Canadian Prisoner of War Diary

[Owen]

Jeff Reid, one of my buddies, was shot and killed by a guard. A piece of wood was leaning against the warning wire and he went at night to get it to try and make a fire to keep us warm, in doing so he was shot at twice but the guard missed, he put up his hands , the guard came up to him within five yards and shot him again (with his hands still up) and he was laying on the ground the guard put another bullet in him, it was plain murder.

I know dates are out by 3 days but this has to be him.

CWGC :: Casualty Details

Name:	REID, JEFFREY WALTER
Initials:	J W
Nationality:	United Kingdom
Rank:	Sergeant
Regiment/Service:	Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text:	75 Sqdn.
Age:	23
Date of Death:	29/12/1941
Service No:	920054
Additional information:	Son of James Alexander Milne Reid and Hilda Jane Reid, of West Norwood, London.
Casualty Type:	Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference:	1. B. 9.
Cemetery:	KRAKOW RAKOWICKI CEMETERY

[Peter Clare]

To follow on from Owen's post above......

17-18 September 1941.

75 Squadron
Wellington IC X9834 AA-
Op: Karlsruhe.

Crew.

Sgt. W B M. Smyth +
P/O. W J S. Smith pow
P/O. K E A. Savage +
Sgt. J W. Reid pow
Sgt. H C. McL Haselden RNZAF +
Sgt. A H. Heard pow.

Took off Feltwell. Crash-landed, on fire, at Holsthum on the River Prum, 12 km SSW of Bitburg, Germany. Sgt. Reid was shot while trying to escape from Lamsdorf on 29 December 1941. He is buried in Cracow Military Cemetery, Poland; those who were killed in the crash are buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery.

'Bomber Command Losses' Vol.2. W R. Chorley.


17-18 September 1941.
Op. Karlsruhe.
38 Wellingtons; claimed large fires in the city centre. 1 aircraft lost.

'Bomber Command War Diaries' Middlebrook - Everitt.


Just had a look at my copy of 'Footprints On the Sands of Time' RAF Bomber Command Prisoners Of War In Germany 1939 - 1945 - Oliver Clutton-Brock. The entry for Sgt. Reid states "Killed 29/12/41 removing fence panels for heating"

[NickFenton]

George,

Which camps did James go through. It was not unusual for them to be moved around quite a lot throughout the war. My own Father was in 5 camps excluding Amsterdam interogation centre.

Nick

[George Wilkinson]

Nick I have not answered these questions yet on purpose as I did not want to spoil the story. Sgt Stephenson does mention his movements and I was going to let his diary explain. I hope you don't mind waiting.
Also, the dates in the diary are not clear. Jim had estimated some of the dates, so being off a couple of days is possible.
George

[David Layne]

Excellent thread this.

[NickFenton]

Come on then George, next installlment please.

The dates do vary as the prisoners were not moved out at the same time and they took time in arriving at the next location but we cannot blame British rail this time. I am not sure that they remembered when they did fill in their reports as well.

Nick

[George Wilkinson]

#15 Feb 12/42

It is now Feb. 12. I have lost my voice completely for the last ten days and am just getting it back. the ailmant is laryngitis. I have received two personal parcels from New York but as the sender didn't put his name on outside or inside of parcel I don't know who sent them. They were sure wizza. The clothing parcel contained (and incidentally the price tags were on them and are such):
1 doz handkerchiefs
1 Sweater $5.00
1 Shirt $5.00
1 Long underwear $4.00
3 pair of socks at $1.00

Food Parcel
1/2 lb of chocolate
2 lbs of ham (tinned)
1 bag of biscuits
1 package of cheese
1 package of assorted fruit
200 Chesterfield cigs
If whoever sent this stuff and I believe it was Aunt Ruth, will never know how much I appreciate it.

We have not had Red Cross parcels now for two weeks and have been starving on Reich food; I know what it is to go hungry and have been living on slices of bread and a cup of soup per day for the past two weeks. I am past the stage of hunger and have got to the stage of weakness, all we do is lie in our pits all day cause we haven't the energy to do otherwise.

Recollecting my thoughts it comes to my memory that after being shot down, as I related the next day several real Prussian officers came to the farm to take me for questioning, they had the bulk and gate of Prussians and as I waited in the office for my escort to the camp, different officers would enter, click his heals, raise his right hand up and forward and gave a bellow of "Hail Hitler" again, a bunch of amusing idiots. They all had in that office a very good look at my pictures of Mom and Betty I was carrying and since Margaret was showing a lot of leg I imagine the remarks they made were interesting, too bad I don't speak Deutch.
Well I am hopefully praying that by the end of June this will come to an end. There is rumoured fighting in Poland and the Huns have retreated several miles this winter. I think a good offensive on Russia's part in the spring will see them through. There is little food whatsoever in Germany and the stores are empty (gen from one of the lads who has been to Berlin and Prague) all they have are spuds and soup, there is also some of the proverbish sausage and that is there stocks, hence the reason we are starving here, no parcels.

