Extract 1 from 'Copper Wire'
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"Have you lost us Navigator? We had sung this so often in the mess and soon we were to see the town from the ground. We had been captured, given ourselves up or what you will a few miles west of Mersa Matruh, after a walk of some hundred miles, or so it seemed. The Germans were more than sympathetic towards our poor condition and put us in the back of the first lorry with water, cheese and bread. Recognising that we were severely dehydrated, they then drove us to the sea shore where we bathed as they sat and watched. The salt water stung the desert sores on our legs and arms, but was most refreshing. We bathed fully dressed but this did not matter as our clothes dried quickly in the hot sun, once we were back on the beach. During the time in the sea we were able to rid ourselves of most of the sand which matted our hair and embryo beards, and covered most of our bodies. Refreshed, we climbed back into the lorry and were taken westward from whence we had come. Tobruk we knew from the air, for we had bombed the harbour and supply dumps on several occasions. Just before we entered Tobruk town, we passed a small P.O.W. lager. It was our first glimpse of what a compound looked like. It was just a few low tents, enclosed by thick barbed wire, and with a stone guard house at the only gate. The camp was completely deserted. Our journey took us by the harbour which seemed less damaged than we expected, as was the town, where many of the buildings were still standing. It seemed that our nightly bombing had done less damage than we had hoped. We stopped in front of a group of single storey buildings and were asked to get down. While we were doing this, the young Under-officer went into a guard room and, eventually, emerged with an Italian corporal, followed by four soldiers armed with rifles and fixed bayonets. The German, who had some English, then came over and bade us farewell. We gathered that because Libya had been Italian territory all prisoners were their responsibility. The Under-officer was most apologetic. His final remarks were, “We have the Italians - but you have the Americans”. We were soon to learn what he meant by the first part of his statement.Everything on this page and all extracts are © copyright estate of Robert Harding. |
World War II Allied Prisoner of War medal
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