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Over recent years there has been a lot of news coverage about the Second World War and how people's experiences during this time had shaped their lives and this led me to want to understand how my father’s wartime experiences had affected him and subsequently the impact this had had upon my family.

My father, James Kenna, who had died in 1991, spoke very little about his wartime experiences when he was alive. I had known that he had been a prisoner of war and had been through some bad experiences but that was all

I therefore embarked upon a quest to research as much information as I could about his life at that time. It has been difficult but I have now managed to glean the following information about his wartime experiences by researching the little bit of information that I did know and by contacting various agencies including the Army Personnel Centre, the International Red Cross, the National Ex Prisoner of War Association and reading various books and personal histories of ex prisoners of war.

I started my research by obtaining information on his army service history. I discovered that my father enlisted as a trooper into the Cavalry of the Line on a regular engagement and was posted to the 3rd Kings Own Hussars in 1933. He had been born in a small village in Ireland called Leighlinbridge and had followed his father, who had been both in the Boer War and the First World War, into the armed forces. This was a path followed by many young men of his generation from farming communities where work prospects were limited.

He was posted to the 8th Kings's Royal Irish Hussars in Egypt on 6th January 1937. When the Mobile Division was formed in 1938 the 8th Hussars was one of the original units that formed what was then called 'The Light Armoured Brigade'. They then became one of the founders of the 7th Armoured Division - ‘The Desert Rats’ in December 1939. and took part in the British offensive in late 1940 which re-captured Sidi Barrani and Bardia from the Italians and then in February 1941, the decisive battle of Beda Fomm, which lead to the capture of most of the Italian forces in North Africa at the time.

In March 1941 the 8th Hussars saw brief service in Greece before returning to North Africa as part of the Ist Armoured Division. July 1941 found the 8th Hussars back as part of the 4th Armoured Brigade with which they then fought during Operation Crusader, suffering heavy casualties when attacked in the rear by the 15th Panzer Division, which left them with just eight Honey Tanks fit for battle, with 35 having been captured in this engagement.

After a re-fit the 8th Hussars were once again part of the 4th Armoured Brigade with which it served during the Gazala battles of May and June 1942, suffering heavy losses at Bir Hacheim, where once again they were almost annihilated showing amazing bravery before withdrawing with the rest of the 8th Army to El Alamein.

It was during one of the Gazala battles that my father was taken as a prisoner of war — I have been given 2 separate dates of his capture from the International Red Cross, one is 27 May 1942 and the other is 6th June 1942 so it is possible he escaped and was recaptured as this happened to other soldiers at this time. They advised that he was captured in the Knightsbridge area which was one of a number of defensive boxes on the Gazala line. Each box was manned by a full brigade and was surrounded by barbed wire and minefields with the desert between them being controlled by roving armoured units.

I have gleaned the following information about his experiences as a prisoner of war from fellow prisoners of war who were in the same camps as him so I assume they shared the same experiences.

The prisoners were formed into long columns. Some had watches, rings and items of value taken from them. The prisoners were initially in the hands of the Germans but were handed over to the Italians.

The men were moved eventually to a large barbed wire enclosure on the outskirts of Benghazi. By this time the death toll was rising as dysentery, exposure, malnutrition and diphtheria took an increasing toll. They had to sleep in the open and were given very little food or water. At first there was no shelter at all for the men. During the day they were burnt by the hot sun and exposed to the cold during the night.

The men were eventually issued with groundsheets which some tried to make into rough shelters. Their latrines were open shallow trenches dug in the sand, which frequently became full and overflowed. When one became full a fresh one was dug using up precious space and causing more overcrowding. Seventy five percent of the prisoners had dysentery. Washing was impossible because the small ration of water given to the men was not enough to even quench their thirst. Some of the men, my father included were in this camp for about 3 months and were half starved and had very little or no resistance to infection.

It was eventually decided to move the prisoners to Italy and they were transported in the holds of cargo ships. The men were cramped into the dark holds of these ships with very little space per man. Men were allowed to go 6 at a time onto the deck to go to the toilet so you can imagine the conditions considering so many men had dysentery. In addition these boats were often attacked by the RAF who were unaware that they were carrying prisoners of war and so many men died during these voyages.

