Horace Greasley. RIP.

Hello everyone, It's been a number of years since I contributed to these forms, but I'm glad to say I now have more time to do so. Having looked around, the site seems to have changed a bit, and I can't find the forum I wan't to post in! So, I've settled for "general", and hope the moderators will simply move it to a more appropriate forum if deemed relevant. Anyway, what I wanted to do was garner people's opinions on Horace Greasley's (ghost written by Ken Scott) autobiography "Do The Birds Still Sing in Hell?" I got half way through this book then gave up in disgust! If you've read it, you'll have an idea why. But am I being unfair in thinking Scott has written a sensationalised account, describing scenes neither he nor Greasley could've witnessed, and emotions only the latter, now dead, could attest to? Above all, the lurid sexual descriptions that make the story read, in places, like cheap porn.But no doubt help sales, and line Scott's pocket... Addendum: I should add, for those who don't know, that this book purportedly tells the true life tale of British army POW Horace Greasely, who started a love affair with a German girl while incarcerated, and repeatedly broke in and out of prison camp to carry on his relationship. Thoughts anyone? Adam

 

Well, having berated Ken Scott's effort above (justifiably so in my opinion), I am happy to report on two much better, well researched works....

The first of these, which I read over the space of a couple of weeks recently, is James Holland's "Dam Busters." This is a very readable narrative history of the struggle to get the project green lighted, the subsequent race to get the Upkeep mine ready in time and, of course, the raid itself. Holland has unearthed some very interesting, little known facts about the personalities involved. For instance, I learned that Guy Gibson was suffering from recurring gout as he led the raid in, and that he was having an (un-consumated) affair with a woman who he ultimately lost to another man, and of whom he had become very possessive, despite already being married (to a woman some years older than him). Intervowen with all the technical stuff - 618 Squadron and the Highball programme is discussed alongside Upkeep - there is much of human interest, My only gripe is that there were several typos in the text (the book runs to over 500 pages) necessitating the re-reading of certain lines to make sense of them - maybe this had something to do with having bought my copy on the cheap in Tesco! Overall, though, I'd definitely recommend it...

Now, I'm reading Mike Rossiter's "We Fought at Arnhem." This tells the story of Operation Market Garden through the eyes of three airborne soldiers who fought there, and is rich in detail. I don't normally read much about ground based warfare, but this book got me hooked from the start.

 

Joseph Horace Greasley's POW card - Leicestershire Regt

 

I have read this book and comparing other POW stories it seems far fetched to put it mildly. I have checked some of the details of other prisoners and places that are cited within the book.


The book mentions fellow members of the Leicester Regt and indeed in Greasley's squad who were

Ernie Mountain, Fred Bryson and Charlie Smith who presumably would have been captured with him when Sgt Major Aberfield surrendered.


I have checked the POW records on Ancestry and there is no record of J H Greasley or H J Greasley. The only Greasley's that the records show are C E Greasley, J F Greasley and J Greasley none of whom are in the Leicestershire Regt. The only E Mountain who was a POW was No 805828 of the Royal Artillery. There is no F Bryson as a POW but there is a J F Bryson No 2157538 of the Royal Engineers. Un-surprisingly there is a C Smith of the Leicestershire Regt but the initial and surname make that almost a certainty for any regiment. There is no record of any Aberfield.


The Charlie Cavendish mentioned in the book as the POW who spoke to the IRC visitors is another un-recorded POW. Tom Fenwick who was shot while trying to escape is not recorded in the CWGC lists but there were 2 T Fenwick's taken POW one was in the R E the other a Green Howard.


The book mentions Frank Talbot an airman from Worcester who offered to work for the Germans then revealed he was an undertaker but there is no record of an airman F Talbot being taken POW. This same story is given in a book "Facing Fearful Odds" by Jay John but is said to have taken place at Colditz. It is also strange that an airmen was with army POWs as they were usually in Stalag Luft type camps though Lamsdorf did have an RAF compound.


There is an H C Garwood (possibly Flapper in the book) he was No T/228694 in R A S C and was registered as a POW at Camp lV-D


The quarry at Saubsdorf was not a marble quarry but a limestone quarry but that could be attributed to lack of knowledge of geology.


According to the book Tigers at Dunkirk When H Greasley filled in his MI9 questionnaire he said that whilst he was at Saubsdorf Rosa obtained for him, travel warrants, ration books, passports and a german airforce uniform but he was unable to escape as he was confined to Lamsdorf with eye trouble so it seems strange that none of this is mentioned in the book.


In the book Greasley claims that his friend Flapper Garwood killed Big Stoop with a cut throat razor just before they left Fort 8 at Posen and whilst there was possibly more than one guard with that nickname the infamous guard known as Big Stoop, mentioned in other publications and articles, was never at lV-D but was widely named as being a guard at Stalag Luft 4.