Canadian Prisoner of War Diary

I have kindly been given permission to share some of the letters and the Diary of Sgt James Blake Stephenson Can/R.65625 POW No. 24396 with this forum. Sgt Stephenson sadly is no longer with us, but his son Jim has compiled what he could find about his father and has shared it with me.

Sgt Stephenson was shot down October 15 1941 while serving as a replacement Tail Gunner in a Wellington Bomber. He was waiting to return to Canada for training as a pilot, but was filling in on crews that had lost their rear gunners until that time.
Sgt Stephenson would not be released until April 16 1945. His tail of survival is one that should be known.

I will add to this thread from time to time with the hope that this is the right way to go about it.

There are large gaps in the diary but it is still serves as a wonderful snap shot of life as a POW.

One thing I found quite interesting was that when Sgt Stephenson first was captured he assumed that there was no way he would still be a prisoner by Sept 1st of the following year ( 1942) , so he used those pages of his diary as a place for addresses. Sadly he was quite wrong about the length of time he would be a guest of the Germans.

Please feel free to comment or add anything and I will pass it on to Sgt Stephenson's son .

 

Sounds great, George. Will you be posting scans of the original or transcriptions?
Will his son allow you post of photo of Mr. Stephenson from the war period?

 

Yes I hope to. There is lot's of information. I have yet to scan anything, but will in the future.

#1 Monday Nov 10 1941

It has been worked out that of the crews who don't get back to their base, six out of seven die while one out of seven are captured and some of these are wounded. So I reckon I am lucky as I didn't even get a scratch, the only one in my crew. I spent the day walking around the compound with Martin who wants me to travel through the east with him after the war, we shall see.
I am in a hell of a state. I don't weather I want to marry Betty after the war or not.
The bit of sausage we get here is made out of pigs blood.

 

George, the following is taken from 'RAF Bomber Command Losses' Vol.2 - W R. Chorley.

15/16 October 1941.
75 Squadron.
Wellington IC W5663 AA-
Op: Cologne.

Crew.
Sgt. R C. Barker +
P/O. T B. Robertson RNZAF +
F/S. H D. Grimes RAAF +
Sgt. D L. Beney +
Sgt. G F. Cole pow
Sgt. J B. Stephenson RCAF pow

Took off Feltwell. Crashed near Dusseldorf, where those who died were buried in the Nord Friedhof. Since the end of hostilities, their remains have been taken to the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

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The following is taken from 'The Bomber Command War Diaries' - Middlebrook / Everitt.

15/16 October 1941.

Cologne.

27 Wellingtons and 7 Stirling's. 3 Wellingtons lost.
Crews reported large fires in Cologne but the city recorded only a handful of bombs with no damage or casualties. Villages well east of the Rhine were hit, however, and in one of them, Lindenthal, a children's hospital was hit, though casualties are not mentioned. The synthetic-oil refinery at Wesseling, 7 miles south of Cologne was hit by a high-explosive bomb which caused 8,000 tons of fuel production to be lost. Duisburg, 30 miles from Cologne, was also bombed, probably in error.

 

Stalag Vlll-B

#2 Tues Nov 10/41
Arose at six, made tea and gave it to my three English friends in bed,the lazy buggers. We then went on two hours drill in the cold. After that we had our cigarette issue from the Red Cross. It had been reduced to forty. I sold a bar of chocolate to Martin for thirty; I also smoke a pipe using French and German pipe tobacco which is very strong. German tobacco is not tobacco but dried cabbage leaves. I got a book from the library and read. The meals today were not bad (all red carrots) but I am always hungry. I went to bed and dreamt of sirloin steak and mushrooms.

#3 Wed Nov 12/41
I arose again early as it was cold in bed and served tea again to my friends in bed (sucker). I have a slight case of trench feet from wearing cold and damp shoes all the time and my feet itch like furry at night, so I am wearing my wooden shoes which keep them warm and dry. We cleaned the barrack room today again. The Jerries have taken the lids off all our Red Cross tin food so we can't store it for an escape, before, all they did was puncture the tins, the buggers. We have now got hold of a victrola and are enjoying some music. The thought of leaving the service after the war is too much to bear and I would glad to be with a good rank, to make it my lifes job.

 

#4 Friday Nov 14/41
Miserably cold today with a cutting wind. Just realized what bad condition I am in; tried to run around the billets twice and almost collapsed, it's a lazy life I have been leading. Will have to watch myself or I will go into a slump, smoke now about twenty four cigs a day. On Friday here, we get fish soup, it's the worst yet. We get large pieces of skin with the scales on in it, boy what a life.
The chief topic is what the boys will do first on arrival in England. The chief ones are 75% getting pie eyed, 20% women and 5% clean clothes and a good hot bath and a comfortable bed. Mine is the latter after which I will join the 75 %, women don't affect me seriously, so leave that when I arrive natural.

