大象传媒

Sunday,29th.April,1945.
As we commenced the march,I had a brush
with the enemy!A young Nazi soldier placed
a field telephone on to the wheel barrow.
We refused to transport it-and refused to
move.The telephone was removed.A small victory for the morale.
On reaching a village called KITLITZ.,
we, unbelievably,received one half of an
American Red Cross parcel,No.10. This was
getting too much of a good thing!We continued the march until 22.00 hours,when we arrived at a place called SALEM .Douglas
and I spent a comfortable night in a shed.
At this stage , I had the impression
that as well as moving first to the East,
and then to the West,we were also travelling
North and South,as if we were going up and
down a hill. It brought to mind,the child -
hood nursery rhyme: "The Grand Old Duke of
York". "The Grand Old Duke of York,
He had Ten Thousand Men,
He marched them up to the top
of the hill.
And marched them Down Again"
We had all now become soldiers of the Grand
Old Duke of York.
Tuesday,1st.May,1945. May Day or Inter-
national Labour Day. Rose at 0550 hours -
cold morning. Heavy snow shower.Spoke to nice Ukranian girl -this was the first girl
with whom I had exchanged pleasantries
since becoming a P.O.W..Received a quantity
of fresh milk from her . I also spoke to a
French P.O.W. in the afternoon,who showed me
maps of the area. I bartered German issue of
flour for good new bread at farmhouse. Met
Ukranian woman and her pretty daughter ,
with whom I exchanged greetings- "You don't
have to know the language"!
At around 1800 hours the sound of an
approaching artillery barrage was clearly
heard. I hoped it wAS ONE of ours. Heard that the Red Flag is being flown on the
Reichstag in berlin to-day . I noticed that the foreign workers in the area considered
to-day as a holiday - some wore the Tricolour and others red ribbons. Warned by
the guards to be ready to leave at short notice ,if the area became a battle zone .
I bartered a half-bar of (canadian)
chocolate for six eggs .

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.