Memoir of Eric Francis Maher, 1945 - Part 2

9.

By this time, I was able to hobble about with the aid of crutches

 and walking stick and felt infinitely less miserable than

when I had to spend all my time in bed.

I was transferred from Wasungen at the beginning of October,

1942 to Stalag IX AH (Kloster Haina). This hospital was

staffed also by British doctors and medical orderlies and was made

up of ten large, three-storied buildings. It had been a German

insane asylum and one block of the hospital still housed a number

of violent mental cases. The P.O.W. section, which constituted 

three of the blocks, was wired off and patrolled by a prison guard

In all, I spent 12 months, short by two days, in this place.

Most of the time it was pleasant enough but on one or two occasions,

the prisoners were treated very poorly by the Germans who 

seemed to delight in imposing all kinds of humiliating and seemingly

unnecessary restrictions. Further, the supplies of Red

Cross food parcels were, on one or two occasions, interrupted due

to military operations and during these periods - though short -

living became mere existence. We were all glad during these

times to eat whatever scraps of food were available and were not

too proud to count such things as potato peelings, bread crusts

and other sundry items as part of our normal food rations. In

"Good Times" however, food was plentiful enough to satisfy everyone

and the general organisation of the hospital from a British

point of view was extremely good. The organisation was entirely

in the hands of the prisoners of war and apart from the weekly

inspection, counting parades - twice and sometimes three times

daily - etc., the Germans left us pretty much to ourselves. On
one occasion however, the hospital was subjected to a Gestapo
search and about 30 or 40 Germans, all of the rank of Sergeant

and above, went over the hospital with a fine-tooth comb. Apart

from one important document, however, nothing of importance was 

lost to them.

After one or two other minor operations, I was able to discard

all aids to walking and consequently was able to take part in 

such activities as went on. At different times I acted as a sort

of secretary to the British doctors and helped them to prepare case

histories of all patients. I re^ad books to the blind boys nightly

and took part in and conducted camp concerts; and was generally

able to fill in the monotonous, weary hours.

In all, there were about thirty to forty blinded P.O.W's

there and they were under the control and guidance of the Marquis

of Normandy, who was repatriated in 1943 with them when they went

home to England. A school was set up at the hospital to teach

these fellows such subjects as Braille, typewriting, maths, history,

economics, boot repairing etc, etc. They obtained musical

instruments through the Red Cross and Y.M.C.A. and organised a

blind boys' accordion band, which gave occasional concert performances;
and besides they were almost entirely dependent upon themselves

for amusement.

For a period of about six months from May, 1942 onwards, I

read to them the books of their choice - for two hours every week

night and for four hours every Sunday, and thereby formed a close

association with them all. They were the finest bunch of fellows

that I have met for cheerfulness and high spirits in adversity and

I shall cherish the memory of my link with them for the rest of my
life.

In addition to the blind fellows, about half of the 400

patients were one-legged army and air force chaps who hobbled

around on roughly made peg legs. Several fellows had both legs

amputated and the remainder were suffering from all varieties of

frightful and painful wounds received in battle. Yet, despite

these horrible, handicapping ailments, the spirits of the mass of

the fellows never at any time became low, and it was amazing to

see the way in which they put up with their disabilities in such a

cheerful manner in the face of difficulties, defeat, humiliation

and enforced restrictions.

10.

My contact with these great fellows has taught me lessons

in tolerance, determination, courage and patience, which will always

provide inspiration in times of hardship.

During the final six months of my stay at this hospital, I

acted as compere at all camp concerts. The band - conducted by

Cpl Berney Harris - and a small company of amateur, but talented,

artists, performed every Saturday on a makeshift stage, to the

delight and amusement of all concerned. In addition to performing

as master of ceremonies, announcer and organiser, I also wrote

scripts for acts and performed innumerable impersonations of such

people as Winston Churchill, F.D.R., Hitler (when there were no

Germans present). Groucho Marx, Ned Sparks, Edward G. Robinson and

so on; told countless jokes, some of which were just a trifle

blue; and acted in very amateurish ways in several plays. All

these activities helped to keep my mind occupied when I wasn't

reading such books as I could lay my hands upon on an infinite

variety of subjects from the classics, economics, carpentry etc.

to modern novels, humorous essays and lewd trash.