A working partty going through Breslau was stoned by a mob, very heavy RAF damage there. The Germans have large slave gangs of workers from occupied countries which clean up bomb damage as soon as it is done, therefore lessening the effect of it's public moral this way, however the damage is so great and bombs so big and raids so often that the people have a miserable time. Guards from the camp here tell us that they spend on leave much time in shelters. However roll along that boat for England and then home before we starve to death, au revoir.

[George Wilkinson]

#16 Mar 21/42

1st day of spring, no Red Cross parcels for two months, living on German issues need I say more. Supposed to be moving to Luftwaffe camp, waiting for spring invasion by Briton. Hope to be in Blighty by Oct or Nov. Some back issue coming through easing our hunger and a few private ones. German civic rations cut, snow is going.

Well it's April 23rd now and things are still in a hell of a state regards food. German rations in camp and for the Gerry people in general have been cut to a considerable degree, the bread ration is 1/2 loaf three days a week and 1/5 four days, spuds have been cut and we are just existing. There have been no Red Cross parcels to date and this has been for the past three months. Our cigarettes have been cut off and all we get is what the boys get in personal parcels of which I have received exactly nil. Cigarettes are fetching 50 marks for a tin of fifty. equivalents in our money to $12.50. We are getting two fish soup a week and sea-weed about twice, both of which are well u ndesirable, the pigs would turn their noses ar it back home.
John Moyle and I went into our combine a couple of weeks ago and then I was asked by Les Stephens & the mad monk to join them which I did, the monk then left us. In the meantime George Cole my wireless op who had spent some four months in hospital and about six around Dulag arrived here, we sure had an experience to talk over and George, Les and I then combined together and have been getting along swell since. George is a nice looking kid and really looks like a little boy, he is actually married and is 21 yrs old. Les is married also he is 21 too. Myself incidentally having a birthday in a few days, my 23rd, am the sole bachelor but a certain person will probably have something to say about that when I get back to "civilization"............
Our lot is a very unhappy one and what makes us burn up is the disillusionment our folks at home are under and also the fact that Jerries are getting good food and treatment in Canada & Blighty. However this period of hell should end this year of 42 "God Willing". Incidentally the Red Cross has sent us new uniforms and we look like a lot of dandies with no place to go, of course you can't eat a uniform although I am mightly tempted to try.

The German guards themselves want this war to end as soon as we do and don't go around hailing Hitler like they used to when I first arrived in this country of barbarians. There is so much discontent among them and it is all derived out of the lack of food.
I am not blaming you folks at home or the Red Cross for lack of personal cigarettes, food parcels & mail etc. the Gerries just haven't got the transport as they are using it all on the Russian front.

It is at this point that Sgt Stephenson's Diary stops for 2-1/2 yrs. There are letters home-- heavily censored by the Germans, but I will try and relate a few items from this blank period.

[George Wilkinson]

Sgt Stephenson is in the 3rd row--- fourth from left.
Also note Reid (Red) Gordon Front row 4th from left. Gordon is the man mentioned as escaping ( #13 Dec 26/41) and being caught because of frostbite. You will notice he has gloves on in the picture. Sgt Stephenson remarked to his son that this was a result of the frostbite mentioned.

[George Wilkinson]

In a letter dated June 8/42 to his Father, Sgt. Stephenson explains that he is now in Stalag Luft lll. He goes on to explain that his Red Cross and personal parcels are arrivng at the new camp fairly regularly.

Another letter dated Aug 15/42
Take note of my new address Stalag Luft lll the new air force prisoner of war camp just erected and it's sure a darn sight better than my last camp which was an army one. There are over a hundred Canadians here so I am not entirely alone. I have met Marshall Johnson from St.Thomas and numerous old buddies. Wing-commander Bader, the ace, is here also........

Letter Aug 23/42
This new camp is not so bad. We get up at eight, have roll call, dinner at twelve and roll call at seven thirty again with sports in between or sleeping or reading, lights out at eleven. Well I hope to spend next summer at home, if not one of these days soon I hope. I was never very patient.......

The tone and content of the letters home are very different from the diary. Sgt Stephenson was well aware of what he could get by the Germans and what he couldn't. There is also the fact that he didn't want to worry those at home about the conditions he was living under.