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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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POW 1940-45, captured Calais 1940

by wallman

Contributed by听
wallman
People in story:听
Frank Waller
Background to story:听
Army
Article ID:听
A2804140
Contributed on:听
03 July 2004

My father, Frank Waller, was the eldest of five children and was a rifleman in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, aged just 21. His regiment was sent to Calais in 1940 but following the fighting there, and huge loss of life, he was amongst those captured and taken prisoner.
They were marched on foot to Poland over the following weeks and he remained a POW until the end of the war. He escaped on a number of different occasions but was always recaptured and returned to different camps.
My grandmother received a `missing-believed dead` telegram soon after his capture, and was obviously devastated by this news.
Sometime later, when a camp photograph got through to England, she was sent a copy.
Pouring over the postard sized picture, she spotted a young soldier at the end of a row, near the back. She sent back the picture with the message `please enlarge this soldier`. A grainy passport sized picture duly arrived and confirmed that Frank was alive and well!
My mother has the original postcard, with the message on the back, together with the enlarged photograph.
My father was in Stalag 357 in Orbke, Germany at liberation.

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