I found that it was absolutely necessary to be interested in

something or other at all times in order to preserve one's sanity,

and so I turned my hand and brain to every possible occupation.

My study of German began to bear fruit about this time and I was

able to converse freely with German guards whenever the occasion

arose.

I left Kloster Haina (and hospitals) on the third of October,

1943 with about twenty other R.A.F. chaps en route for Stalag

Luft VI in East Prussia. About a week or two later the first exchange

of prisoners of war took place and about 90% of the

people at Stalag IX AH were due for repatriation, the hospital

there was closed down.

I was extremely pleased to leave the confined atmosphere

of P.O.W. hospitals for I was now beginning to feel well and in

need of something approaching a more vigorous existence. My

wounds had now all healed and had remained healed for a sufficiently

long period to suggest that I would have little or no further

trouble with them. This however was not to be. The P.O.W. hospitals

afforded little opportunity for one in comparatively good

health to take necessary exercise and seemed to bear a desolate,

soul-destroying and cramped atmosphere. One had continually to

be in search of some past-time or other to relieve the monotony of

enforced confinement in restricted quarters. The only space for

exercise was provided by a stretch of ground about 100 yards long

and 4 yards wide, where those who were able took their daily constitutional.

Acting therefore on the axiom that "a change is as good as

a holiday" and in view of the fact that I was becoming a little

fed up with living in the same company with fellows who had exhausted

in twelve months all possible subjects for discussion and

all items of daily small talk, and because variety of company now
seemed to me to be a matter of first importance, since the continual

living with these brave and courageous, but largely horribly

maimed fellows was beginning to affect my outlook and make me morbid

and disheartened, I volunteered myself for transfer to an air

force stalag - and action which, in the light of living conditions

in such places, was considered to be rather foolish. After spending

a short while there however, I learned sufficient about the

ways of men in times of trouble and about other matters of interest

that I also learned not to regret my hasty action.

The small party of R.A.F. chaps and myself travelled by a

something below third class steam train to Heydrekrug and arrived

there on October 7th, 1943. Our route had been via Berlin and

Thorun, Insterburg and Konigsberg. On this journey we were fortunate,

despite the poor travel conditions, as generally on occasions

such as this, P.O.W's were made to travel in French cattle

trucks.

There were two other Australians with me, namely Alan Egan

 

11.
of Albury, N.S.W. and Jim Morrison, a member of my squadron

who had been one of the groundstaff personnel on our machine in

the early days and who had later become a flight engineer on

Lancasters, only to share the same fate as myself.

Before leaving the hospital and, in fact, for some considerable

period previously, these two fellows had been collecting

odds and ends in the way of concentrated foods, maps etc. in

order to attempt an escape from the train during the journey. I

too and made some preparations and being friendly with these two
chaps, decided that if they were going, I might as well try my

luck too. I had made no mention of this to them and intended to

follow only until we were clear of the train and then proceed on

my own lest I should become a burden on them. This action on my

part, due to the state of my legs, might well have proved disastrous

had the attempt been successful.

Although we had only three guards for 20 men, we were

herded into a compartment on the train so small that no opportunity

presented itself until the third night of travel when we

were just out of Konigsberg. The original intention had been to

endeavour to break away in the area of the Polish corridor and

make for the Baltic port of either Danzig or Stettin in the hope

of being able to hide away on a ship for Sweden.

How little we knew about the art of escaping and of the

necessary preparation for the escape, was not to be learned until

later!

