大象传媒

Arbeitz-Kommando No 4032 鈥� The Brick and Tile Factory

Arbeitz-Kommando means literally works command. All prisoners except officers and senior N.C.Os could be compelled to work provided they were fit. As a result each Stalag had a large number of satellite work camps. One was sent first to a stalag and then directed to a work camp as required. Generally speaking and subject to the character of the German camp commandant life was pleasant at work camps. One had something to occupy ones mind, the work kept one fit, there was often greater freedom, and opportunities of bargaining with the German civilians for extra food and other things. I met a prisoner towards the end of the war and he told me what went on in his camp in Poland. For the consideration of a regular supply of cigarettes (German soldiers only received six a week, the civilians none) a door was 鈥榓ccidentally鈥� left unlocked and the British P.O.W.s went into town drinking with the locals and flirting with the girls. As the Poles hated the Germans there was little danger of being betrayed.

May 31st: About 100 of us were moved to a brick and tile factory about 20 miles south east of Sagan, close to the village of Gross Pogul and Klein Pogul, the nearest town being Dyhernfurth. Sadly my mate Sam did not go with us owing to 鈥榓 bad toe鈥�. Travelling conditions were the best we had experienced so far. The country was flat and rolling, mainly arable, with abundant woodland. Our new quarters were part of the factory building, fenced with barbed wire. The premises were in the depths of the country and on the south bank of the River Oder. We were astonished to find that our two rooms were furnished with sprung beds and pillows!

When we first arrived the German Sergeant-Major (Oberfeldwebel), our camp Commandant, paraded us and among the things he said he told us he had been a P.O.W. in England in the first World War. He had been well-treated in England and would do his best to look after us, and he was good as his word; this account refers to several instances of his kindness to me personally. In the evening we had the best 鈥榮killy鈥� we had had as P.O.Ws, prepared in the factory canteen by the factory staff.

The German guards consisted of the Sergeant-major, a corporal (Oefreiter) and six men, four of whom would be on guard duty at any one time. During the day the four on duty would stand at the four corners of the factory. It was not unknown, however, for one to sneak into the trees for a sleep!

In the factory there were working: German women and older men, several Poles, about a dozen Ukranian girls (conscripted by the Germans) and we P.O.Ws. Our relations with the German workers were very good, so much so that we could pull each others legs as to who was going to win the war without giving offence. It must be remembered of course that they were very conscious of the advancing Russians, and had a secret hope the allies would save them. Indeed one German expressed this hope openly, to me personally.

Sketch map of the factory site

This map was prepared on the spot in connection with a study of the breeding population of house sparrows I was making. Our living quarters were on the north side of the factory and the dots indicate the wire. The width of the River Oder was about 100 yards as far as I remember.

June 1st: We started work. I was allocated a job feeding the kilns with coal dust. As the furnace had to burn continually night and day, my job entailed shift work and that first week I was on from 1.30pm to 10 pm. Hugh mounds of coal dust were heaped just outside the factory. Those of us on coal dust duty (we worked in pairs) had to fill a skip or back- pack with dust and hump it up steps to a walk-way around the top of the kilns but within the factory building. In 1993 in a local paper I discovered a picture of one of these skips, identical to those used by us, being used to gather grapes.

At the top of the kilns we filled large boxes on the floor with the dust. Over the tops of the kilns were what resembled cylindrical 鈥榯ortoise鈥� stoves and these we had to keep filled. A mechanical apparatus at the bottom of each 鈥榮tove鈥� allowed coal dust to trickle onto the fires. The German supervisor had a thermocouple and was constantly monitoring the temperature in the kilns to keep it at a constant level. If necessary he would speed up or slow down the rate of trickle. It was hard work but we were not working continuously; there was time to rest (or even break for birds!).

We were given by the Germans two 鈥榮tews鈥� (a regular ingredient was Swedes) during the day and in addition coffee, bread, margarine and jam.

June 2nd: Discovered a nest of Black redstarts with young in our compound.

June 3rd: I was one of a party sent under escort for rations from one of the villages. We remarked how frequently people greeted each other with 鈥楬eil Hitler鈥�. My supervisor told me I would be speaking German in six months.

June 5th: A day off. I did some 鈥榮pud-bashing鈥� and my washing, and this became a regular pattern each week.

June 7th: Made myself an oat-cake.

June 8th: Much rejoicing as news came through of the second front in Normandy.

