大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Bill Ross, of the 鈥楢ction Desk 鈥� Sheffield鈥� Team, on behalf of Mr. D.J. Wilson, who, after recovering the diaries following their disposal, has assumed responsibility for them. They have been added to the site with the Mr Wilson's permission who fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

The story is in five parts Pt 1: A4350917
Pt 2: A4350980
Pt 3: A4351015
Pt 5: A4351105

17/2/1945: I started work today after having four days off with the 鈥榝lu. The air raid went at 15.00hrs today but we never saw anything. The young German lad came in today and told us all about the damage. We heard the B.B.C. news last night; the news was good, but Joe isn鈥檛 coming quickly enough for us. He is close to Dresden and ha gone north and south of Dresden, and by going south, he is on his way down here.

We have just heard that Joe has stopped for a while. The air raids go every day and night now.

22/2/45: The planes were over this morning and in the night, we were in the shelter from 03.30 hrs until 05.00hrs. They came again at 10.30 hrs., we take as much kit as we can carry with us, for in case the Lager gets bombed. We have just heard the B.B.C. and Joe is coming in slowly, and the Americans are coming too. There were 1260 bombers and 500 fighters over here this morning. Our rations are going down every month. What we get all day wouldn鈥檛 make a good meal and no more parcels are coming in. I received a letter from Mr. Jackson, the first letter I鈥檝e had since November the 4th. .

25/2/1945: We have just received some great news; there are parcels at the Stalag waiting for us to go and get them. All 22 of us are trying to get a truck to fetch them. There were 25 of us, but two went back to camp to get new teeth and one is in hospital, he got burnt on his arm and back. One lad got a small 10 cwt (hundredweight, 50 Kilos) truck on the 28th of February. This happened while the air raid was on, but he couldn鈥檛 go until the 1st of March. On the 27th of February, I received a letter from Mother, that was posted on the 20th of November. .

The truck left at 07.30 hrs and arrived back at 15.45 hrs in time for tea. We received one American parcel and it is the best parcel I have ever seen. American parcels go in numbers. There are numbers: 1-2-8-9-10-11-18-20-21; we got number 10. .

Contents of American parcel number 10: 1 lb margarine, 1 lb powdered milk, 1 lb raisins or prunes, 8 oz (ounces (app 240 gms) of cheese, 4 oz coffee, 2 tins of fish 3 陆 oz each, 12 oz tin of M.V., 8 oz of chocolate, 12 oz meat loaf 4 oz jam, 1 pkt of multivitamin capsules, 2 bars of Swan white soap, 1 lb of cereal 100 cigarettes. .

March the 1st was a good day: air raid at 08.30 and 12.00 hrs. The sun shines all day and parcels and letters come at night. .

2/3/1945: Air raid at 10.40 until 12.15 hrs; a little snow at night. .

3/3/1945: Four wagons of coal dust. Coal is very hard to get, there is very little work to be done owing to the shortage of coal. Air raid from 10.20 hrs until 12.30 hrs. Another alarm at 16.10hrs until 16.50 鈥攕nowing all-day, very windy and cold. The guard brought a wireless to one of the lads who knows all about them, to mend. It doesn鈥檛 need mending. He brought it so that we can listen to the English news at 18.00 hrs. The news is very good. .

12 months ago, our bread ration was: 460 gms per day, then it went down to 440 gms per day, then to 414 gms. It鈥檚 going to go down again next week. All day long, all the lads are saying is, 鈥淩oll on Joe.鈥� .

The two lads came back from Stalag at midnight and were very pleased to be back. They say the Americans are dying like flies. The other lad came out of hospital this afternoon, and he says it鈥檚 all right there. The air raid went again at 20.50 hrs; it only lasted 20 minutes. We had a little news at 21.15 hrs but two lads waited until midnight for the 12 o鈥檆lock news, but very little was different. .

4/3/1945 It鈥檚 snowed all day, by night it was a foot thick. One workman will do anything for a cigarette and I got four potatoes from him for two cigarettes. He鈥檚 bringing more tomorrow. We heard the 21.00 news, very good, Joe is still coming. .

5/3/1945 The snow is pretty thick, but no more is coming down. Air raid from 10.45 hrs until 12.20..