After leaving Konigsberg we settled down for the night and

feigned sleep, after manoeuvring for a position close to the end

of the corridor near the rear door. The only guard likely to detect

our movements appeared to be drawsing and valuing our chances

pretty highly, we conveyed the good luck sign to each other by the

simple expedient of a cunning wink of the eye. After some time

had passed and we were thinking that the guard must now surely be

sound asleep, the signal was passed for the first man to make a

move. The stage was now set. He moved towards the door but as

he did so the guard jumped to his feet, grabbed his rifle and with

a roar which could have been heard miles away, shouted "Achtung!

Was ist los heir?" (Attention, what goes on?).

The show was over! Fortunately, the intending escapee

was able to cover his action by intimating in no uncertain manner

that all he wanted was the opportunity to answer the call from

mother nature, and whilst this was accepted gracefully enough by

our armed master, we were regarded with every suspicion until the

end of the journey and consequently no further opportunity for escape
came our way.

So ended in despair the cheerfully cherished hope of "being

home before the rest."
After arrival at the actual camp - which was situated about
35 miles south east of Memel on the Baltic coast, and about 5 mile

inside East Prussia from the Latvian border, in some of the most

desolate country of Europe - we were once more subjected to the
routine - monotonous and humiliating - of personal searches, kit
searches, fingerprinting, photographing and (as it happened, unnecessarily)

de-lousing procedure.
At the conclusion of this routine, we had arrived at the
third, and inner, barrier of barbed wire. On the other side, the

already securely caged captives were crowding to the fence in the

hope of recognising some long-lost friends or equally unfortunate
acquaintance and to my startled eyes, they presented a very sorry

sight indeed. Many were clothed merely in torn and tattered rags
Many bore the look of emaciation which follows long periods of

hard living under vile conditions and on poor food.  Many eyes
revealed the tiredness and despair of once hopeful and dashing
youths.
 

12.

But underneath all this surface of care, worry and enforced

porerty and ageing appearance there burned, I was to learn

a spirit; and existed a pride and creed that can never know total

defeat; no matter what the conditions; no matter how long the

siege.

My thoughts were diverted from this analysis by a

lusty voice from the back of the crowd shouting my now fully confirmed

nickname, "Bluey." It was some moments before I was

able to pick out my old friend and former roommate on the squadron

Johnnie Holborow, who had been shot down over Paris a few nights

before myself. Standing at the extreme rear, on an old box, the

whole six feet odd of him rising to the occasion admirably, he

shouted in his stentorian voice, "Good Old Bluey! Where you have

been? Are you coming into the compound? I'll have a cup of

brew ready for you!" etc etc.

Now I didn't feel so badly. Now I knew I should be 

among friends and however hard it was going to be to endure, I

should at least be in the company of the best fellows who

really knew what hard times were - with chaps who never knew what

it was to "say die".

After a further checking, counting and identifying, we

were finally allowed to enter the inner sanctum of Stalag-Luft VI.

It had been extremely difficult to get in; it was going to be infinitely

more difficult to get out. We were immediately and handsomely

provided for in the way of hot food and a hot drink which

had been donated for our needs by the community of our new friends

The food was simple but plentiful and the drinks sufficiently hot

and wet to satisfy our every requirement.

The camp leader (more about him later) gave us a short

talk on the organisation of the camp, informed us of the location

of our quarters and gave us a set of eating implements, knife, for

spoon, china bowl and mug, which had been provided by the German

authorities and which was to be the first and only issue of such

articles so long as we remained their guests. I, fortunately, was

given a bed in a barrack whose inhabitants were largely Australians,

who were, in the main, old P.O.W's, so I was able to find

plenty of kindly assistance in the early stages of the tiring

business of "settling in" and becoming acquainted with the fellows

who were to be my close colleagues for the coming months.

I met many of the old squadron members who were shot down

about the same time as myself and were fortunate enough to escape

with their lives and limbs intact. There was Cal Younger and

Godfrey Loder, shot down over Paris on the same night as Johnnie

Holborow, Bill Lake, S/Ldr Gilberts, gunner and only member of

that crew to get out alive, my own skipper and front gunner, the

only remaining member of Bill Kennedy's crew, the rear gunner, and

countless other fellows besides, whom I had met at O.T.U's and on

various squadrons. I was indeed with friends. We talked and

talked and talked. About old times; about those who were no

more; about nights out and girl friends; about nights at the

local. . . . . "Do you remember, Bluey. . . . .?" About aircraft; about

every possible topic of interest. On and on and on. . . . . .