 

#5 Sat Nov 15/41
A month ago today at approx. eleven PM, I had the horrified experience of seeing my friends and crew killed one by one and narrowly, or should say miraculously escaped myself. A month later I find myself in a prison camp, sleeping on practically boards, waking up so cold at night I could sit on a red hot stove. Eating very good at times but deplorably so, other times. I have suddenly grown into a very serious nature and could hardly recognize myself in a mirror the other day while showering, my mustache makes a difference. I look twenty seven at best. However, it will take more than a few Huns to break me.
It was not nearly so cold sleeping this evening, in fact I was warm.

 

#6 Sun Nov 16/41
Went to church and had communion. Cold and windy in the morning but very nice towards evening, walked a couple of miles around the compound. Did get our letter form today. I am bored stiff and I will be glad when the war winds up. We had a show this evening, some of the boys singing, telling nice clean jokes and a violinist who was exceptionally good, so the evening passed very pleasantly.
My hands and feet are all swollen and inquiring about it, I found it was chill-blains. I had heard of them but never expected to get them; however I suppose I am lucky to be alive.

#7 Mon Nov 17/41
Today has brought several changes! I split with my combine for food and went with another fellow, he can make a big meal with practically nothing and by adding scraps, so my eating has improved. One of our lads has got Diptheria and they took him away this morning. I am more afraid of that than I am jerries bullets. It's a hell of a feeling closed in with Diptheria and me so suseptable to colds. The Jerries have promised us more suitable accomodations ; now they are much worse than the army, but it is an army camp and the German army is jealous of their Luftwaffe so take it out on us.

 

Newspaper article of Sgt. Stephenson

 

#8 Fri Nov 28/41
As I continue these happenings as prisoner of war, I find myself way behind in my writings and as I continue, it is now Nov 28th. A lot has happened , not so much in events , but in my own personal life, that is to say character changes, so I will try and give up the gen today. As I have previously stated (because the writing is, my hands are very cold). John Moyle, a well bred and learned Scotsman age 28 and myself are combined together, or in other words, sharing our Red Cross parcels together, doing our cooking together and altogether living very good. He is one man here I tell everything to and we comfide in one another.
Now to give an idea of what we receive from the R.C. every week, I will detail today's parcel which John just received. We received 1 meat paste, 1 can of pies, 2 meat rolls, 1 tin of sardines, tin of jam, 1 bar of chocolate, bar of soap, 1 Irish Stew, 1 tin of powdered milk, sugar which varies but there are always seventeen articles. I received a tin of pudding, 1 tin of margarine and a package of dripping in mine yesterday.

#9 Sat Nov 29/41
I have learned to cook very well and we use our imagination a great deal, so get both good and bad concoctions but we have realized that no matter what it is our biggest problems are bread ( 1/5 loaf a day). Wood and nails are very much in demand and we treasure one nail here like we would a suit of clothes back home, it is very funny for things which we would place no value on outside, we value very highly here.

 

Sorry that is the way Jim scanned all the originals. I will see what I can do.

 

Try this Owen.

 

I hope this works better Owen

 

Another newspaper article that appeared in the local Toronto Paper.
Sgt Stephenson mentioned his religous metal earlier in a letter home August 15 1941

"Tell Mother that her prayers and that religous medal Adele gave me blessed by the priest is sure holding good. I should have been killed twice now but by the Grace of God, and it couldn't be anything else, I am very much still alive, the rest of my crew on our plane was killed 2 weeks ago and I was the only one to escape"

 

Very interesting reading, where exactly were he held as a pow ?

 

He started out at Stalag Vlll B and was moved to other camps as time went on.

 

#10 Sunday Nov 30/41

All we are issued with by Jerrys are 1 spoon and a dinie (soup pan) so we make frying pans out of fish tins, drinking cups out of a jam tin and knives out of tin wrapped around wood whittled to a blade form and flattened. We receive cheap needles in the canteen and take the strands of rope to sew with; pipes cost 2 marks 50 so we sell our chocolate or cigarettes to obtain enough for a pipe.
John and I have what we call our banquet once a week in which (ar best we had last week) 1 tin of pitchen (any idea what this is?)and a ration of spuds mixed mixed and fried to a deep brown, welsh rabbit (1 slice each) carrots and peas, 2/3 meat roll fried with 1 ration of fried potatoes, with bread and raison pudding (which john is very proficient at making) with cream, 1 slice of bread and jam, tea, chocolate and we ended it with a cigarette, well after all that I was darn near sick but very slap happy and everything John would say I would start laughing and couldn't stop(idiotic or what) ...................