大象传媒

My husband Jack was a POW during the war (See story One of the first POW's). Towards the end of his time in capture, he was working on a farm in Poland, an old lady lived there. My husband Jack had to plant potatoes which were the main food supply on the camp they were in, (the men were given a diet of potato peelings every day)when he planted them, he used to stamp on the seeds hoping that the potatoes would not grow. One day he went to the toilet and found the old lady from the farm had hung herself from the toilet cistern, she had heard that the Russian soldiers were nearby and as they had a reputation for raping and pillaging, she chose her own fate. Back at the POW camp the Germans had fled and we did not know what to do for the best, we just wandered around until the Russians finally reached us. When the Russians came we fell into their line up and were put to work. Jack remembered the Russian soldiers firing at a radio because they did not know what it was, they had been peasant farmers before the war, one of them also nearly shot Jack for his fancy buckle on his belt.

Jack was put to work cutting firewood, it was during this time that he badly injured his foot, cutting it. He ended up in a Russian hospital and had a pass of discharge.

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