By the time two weeks had elapsed, I was beginning to think

that I would thoroughly enjoy myself at this camp, when the news

came that we were to move. A new compound was being opened and

the new arrivals were to be transferred to it. When this took

place, our only communication with old friends was through a

double row of barbed wire and at a distance of some 12 yards. We

settled down satisfactorily despite the filthy conditions, mud and

slush in face of fiddling restrictions imposed by the German

'top dogs'. I was fortunately able at a later date, because of

my participation to small extent in the affairs of camp organisation,

to visit the old compound and confer at further length

on topics of interest with my old friends.

It is best that at this stage of my story I give a simple

description of the lay-out, organisation and routine existing in

this particular prison camp.
 

13.

The whole camp was situated on sandy soil (to prevent, if

possible, tunneling) within an area measuring approximately 440

yards square. At the front of the camp, an enclosed area housed

the German quarters, officers, hospital huts and Red Cross food

store, in addition to other small buildings and was technically

known as the " Vorlager" (front camp). The whole area described

was enclosed by a double 12 foot high barbed wire barrier with 

entanglements above and between the two fences which were some

two to three yards apart. At the four corners and at intervening 

distances around the fence and set back a short distance
were situated watch towers (15' or more high) in which guards,

armed with machine guns and rifles and provided with a rotating

searchlight for use at night, kept watch. Running around the

entire camp on the inside of the fence and set back about 10

yards from it was a single strand 'Warning wire' to move beyond

which was the signal for the guards to open fire with intent and

orders 'to kill'. The full camp was divided into four approximately
equal sections called 'Lagers' or compounds. One of

these compound was entirely vacant, the other three, viz.,

'A' Lager, 'K' Lager and 'E' Lager housed respectively and approximately

2,500, 1,250 and 2,500 prisoners of various nationalities. 

The Americans occupied Lager 'E' and were kept separate

from, and allowed no contact with the British, by order of

the German High Command for reasons best known to themselves.

Each compound had its own kitchen hut, camp office, sanitary

outhouses and recreation area. Lager 'A' had three rows of

brick barracks divided into individual barracks which measured approximately
30 x 15 feet and housed 60 prisoners each with 30

double-tiered wooden beds and several rough wooden tables and 60

stools. Running at right angles to these were two rows of wooden

barracks with the same capacity and there were also two large

tents equipped with close fitting double-tiered beds. Lager 'E'

was almost exactly similar, whilst Lager 'K', the one in which I

spent all my time, was a good deal smaller and more comfortable,

since it had only two rows of brick barracks and about six wooden

huts. The recreation area in each compound was the size of a

small soccer football field.

Placed in the very centre of the camp and overlooking the

whole layout was a master watch tower. Very high, it was equipped

with a powerful rotating searchlight and mounted twin machine guns

whilst the guards on duty were also equipped with rifles which they

wore slung over the shoulder at all times, and with which they

were ever ready to prove the accuracy of their aim.

In addition to these defences against escape, armed guards

paraded on beats outside the fences. Inside the camp during the

hours between dusk and dawn a constant wandering patrol by unarmed

German soldiers, whom we called 'ferrets', was carried out. At

dusk, after a counting parade, we were allowed to walk within

specified areas inside the camp until lock-up time at approximately

9 p.m. From then until dawn, great hungry, savage-looking

Alsation and half-breed wolf-dogs were let loose inside each compound.

Although these dogs were very well trained and seemed to

be easily controlled by the German guards, there were several instances

of savage and unwarranted attacks on the prisoners.

Despite all these precautions, however, there were executed

many daring and clever escapes and every defence, however well

thought out, was counteracted by the resourcefulness, courage and

determination of those fellows who 'had a plan' and were tired of

being 'on the inside looking out'. More of this later.