June 13th: I was transferred to the 5am to 1.30pm shift. In my spare time I got a hair cut. This week I noted swarms of cockchafers flying around; the local sparrows played havoc with them.

June 18th: Sample meals:
Dinner: meat dumplings, sauerkraut (we had a lot of this at the factory), potatoes, lettuce, rich gravy.
Tea: Salmon, lettuce and potatoes.
I do not know whether the lettuce came from the factory kitchen or whether I obtained it from one of the German workers.
About this time I read Hitler鈥檚 鈥楳ein Kampf鈥�, no doubt thoughtfully provided for the camp library by the Germans. Observed a pair of Common sandpipers by the river.

June 19th: We received pamphlets from the British Free Corps which were treated with the contempt they deserved. The Germans were attempting to form a unit to fight the Russians, I read somewhere that they were successful in recruiting 58 out of the thousands of prisoners in their lands.

June 25th: Some mouth organs, canteen kit, testaments and hymn books arrived. We therefore started holding Sunday services in the evenings led by a Methodist Lay preacher with my assistance; some 25 鈥� 30 attended these services out of the 100. Later I resigned from active participation because the men insisted on singing the hymn 鈥楪lorious things of thee are spoken鈥� every Sunday. The tune was the German national anthem and they wanted to bait the Germans. Whether the Germans ever heard I do not know but I considered baiting the Germans not a legitimate activity in a service of worship. I continued to attend the services though.

June 27th: We had some rhubarb given to me by the Germans I worked with.

June 28th: An issue of New Zealand parcels containing: Mutton, tongue, quince jam, honey, chocolate, tea, coffee, milk , sugar, currants, peas and cheese.
July 1st: The camp received a piano-accordian through the Red Cross.

July 3rd: I formed part of a squad detailed to load tiles onto a barge destined for Posen. This was a regular chore for us P.O.Ws, but as far as I can remember I did it only once. One day a message came through to us from the British Secret service warning us not to be tempted to stow away on one of these barges. The Germans had discovered this escape route and were now gassing the holds of ships at the Baltic ports. I have read several accounts in recent years of prisoners who had successfully used this escape route to reach nuteral Sweden.

On one occasion there was a remarkable incident. I did not see it happen myself, but I was told about it shortly afterwards so do not doubt the truth of it. A gang of my colleagues were wheeling barrow loads of tiles on to a barge and stacking them in the holds of the barge. The manager of the factory came along and complained my colleagues were not working hard enough (a matter of principle with us!). He ordered the sentry who stood by the gang plank to make them work harder. The sentry replied that that it was not his job to make them work hard; the only orders he had been given were to see the prisoners did not escape. A furious argument arose and my colleagues had to separate them. It was even alleged that the sentry drew his bayonet. If true it should have been a court-martial offence, but nothing happened to the sentry as far as we know and he remained with us.

July 5th: We were paid 23 Reichmarks for our labours, but how much this represented we had no idea. It was an obligation under the Geneva Convention that P.O.Ws be paid for work done but as the Germans were entitled to charge for board and lodging it was doubtful if we got a fair deal!

A stock of library books arrived and I was appointed Camp Librarian. At some stage too I became the camp newsman because I was learning to read German fairly fluently. Anyone getting hold of a newspaper in the factory brought it to me and I published a summary of the news on the notice board. The papers were of course full of propaganda but it was not hard to read between the lines.

July 7th: I found a toad in the heap of coal dust outside the factory. My German supervisor commented that Jews ate them!

July 9th: While I was working outside of the factory a lady walking along the river bank stopped for a chat. She expressed surprise that an Englishman should be put to work. Manual labour should only be reserved for Poles, French etc. She then told me not to work so hard! Her uncle had an English wife.

July 11th: We had an issue of overalls, from the management I should imagine, for use at work; very useful for a job like moving coal dust! Later we had an issue of wooden clogs for working in 鈥� not very comfortable. Whether we were given them to save our footwear or whether to hinder an escape attempt is a moot point. A card I sent to Sam at Sagan was returned; I wonder why.

July 12th: Some excitement today. A paratroop sergeant captured in Normandy and recently arrived at our camp made an escape attempt, but we were informed he was soon rounded up, and presumably returned to the Stalag. The usual punishment for such behaviour was a spell in the 鈥榗ooler鈥� (solitary confinement). As sergeants were not obliged to go out to work camps, presumably he volunteered in order to try to escape.

