The
Friends
of the
Green Howards
of the
Green Howards
of the Friends of the Green Howards Regimental Museum
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The
Friends of the Green Howards |
The Newsletters of the Friends of the Green Howards Regimental Museum |
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| Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment (19th Foot) The North York Militia, The North York Local Militia & North York Rifle Volunteers | |||||||
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Issue 17.
APRIL 2004.
Prisoners of War 1940-1945 Italy and Germany To obtain a copy of this newsletter, please forward a cheque or money order for £6-00 (includes postage) to the Green Howards Museum, Trinity Square, Richmond, N Yorks DL10 4QN. For copies of other Newsletters, select the link below. Details of the contents of Issue Number 17 are shown below. |
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Issue
17. April 2004 Prisoners of War, 1940-1945 - Italy and Germany |
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| The course and outcome of campaigns
in the Second World War involving the Green Howards have been fully recorded
in regimental histories, and due credit given to the bravery and endurance
of the men who took part. But less has been told of the experiences of those
who were captured in France in 1940, or in North Africa in 1942, and later
incarcerated in Italy and Germany or elsewhere in Europe. Many accounts and books have been published about escapes and attempted escapes. Such books and accounts describe - often in modest terms - events of high adventure, danger, tremendous courage and determination in the face of physical and psychological traumas and these include, in many cases, their time in captivity. We are fortunate that we hold in our archives, diaries, letters and articles by ex-POWs, describing how it was for them. With the help of Jim Bourn and Ken Gardner, both ex-POWs, this newsletter has been compiled to make the reader aware of what was experienced by over 2,650 Green Howards when they were behind barbed wire. Their story makes sober yet inspiring reading, so let us not forget them. |
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| Time Line | The events and battles of World War 2 that saw men of the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Battalions taken prisoner and sent to camps in Germany and Italy. | ||
| The Inside Story | A general account of the experiences of Green Howards POWs in Italy and Germany. | ||
| "Capture", - Extracts from the Diaries and Logs of Captured Green Howards. | Extracts from the diaries and logs of 2nd Lieut Davis Preston, Captain Adrian Barber, Sergeant Dennis Nell, WO2 Richard Hall and Captain Ken Gardner describing their moments of capture. | ||
| "Camp Life" - Descriptions of LIfe in Italian Prisoner of War Camps. | Extracts from interviews with, and accounts from, L/Cpl Len Bickerton, Captain Kit Browning, and WO2 Richard Hall provide accounts of life inside Italian Prisoner of War Camps. | ||
| Italian Camp Slang | Some of the terms used to describe people and objects by prisoners and their guards. | ||
| "Escape" | Following the capitulation of Italy in 1943,
some 600 POWs from PG49 at Fontanellato simply marched out of captivity. Accounts of this escape, and eventual recapture by the Germans, is taken from accounts provided by Captain Adrian Barber, Lieut. Eric Hopkins, and Captain Ken Gardner. |
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| "Life in Camp", - the life of POWs in German Prison Camps | A general description of life in the German POW Camps, together with accounts provided by Captain Burns Jamieson, WO2 Richard Hall, 2nd Lieut David Preston, L/Cpl Len Bickerton, and RSM Exall. | ||
| German POW Camp Slang | Words and phrases in common use in German POW Camps. | ||
| The Weekly Menu | A table showing the typical week of rations in camp supplemented with Red Cross parcels. | ||
| Parcels and "Old Kriegie" Wine | Working from a small office at the Regimental
Depot in Richmond, a team of workers helped raise funds to supplement Red
Cross parcels. The recipe and process are given for the production of "Old Kriegie" wine from the contents of Red Cross parcels in Oflag 79. |
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| The Death March | Accounts by L/Cpl Len Bickerton and WO2 Richard Hall of the 600 mile forced march in the winter of 1944/45 from Stalag VIIIB to Stalag XI B. | ||
| The POW Alphabet | Extracts from a series of verses providing the Prisoners' Alphabet, - wry comments on life as a POW. | ||
| Freedom! | The end of the war in Europe, liberation, freedom,
and the return home. Accounts by Major D'Arcy Mander, Lieut Eric Hopkins, and Captain Ken Gardner. |
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