During the daylight hours, the German patrols, made up

mostly of English-speaking N.C.O.'s, strolled around inside the

camp dressed in overalls. They wandered through the huts and

amongst the prisoners in the hope of overhearing anything of importance  

and otherwise generally made a damned nuisance of themselves.

They were equipped with a hammer and a long chisel and

frequently pulled up floor boards etc. to make sure that no tunnelling

was in progress. When they entered a hut, the whole of

the inhabitants would immediately begin to cat-call and shout

 

14.

"Ferrets, up" and rile and ridicule them until such time as they

took themselves off to further and less important tasks. When

they made they exit, the cry "Ferrets gone" would be taken up.

This sort of thing could not be stopped by the Germans and it

made their task highly objectionable.

Counting parades were held twice every day at 8 a.m. and

5 p.m. in the winter and three times a day in the summer and for

short periods after as escape had been made. Organised searches

were made of individual barracks at various periods as a deterrant

to the preparation of maps, escape material etc. and in order

to confiscate any articles of civilian clothing or such other odds

and ends as were specially forbidden to be in the possession of 

the prisoners.

Needless to say, their haul, despite the amount of contraband 

goods which somehow managed to find their way intothe camp,

was always slight.

During the summer months and at odd times otherwise, a

full scale Gestapo search would take place at the most unexpected

hour. Then everyone would be turned out of the barracks after

being searched at, for instance as happened on one occasion, 4 a.m.

The 'snoops' would then go to work until such a state of chaos

existed that weeks would pass before one recovered all of one's

private possessions. Personal belongings, clothing, kit-bags

etc. would, when searched thoroughly, be thrown in a heap in the

centre of the floor. Wall linings and sections would be removed

and examined. Beds would be dismantled and blankets thrown

aside and so on until, to the satisfaction of the head man, nothing

of importance had been missed.

Occasionally a map or some other such article would be

found to the great delight of the searchers, but as this had probably

been places in an obvious position for discovery to safeguard

another collection elsewhere, the total pool of confiscated articles

hardly rewarded the efforts expendedand within a few days,

general activity in the way of map making and escape preparation

would resume its normal course. What great fun these searches

used to provide! The stimulation of mind gained from pitting

one's wits against the Gestapo in these small things was worth a

month's holiday at the seaside. We were like little mice who had

stolen a small piece of fresh cheese and were hiding it in some

secluded corner where no-one else could hope to find it!

The very fact that our little efforts were causing the

Germans a very great nuisance was confirmed by the way in which

they would burst into angry invective whenever any of our little

ruses were uncovered. There is no race quite like the Germans

for displaying bad temper. They rant and rave, gesticulate,

stamp their feet and work up in colour from natural through a
fiery flush to a ghostly white. Just when one thinks they would

burst a blood vessel with anger and effort, the whole colour

scheme changes to white, a deadly white. to signify that either

the end of their endurance or the end of their vocabulary is near

at hand!

The following instances give illustration of the simple

ways in which P.O.W.'s were able to frustrate the earnest efforts

of the meticulous Boche.

On one occasion, the 'Abwehr' (defence) officers brought

into the compound a large tray of identification papers and finger

print records in order to check the personnel of a particular barracks

because one man was missing - had escaped - and his place

was being taken on counting checks by some other person. In order

to find out who 'had gone for a walk', it was necessary to
check thr idntity o each individual. These papers were placed

on a table in the barracks and were left unattended for the space

of a few short minutes. When the officers returned, the whole

collection of identification certificates were going up in smoke

in one of the barrack fires. They constituted, I suppose, about

 

15.

a month's work for the German orderly room staff and it would require 

a great deal longer and an infinite amount of labour to replace 

them. As no guilt could be placed upon any individual, a

number of men were selected at random to serve 14 days' in the

"Bunke" (gaol), but as this constituted little or no real hardship,

not one of the victims thought very much about it and the

joke was enjoyed in the camp for many a long day and was told

with pride to all new arrivals.

