Victory Day: I Was A Prisoner Of War

I enlisted at 17 and Father threatened to take me out of service, but I convinced him to allow me to stay because I would be with those I went to school with. July 1940, I arrived on Empress of Australia at Gurock, Scotland, and by rail transported to Aldershot, England. I was later stationed in Brighton and other south coast locations to defend against German invasion, which was only 22 miles away in France. I later trained on the Isle of Wight as a commando and on Aug.19, 1942 I participated in one of the biggest blunders of the entire war: The Dieppe Raid. We were told that the element of surprise was the key to this raid being a success.

The opposite occurred as we became the fodder for the Germans, who were positioned in cliffs overlooking the beaches of Dieppe and in other strategic defensive positions. Before landing, we encountered a German patrol and the defenders were advised of our presence in the English Channel. After nine hours of German fire on an open beach with little or no cover, 907 of my buddies gave their lives and I was lucky: I became the guest of Hitler's Third Reich.

The next four days and nights were spent standing up in boxcars with little food or water and no toilet facilities. After being treated like animals and putting up with the unbearable stench, we arrived at our final destination, Stalag VIII B, Lamsdorf, Germany in the Polish corridor. On Oct. 8 we were tied with rope every day and eventually we were shackled with chains each day for a total of 13 months and were told we would not be treated as soldiers because we were commandos.