The men were disembarked and had to march through Italy making several stops along the way until they reached their final destinations.

During this march dysentery took the biggest toll for with no medical attention men were dying every day. After a few weeks it was malnutrition that was the biggest killer. The men became walking skeletons — in fact they often found it very difficult to walk due to their emaciated state.

The men were growing weaker every day and many were on the verge of giving up hope. The thing that raised their spirits and also helped to save their live was receiving Red Cross parcels although these were supposed to be issued at the rate of one parcel per week per man the first issue was one parcel amongst six men.

They eventually reached Campo PG70 at Monturano near Fermo in Italy, which was a disused factory with large concrete warehouses standing in a large field surrounded by high barbed wire fencing. The men were billeted in the warehouses which had 3 tier bunks with straw filled palliases. The men had all their hair shaved off. It was many weeks before the men saw any more food parcels and when they did arrive it was usually at about 6 week intervals and was one parcel between 4 men.

The discomfort of the men was added to by fleas, mice and lice which infested every inch of their clothing and laid eggs along every seam so as soon as they got rid of one lot the next day as many again had hatched out.

My father was originally posted as ‘missing presumed dead' and it was some time before his family received a postcard to say that he was alive.

The prisoners got news of how the war was progressing on a homemade radio which the Italians never managed to find. In September Italy surrendered and the men were virtually free. However, a message was received from our High Command saying it would cause confusion if the men tried to move south to join them, and the men were ordered to remain in the camp and wait for our forces to arrive.

For several weeks the men fended for themselves until one morning they discovered that German parachutists had dropped around the camp and a machine gunner was in every sentry box and the men were once again prisoners.

A couple of days later the men were informed they were to be taken to Germany. They were marched to some railway sidings where there was a long train of cattle trucks and the men were crowded into them with 40 men to a truck. There was not enough room to lie down so they had to either stand or squat on the floor leaning back to back. There were 2 buckets in each truck, one for drinking water and the other to be used as a lavatory. It was a long and tedious journey, which lasted 7 days 6 nights. It was extremely hot in the trucks and many men died of heatstroke and dehydration.

They finally arrived at their destination, a massive complex containing hundreds of wooden huts. A barbed wire fence surrounded them with sentry boxes about every 25 yards. This was Stalag IVB and was situated at Muhlberg-on-Elbe. Each hut held 200 men.

The next morning the men were given a shower, had their heads shaved and were photographed. The British Section of the camp was for NCO’s only and all other men were sent to working camps.

My father was one of the men who were moved and after this time so I do not really know what happened to him although I do know he spent some time in Stalag IVD from October 1943 and Stalag IVA from January 1944 (this information came from the International Red Cross) but his main Camp was still shown as Stalag IVB. One thing I do know is that following the bombing of Dresden by the RAF he was involved in digging out/rescue of victims. This must have been a horrendous task as it is estimated in some circles that about 200,000 people died here as the city had been crammed full of refugees. There had been a firestorm and most of the victims had been cremated where they stood.

Stalag IVB, along with its various surrounding working camps, was eventually liberated by the Russians in early April 1945 and the prisoners of war were eventually handed over to the Americans and were flown to Brussels where the British Army took over and the men were then flown back to England.

My father arrived back in England on 17 May 1945 and was eventually reunited with his family. The effects of his experiences were very evident in his skeletal appearance and the fact that my aunt told me he would not go out for about 6 months. He slowly went back into the world and very shortly after the war met and married my mother and my sister and I were born a couple of years later. However his experiences had taken a great toll on him and were to affect him for the rest of his life.

This research has given me great respect for him as a man as I had no idea what he had been through. I just wish I had known about this when he was alive but I have discovered that most of the ex prisoners of war only started to talk about their experiences much later in life and in some cases up to 50 years or so later when the men were in their 70's and 80's and in other cases never.

I have tried to find any ex prisoners of war who may have known him but have been unsuccessful so far. However I would love to hear from anyone who may have known him at that time either someone who may have served with him in Egypt in the 3rd or 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars or as a fellow prisoner in any of the camps he was in.

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