On another occasion, during a barrack search, a German

sergeant unbuckled his waist belt and revolver holster and placed

it upon a table whilst he went on with the good work of prying

into the private belongings of the prisoners. When he returned

to collect his belt and gun, it had mysteriously disappeared.

All kinds of horrible threats were made as to the disciplinary

action which would follow if the gun were not found so just when

things were beginning to look a bit difficult, it was recovered

by one of the prisoners from beneath a barrack about 50 yards away

These two incidents are recorded merely as examples, and

serve to show the activities which were pursued by the prisoners

almost every day to make the task of the guarding Germans more

difficult and unpleasant.

A very cunning and, for a long time, successful method was

employed to convey as quickly as possible to everyone inside of

the camp the fact that German guards were about so that any work

of a 'secret and confidential nature' could be temporarily put

aside. The method was this: Several fellows - all volunteers

with a knowledge of the German language - were marked off the stand

about at the entrance gate to contact any German guards who entered

and to follow them everywhere they went, conversing and hindering

them as much as possible. Another set of older prisoners who

knew all the guards by sight took turns at keeping a watch and recording

the entrance and exit of each one. These fellows were

known as 'duty pilots', When there were Germans in the compound,

a red cloth was flown from the corner of the particular barrack.

When they had gone the 'all clear' - a white cloth - was substituted

for the red. This system was used with good effect at Stalag

Luft III but broke down however as time wore on and the significance

of the apparently innocent piece of cloth was discovered

by the Germans.

A loud speaker system was installed by the German authorities

and over this they would broadcast their version of the daily 

news, followed on occasions by a propaganda programme.

Needless to say, their attempt to feed propaganda to the

prisoners was treated rather as a joke and their efforts to break

down the spirit and morale of the prisoners proved fruitless.

At all times, the camp was extremely well guarded. The

sentries had orders to shoot to kill any prisoners attempting to

escape and this was done on one or two occasions. Most of the

fronts - particularly the Russian fronts - and were almost all

suffering from frostbite in its various stages. They seemed to

bear a particular malice towards all air force prisoners because

of the continued heavy bombing and they were at all times suspicious

of our movements on account of our general knowledge of

maps, map reading, compasses and simple navigation which could be

put to good use in devising and carrying out attempts to escape.

The guards themselves had on all occasions to present

passes signed by the Camp Kommandant or his representative - a

fresh one on each visit - to gain entry to the prisoner's compound,

and although they were warned that they must not speak to

or trade with the captives, the order was completely ignored and

the majority of the guards were easily corrupted. Several

were given severe punishments and one guard hanged himself when

discovered, to escape the wrath of the Gestapo agents in the Camp

Abwehr department.

 

16.

So much then for the German side of things. Now let us 

turn to the British side - camp organisation, morale, routine,

activities, food etc.

The internal organisation of a Stalag was left almost entirely

to the P.O.W's, the only part played by the Germans being

to grant permission for certain and refusal for others,

and to generally guard, supervise and inspect the general activities

of their guests.

If one were to search the world over, one would never

find a display - a true display - of democracy in government as

successful as that which existed in this particular P.O.W. camp.

When living becomes difficult with food short and the norman

amenities of life denied, it is essential that planned control 

functions, otherwise the worst vices in human nature will

quickly be exercised by the unscrupulous, leaving the rest, less

worldly-wise and less cowardly cunning, to exist as best they can.

When men are gathered together in times of dire trouble, they become

either, if governed, extremely good, thoughtful of the next

man, fair in all things and happy, or, if ungoverned, greedy,

slovenly, wanting in effort, spiteful and extremely bad. There

is not half way.

In order that existence under P.O.W. conditions would be

at least bearable, the following organisation came into being because

of the natural human outlook and the reasonably high standard 

of education of the people in the community, largely as a

matter of course. Beginning at the bottom, a system of government,

true to the strictest ideals of democracy, was framed.

