大象传媒

I have spent several years researching my family tree, and a lot of that time has been trying to get a bit more substance to the lives of the people I have discovered are my ancestors. My grandparents' contribution to the war has always been well known and talked about in our family and I have lots of letters and documents about this time that really bring their lives then to life. Typically, it is only since their deaths a few years ago that i have really been interested and am now no longer able to ask them about it.
I am interested in reading or hearing from other people who shared their experiences: in brief, my grandmother Pat Strange, was a land girl, trained at Sutton Bonington, then had a brief spell in Bourne, Lincs before spending the majority of the war working at Home farm, Wheathampstead.
My grandfather Phillip Clifton, joined up as soon as he was able to the Queen's Own royal West Kents. He was in France May 1940 and was captured at St Valery. He was transported first to Stalag XXI in Poland before then being transferred to Stalag XXB near marienberg Poland where he remained until December 1944. The Germans then marched the entire camp west to avoid the approching Red Army, through treacherous winter conditions that nearly killed many of the men. (This is documented in The Last Escape by Rennell and Nicholl - an excellent book) Phil was freed by the Americans at Braunschweig in April 1945, did a brief spot of translating to help the injured men before going home, getting married, and becoming an insurance clerk.