutschemarks. Travelling by train was extremely hazardous. Properly planned it was the quickest way to distance oneself from the scene of an escape, and perhaps be fortunate enough to contact either the French or Dutch underground. Many escape stories are well documented in numerous books written by escapees from occupied countries, etc

(See next chapter.)

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