Each barrack room housed roughly 60 men. From these, one was

selected by popular vote to become barrack leader. Then from the

entire camp one man was elected in the same manner to become "Man

of Confidence" or "Camp Leader" and was given the privilege of

choosing an assistant who was favourably regarded by the men at

large. Thereby - the camp leader and the barrack leaders together

- was formed the camp 'House of Representatives'. An

election was held annually to either retain or replace the camp

leader whilst the barrack representatives could be replaced,

either because of resignation or lack of confidence on the part of

his constituents at any time. This noble and august body framed

and met regularly to control the camp constitution; they supervised 

the distribution of food parcels; they made, re-made and

rescinded regulations; debated suggestions, and listened with

sympathetic ear to complaints. In all, a thankless task, but

managed with consummate tact and skill. In particular, the preservation of cleanliness, health and hygiene was outstandingly

commendable.

Branch organisations such as the sports committee and entertainments

committee - with their minor bodies, debating societies,

musical society, amateur dramatic society, revue and variety

societies, boxing club, football committees, basket ball and base

ball committees - were formed by election at regular intervals and

were responsible to the camp leader and his government for providing

the maximum amount of variety in sport and entertainment for the

camp personnel.

In addition, one man for every three barracks was elected

to represent his fellow men on a Red Cross Committee, which, in

view of the communal feeding arrangements, was responsible for

producing a weekly menu and balanced diet in accordance with advice

of the doctor; had control of the appointments of cook and

assistant and were responsible for maintaining cleanliness in the

cookhouse hut and absolute fairplay and equality in the distribution

of the meagre food ration.

Other appointments for security officers and similar special

duties were made by the camp leader, whilst groups for the

relief of distress amongst new arrivals were formed subject to the

approval of the camp personnel.

 

17.

The entertainments and sports committees produced their own

weekly newspaper - one typewritten sheet - under the direction of

an elected editor, whilst, in addition, a small group of enthusiasts

produced daily news sheets of their own. One such, entitled 

"The Daily Recco" was banned for periods on several occasions

by the Germans because of the libellous and defammatory

articles directed against the detaining power. The camp leader

posted a type of daily routine orders which gave full information

regarding every detail of government and policy - however

small - on a public notice board. The other newspapers all had

their own notice board and their own particular enthusiastic followers

and admirers and they contributed to a very great extent

towards preserving cheerfulness, friendliness and a high standard

of morale.

All work within the cam, in the way of maintaining strict

hygiene and attempting to better the existing conditions, was carried

out in the manner of fatigues by barracks, in rotation.

Water pumping for instance - all water had to be pumped by hand -

was carried out by an individual barrack on each day. The personnel

had duty watches of half an hour in pairs throughout the

day, and so on. The many little daily monotonous tasks were

carried on despite trials and tribulations in this manner, on and

on, week by week, month by month, year to year.

What marvellous spirit prevailed through all these days 

of depression and enforced inactivity! Life only just bearable;

minds decaying from want of inspired talk; bodies decaying from

the want of exercise and the necessary vitamins; habits and

ethics decaying from the want of decent, civilised, culture conditions;

and yet never, despite the years of bodily inactivity

and mental stagnation, did the spirit falter. What a tribute

that is to these men who saved themselves from becoming mere

beasts through the period of nightmare and unreality, due purely

and solely to that will to 'never say die'.

Under such conditions as existed, one sees his fellow men

in their true light; one is able to judge whether one's friends

and acquaintances are made of the right stuff, for if faith,

honour, loyalty, pride and friendship can exist when life hangs

solely on these very virtues, how immeasurably greater will be

their value in times of peaceful and safe living.

These men existed together; ate, drank and slept together;

played together; had fought together, and they now

shared their troubles, their anxieties and their confidences when

the tide of life was farthest from the flood. There were some

good times. There were some good laughs. There were some good

material things. These were all shared. If one man had cigarettes

and another man none, they were divided. If a new man arrived 

and had not the bare necessities to ensure cleanliness of

body or such of the simple things we were available to make life

a trifle more pleasant, he found many friends to provide these

things - to share with him their few worldly, treasured possession

as meagre as they were - and to help him along the track with a

smile, a joke and a friendly hand. The whole community became

knit together. They gave; they received. They fight on!

