Sent by:Albert Norman Sadd
"Just before the end of the War the Germans marched us out of the camp towards the West in the direction of the advancing British and American troops and away from the advancing Russians. After a couple of days the German guards vanished and we were left to our own devices. Eventually I met up with advancing Americans who took me to Regensberg."
My dad never talked about the war. When I was teaching in Rushwick in Worcester I asked him to write a letter to my class about his war experiences. The letter that he wrote was an eye opener to myself and my two brothers as he never talked about the war.
This section is about my dads time as a prisoner of war in Germany in Stalag 1Vb, then IVa.
We have all since been visited Crete, including my son and grandson to track his journey across the island. There is a museum up in the mountains and I left a copy of the letter there.
When I took a taxi to the airport at the end of the holiday the taxi driver who had been asking me questions about my dad shook my hand and said “You must be very proud of your Dad”.
Transcript:
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The Germans marched us back across the island to where we had landed. After a few weeks we were sent by boat to Salchika in Greece. There we spent a very unpleasant period in an Army camp where disease and sickness were prevalent. After 2 months we were herded into railway cattle trucks and sent to Germany - a journey that lasted endless days and nights. On arriving at Stalag 1Vb we were de-loused and showered and put into a compound and interrogated.
I was then sent to Stalag 1Va which was a Castle in Slechwig Holstein high in the hills about 25 miles south of Dresden. There I spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of war among many French, Belgium, Polish and Yugoslavian prisoners. Life was very mundane. I improved my.....
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During the day we were able to walk within the compound and we had a roll-call twice a day. At 10 o'clock at night we were locked in our huts until 6 o'clock the next morning.
The German guards were mainly soldiers who had fought in the First World War and were generally opposed to Nazism so they treated us fairly. Frequently our camp was searched by the S.S. who were cruel and ruthless.
Just before the end of the War the Germans marched us out of the camp towards the West in the direction of the advancing British and American troops and away from the advancing Russians. After a couple of days the German guards vanished and we were left to our own devices. Eventually I met up with advancing Americans who took me to Regensberg. They then flew me to Rheims in France and then on to England arriving on my birthday May 15th 1945.
It was all an experience I shall never forget and would always hope it never happens to anyone else.
Tagged:Europe , PoW
Contributed by:Mrs Helen Kirby (Sadd)
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