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Written by Billingshurst Library on behalf of Charles Dickinson.

I was captured in Tobrok in Africa and taken as a P O W to southern Italy. There we lived under canvas in the rainy season, I managed to get yellow jaundice and the medical officer had only 2 aspros to cure us. He took one look at me and said I can’t do anything for you. Go and lay down. I thought I was going to die. One day I managed to come by a kilo of sugar and I eat the lot in one go, but it cured my jaundice. I don’t think this is the medical remedy. The Italians gave me an extra blanket as they thought that I was sick. Shortly after I was arrested for having this extra blanket. They accused me of stealing. No such thing as such justice!

Shortly after Italy capitulated and we were free. Where do we go? To Switzerland, which meant swimming lake Como or make for Genoa hoping for a British landing there — No luck. I joined up with a partisan group as a means of being fed ‘ cos we worked during the day and patrolled at night. One evening we encountered a German convoy, one shot was fired and four Germans were killed. Could these Italians romance! Anyway the vino was on the table to celebrate.

Sometime later I was picked up again by the Germans and taken to Milan Civi prison. After a short spell here I was taken toAustria - Stalag 4b. This was a terrible camp for civilians as I was dressed as a civilian, however I managed to get moved to a British POW camp- Stalag 8b. There I had to work on several working parties, the last party was in a forest. At this time the Russians were advancing and we started a long march through the winter of 1944. Nobody knew where we were, we just kept marching. At some later date the Russians came through and we were free again. The Russians could not feed us so we had to join the local police to become on their ration strength. One day an American convoy came through so rifle and armband were cast aside and onto the American lorry to Pilsen. Here we were deloused and given clean clothes. Our next stage of our journey was to Rheims there we met the RAF who were using their Lancaster bombers to convey us prisoners to Blighty. We landed at Dunsfold in Surrey and from there to a reception camp in Sompting, West Sussex. I knew where I was because I spent 3 days of my honeymoon there in 1939.

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