These P.O.W's are members of the great fraternity of the

'world's' luckiest guys'. Consider: every man-jack of the fellows

in this air force camp - one of many - had either gone

through the unnerving experience of crashing with his aircraft,

making a parachute descent from a burning or damaged aircraft,

or had spent time in the water - after 'ditching' - in a dinghy.

Many went through these ordeals after being wounded. Many were

horribly burned. Many permanently disfigured. All had been

shot down by the enemy. Some had seen their comrades die;

their friends burned to death; their crews drowned. Many had

survived a combination of all or a number of these things.

"Lucky Guys" because the less fortunate were dead.

These fellows had escaped, but they certainly were not lucky in 

having to undergo the desperate rigours of P.O.W. life.
 

18.

Even in the midst of this fine community - the finest,

most sincere, most loyal in the wide world - there were individuals

and groups of men who stood out and were the guiding, inspiring

lights. So it is, and will be, whenever men gather

together until the end of time. Our chief guide, adviser and

inspiration at Stalag-Luft VI was our elected and ever afterwards

undisputed Camp Leader. A Scot, Sgt J.A.G. Deans, was

indeed a man amongst men. What a grand, sincere, wise, modest

and friendly fellow he was!  Having been a shipping clerk in

Hamburg before the war, he spoke the German language like a

native of the country and seemed to understand fully the proud,

arrogant and wily German mentality like the back of his hand.

There was no discipline in the accepted sense in our

camp. None at all. All ranks were just prisoners of war.

We found it was better that way. We had, however, elected a

camp leader to be our guide and guardian and therefore his word

was final and was, in the manner of an unwritten law, obeyed implicitly.

We all knew him personally and were proud and quickly
willing to abide by his judgement. Many were the times he

defeated the German Kommandant in unarmed combat. Many the 

times he bluffed a point, argued another. His name today is a 

household word in air force prison camp Luft VI, and all those

who knew and admired him will remember him long. He will be rewarded

too when the full story can be told. He was one who stood

out, head and shoulders, in this fine gathering, and the same can

be attributed to many.

One of the groups which deserves special mention is the

ex-public school boy group. It has been my conviction that

breed and blood, fortified by tradition, loyalty and honour will

always lead the way. My belief has now, after two years as a

P.O.W., been substantiated. Cambridge, Eton and Oxford and other

similar institutions may well be proud of their sons and the sons

well proud of and thankful to them.

The Americans, after their somewhat belated arrival, behaved
and reacted badly. In their usual ostentatious, boastful

way, they attempted to storm their way through a period of unpleasant

existence which required tact, subtlety and planning to

be negotiated. They learned the hard way though at the cost of

several lives and eventually settled down and became model members

of the P.O.W. fraternity.

And so, for me, life proceeded from day to day with never

varying monotony. For others who spent, and are still spending,

longer periods as prisoners, it was doubtless much worse. I was

always aware that Japanese prisoners were infinitely worse off

and I was constantly thoughtful of the fact. I can only offer

them my sympathy.

From the time of my arrival at Stalag-Luft VI, I determined

to take part in every possible activity, firstly to maintain

mental balance and secondly in order to safeguard, as far as possible,

my health. I was elected to the quite responsible position

of barrack leader and was later suggested as a nominee in the 

election for the position of compound leader during a period of 

particular difficulty when the existing leader fell into disfavour.

Fortunately he regained favour and the necessity did not

arise.

At various times I have president of the sports committee

and entertainments committee and in addition, produced the play

"George and Margaret" as well as playing in and having connection

with several other productions, viz., "French Without Tears",

"Lord Richard in the Pantry", Blithe Spirit" and "As You Are".

I also became a sort of semi-official master of ceremonies at

band concerts and similar functions, spoke regularly in debates,

organised and conducted gramophone recitals and generally had a

fist in anything that was going on.

The camp theatre was built by the prisoners with the re-