6/3/1945: No raids over here for three days. It鈥檚 still snowing. One wagon of coal, two wagons bringing coke to keep the fires going. We heard the 18.00 hrs news and our lads are doing well. Plenty of parcels on the way by train and by road. We are expecting two American parcels this next week. .

10/3/45: It鈥檚 rained all day, but the snow is going away very slowly. An air raid at 20.50 hrs until 21.15 hrs. We heard the 18.00 hrs and 21.00 hrs news from England. Our boys are doing well on the Western front. Joe is doing very well. Berlin has had a raid every day for the last nineteen days. The young German lad who came to see me is leaving this Thursday for the army. He is only 17 years old. His father is a prisoner in England, just outside Birmingham. Our bread has been cut down again, now we only get 398 grams per day. We are hopeful parcels will be here this week. .

12/3/45: Went up to town for potatoes for the cookhouse and I finished up with 陆 cwt (hundredweight, 1 cwt = 50kgs) between two of us; air raid from 11.15 until 11.50 hrs. While working on the slack heap, two young women came to me and asked me if I鈥檇 give them some good cokes. I told them that I couldn鈥檛, but told them to come back at 19.00 hrs, when I gave them some coal. It will be a hundred years before the following happens again: 12.3.45. .

13/3/45: The weather is getting warmer, very quiet all day. The two women came again at 19.00 hours. 4 of the lads worked on three wagons of coal from 17.00 until 21.30 hrs in which the alarm went twice. .

14/3/45: Air raid at 1.30 hrs and again at 17.10 hrs. Berlin has now had 23 day of raids on the trot. The two women are coming at 19.30 hrs and we hope to have a good night. They bring us different things such as cigarettes, beer, cakes and a kiss now and then. .

15/3/45: Very warm all day, air raid from 13.00 until 14.15 hrs. We have just got to know that 20,000 parcels have arrived at Stalag and the Jerry will not let anyone go for them. Every commando in IV F wants to go but the Jerries won鈥檛 let them, so we have no idea when we鈥檒l get them now. Another raid at 20.50 hrs lasted until 22.25 hrs. We heard the B.B.C. news; that was very good. Joe is coming our way, and will we be pleased when he does come? Roll on Joe, that鈥檚 all our lads are saying all day long. .

17/3/45: Rain all day; raid from 11.40 until 13.30 hrs. .

18/3/45: Rain all morning, nice and fresh after dinner. We are expecting the parcels some time this week. Alarm from 12.15 hrs until 13.00 hrs. On the B.B.C. last night, it told the German people to move out of four big towns because our troops were going to smash them. But the people cannot go, for if they stay, they will get killed by the bombing and if they try to leave, they will be shot by the German troops for leaving. Spring is here and the weather is lovely; sunshine every day. .

22/3/45: Air raid for 2陆 hours. I enjoyed two hours鈥� sleep. No news of parcels yet. B.B.C. news is very good again..

23/3/45: Raid for 1陆 hours. The news is good; we have just heard that Gen. W. has started his push. Let鈥檚 hope it won鈥檛 be long now. Joe is still coming..

24/3/45: Raid from 11.35 hrs until 13.25 hrs. A letter came from Stalag saying there are no parcels for us yet. Lovely weather all day. Our bellies are feeling empty these days. All we do is pinch when we have the chance; last week, I got 1 cwt of potatoes in two days, one chicken and some onions. If the river here, that separates the wood yard and the gas works would go down, I will be able to get one last sack of sugar. .

31/3/45: We heard the B.B.C. News last night and everything is going well. Everyone here thinks the war will finish in April, one or two say May. We haven鈥檛 had any parcels since March 2nd and it is telling on us now. .

3.4.45: Nine of the boys at Linton Gardens broke out of their Lager at midnight on Sunday and were caught three days later. No signs of parcels yet. We heard this morning that the guns were heard at twelve o鈥檆lock last night by a good many of the workmen here, and the French. We heard that our lads are 50 miles from here. We are just getting enough food to keep us alive: Breakfast 09.00 hrs.......4 spoons of Riba, Dinner at 12.00.............2 or 3 spuds, 2 spoonfuls of Riba (meat twice a week, .

