LEST WE FORGET 239 interrogation camp near Frankfurt.We got off the train at Frankfurt to a scene of complete destruction and confusion after it had been bombed the previous week. The civilians were hostile to them, spitting and throwing rocks. They arrived at Dulga Luft interrogation centre with other allied air crews. They were assigned separate, very small, cells that were kept uncomfortably hot. The food was poor and there was not much of it. He was desperately hungry all the time. Every few days, he was taken out for interrogation and then back to the cell again. After two weeks or more, they were released into a holding cage. After two days, they began the long journey to the permanent POW camp Stalag Luft 1 situated on the Baltic Sea. Eight were crowded into a small compartment for three long days on the rail. The POW camp they arrived at was probably one of the best in Germany. The rooms were fairly large with three double bunks, a table, and a stove. After a short while, they had running cold water. There were about 2 000 prisoners of war, 1 400 of them American. The room leader was an English pilot captured by the Italians and was beginning his fifth year as a POW. In the summer of 1944, morale was high as word of the invasion had raised hopes that the war would be over by Christmas. But this was not to be. By Christmas, the Red Cross parcels ceased to come through, German rations were reduced and coal rations were reduced rather than increased for the winter. January 1945, everyone was hungry and cold but they were the lucky ones as many of the eastern camps were being marched across the country away from the advancing Russian armies. By the first of April, there was a marked improvement in the behaviour of the German guards as they realized the war was lost. On May 1, the night before the German guard had locked up the barracks and closed the shutters as usual. The morning saw they had all disappeared into thin air. The senior allied officer took command of the camp and by the afternoon the Russians appeared. There was no sign of motorized vehicles at all just a stream of horses drawn wagons and buggies. Rumours of them going back to Britain through Russia was not appealing. On May 8, VE Day marked the end of the war and the next day, a fleet of American planes began coming to airlift the POW’s back to Britain.What a thrill it was to see Britain with light shining all along, as it had never been as long as the war was on. He arrived back to Canada in July 1945 and was discharged a few weeks later. Allan passed away on December 5, 2016. McGILLIVRAY, Allan Robert (continued)
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