July 14th: Cpl Harry Dixon our camp leader (Vertraulnsman in German) received a backlog of 35 letters today! One of the women in the factory fell passionately in love with Harry, who did not reciprocate these feelings at all, I am glad to say. He received a stream of love letters from her and as he could not read German he used to pass them to me to translate for him. They were very 鈥榡uicy鈥�. Her husband was on the Eastern Front and she did not expect to see him alive again. She knew it was a capitol offence for a P.O.W. to have an affair with a German woman, but she was quite prepared to die with him!

Sunday July 16th: There were about 25 at the service this morning, and the camp held a whist-drive in the evening.

July 17th: Today it was my turn to go on night shift (from 10pm to 5am). On night shift there would only be two people in the factory; the labourer (e.g. myself) and a German supervisor. Incidentally the civilian supervisors wore a special arm-band to indicate their authority to supervise P.O.Ws. If I had been minded to escape I could have got away with perfect ease while on night shift!

On night shift the supervisors would unwind and say things they would not dare to say if there was the possibility of being overheard. Some of the things they said about Hitler were far from complimentary! I have read about Germans being sent to Concentration Camps for saying the kind of things they said to me. On the other hand the things they said about Jews and Gipsies showed how they had been completely 鈥榖rainwashed鈥� by Hitler鈥檚 racial doctrines. I wrote to mum that it was surprising how quickly the night passed. I used to take my breakfast with me, cooking it on the job and eating it about 3am. On coming off in the morning I had a good shower and then to bed until lunch-time. As all the others were at work I was little disturbed.

On one of my night shifts I got myself into a very dangerous situation. I had previously noted House Sparrows entering small holes in the side of the roof of the factory and it seemed certain that they were going to roost there. I decided to investigate. I got hold of a torch (I cannot now remember how but presumably I borrowed it from a German supervisor), climbed up to the edge of the roof and discovered the fact previously unknown to me that sparrows had built small nests in these holes for roosting; the holes were too small for breeding purposes. I have read since in the literature that sparrows build these roost nests in colder parts of their range. While I was upon the roof the manager of the factory (an ardent Nazi incidentally) took it into his head to make an inspection and caught me red-handed. I explained to him what I was doing and such was my reputation in the factory for bird-watching he accepted my story. I could easily have been arrested either for trying to escape or even for attempting to sabotage the factory.

Today I obtained two eggs, presumably from one of the Germans in the factory.

July 18th: Heard a corncrake calling at dawn. White Storks regularly fly over.

July 21st: News came through of the attempted assassination of Hitler. I cannot now remember the reaction of the German workers in the factory.

July 26th: Once a month our camp leader was allowed to return to Sagan under escort to confer on matters of welfare. Today he returned with a complete 鈥榖ombshell鈥�. He told me he had met my brother Laurie. I had had no news of him for many months, but I knew he was a paratrooper and would probably have taken part on D.Day. I at once put in an application to be allowed to visit him, but with no response on the part of the German authorities (but see the entry for December 12th). I wrote to Mum 鈥渟trange things happen in this world but the last thing I dreamed of was that Laurie should come to Stalag VIII c.鈥�

After a subsequent visit, when Cpl Greenhill was camp leader, the latter said to me he wanted to speak to me privately. He cautioned me that on no account must I know the source of his message. He told me that the British Secret Service were interested in a new factory that had sprung up in a forest not far from us. (we had seen it on our journey to the camp.) It was suspected it might be in use to construct the new 鈥榁鈥� weapons; the doodle-bugs and rockets. As I was fairly fluent in German and as I got on well with the German workers he thought I was the person to make enquiries. Of course, I could not ask them outright. The line I took was this; there were no such things as 鈥榁鈥� weapons. It was pure propaganda on the part of their government to boost their morale. I was hoping someone would say 鈥渂ut I know someone who is working there鈥�. In the event I got no information, either because they were well-disciplined against careless talk, or because they just did not know. At least it was a good try.

July 28th: The camp leadership were continually encouraging people with a particular knowledge or skill to share it with others. Today I began shorthand class with half a dozen pupils, but eventually it petered out through lack of interest. I asked mum to provide a dunces cap.

July 29th: My German Supervisor gave me a cucumber.

July 30th: One of my colleagues, Albert Sutcliffe, was interested in Lepidoptera. Today he caught a Swallow-tail Butterfly, and on August 3rd a Camberwell Beauty.

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