Wed and Sundays) Tea 17.00 hrs................340 grms of black bread, 2 spoonfuls of Riba. We get one mug of tea and one of coffee per day, but it鈥檚 not fit to drink. On the 8th of April, the rations get another cut. The Jerries say that the bread goes down another 60 grms per day. The B.B.C. news is good, although it鈥檚 at least 3 days old. But we do keep hearing of places that keep falling. .

5/4/45: No sign of any parcels for us until the end of the war. Our dinner today was 5 desert spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, Riba soup for breakfast and 陆 a carrot for tea. .

7/4/45: Just heard that parcels are coming tonight; we received 40 French cigarettes today instead of next week. At 17.00, three of us were sitting in the room where we have our dinner. One of the lads said, 鈥淚s that a lorry at the gate?鈥� He looked though the door and ran up the yard. The other one ran up to the Lagar, when I got out, the lorry was in the war. The news was, one Christmas parcel between two and there are still parcels at Stalag, but the Jerries won鈥檛 let them go yet. But there are seven train wagons on the way. Each wagon carries at least 3,000 parcels. The Linton Gardens lads that got away, got 3 days bread and water, one Serb that got caught was shot because he killed six Jerries. .

We heard our lads were 83 miles away from here, we are just waiting for the B.B.C. News and we hope it鈥檚 good. .

We鈥檝e just heard the news and it is good: another 5,000 of our lads have been relieved, that is at least 9,000 in the last fortnight. Our lads are now 68 miles from here. .

10/4/45: We heard today that our planes came down; machine gunning not very far away. As I am writing this, three bombs drop on the other side of the hill, yet the alarm hasn鈥檛 gone yet. But the planes are passing overhead. The late news is that parcels are due this weekend. Stalag has had orders to release them. It is rumoured that there are 14,000 more expected this week. .

14/4/45: Today has been a horrible day, very warm. Five alarms, and Tom Roberts, who is a Sheffielder, lost his Christmas pudding from his kit bag. We have a good idea who took it, but we can鈥檛 catch him at it. A lot of foodstuff has gone missing in the last three months. .

13/4/45: A very quiet day, we only had seven air raids and we have heard that the American troops are in Chemnitz, we can hear their gun fire. .

14/4/45: We have heard that our troops are 15 to 20 Km from here. All the civilians are being told to get into their shelters because the Yanks are coming. .

15/4 45: We saw a great sight at 12.45 hrs. Our fighter came over and machine-gunned the main road where all the military transport was standing. At 15.00, they came again. For the last four days, five of us have been thinking of escaping. Today, we made up our minds to go, tonight. At 20.00, we were ready, but two others head of it and left at 20.15 hours. The guard found out at 20.40 hrs. So we had no chance because the civil police were all around. .

16/4/45: Three of us went to hospital, I went to have a tooth pulled, but the dentist wouldn鈥檛 pull it, he filled it instead. Our fighters were overhead all day. Not much had been done about the two who got away, Max, the guard heard that they were staying with two German women whom they had had dealings with for some time. The civil police went to the house of the two women; nobody knows what happened to them. They are likely to be shot for helping prisoners to escape. .

17/4/45: At 13.00, 630 four-engine bombers passed over with fighters. They went for Dresden and came back at 16.30 hrs. .

19/4/45: The news came in that the American tanks were 18 km from here and the tank alarm is expected any minute. At 11.20 hrs, they were 12 km away. Everyone around was expecting them to come in at any time this afternoon, but they never did. At 17.50hrs, the guns opened up once more, but nearer. .

20/4/45: Hitler鈥檚 birthday, last year there were plenty of flags out, but this year, we haven鈥檛 seen any. There are fighters all over all day. At 17.30, they came in great force. On the road was a fire fighting transport and the fighters came down for them, and until 18.30 hrs, we kept under cover. At 17.20, we were looking up when a bomb left one plane. Did we run? It dropped 200 yards from us. Then they started machine gunning. The big gas tank had 37 holes in and was burning very well. They machine-gunned all of the town, one small workshop in town was burned down, and another badly hit. We heard that our troops are all around us and are 14 km from here. .

22/4/45: Rain and snow all day, fighters came over at 08.30 hrs for about half an hour. No news from anywhere, only rumours that Berlin is finished

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