On this day my father, Bert Martin, was a PoW in a work camp at the premises of Dyckerhoff and Widmann's cement factory in Cossebaude, near Dresden. In his diary, he writes:
"We had our photos taken by a German who worked at the firm. He worked in the laboratory, tested concrete and photographed specimens. He had a good camera mounted on a tripod and took the whole camp in 3 groups. I managed to secure a copy and brought it home.
On Tues 23-5-44, I received a next-of-kin parcel from home. It was addressed to me in Italy and had been chasing me around some time. It was completely intact which was surprising considering it had been moving around for so long. I believe I received 4 or 5 of these parcels whilst in Germany and all were intact. I don’t know if I have mentioned mail at all but letters came through quite well sometimes taking 2 months and sometimes 3 weeks.
One incident I feel I must comment on. It happened on Hitler’s birthday,1944. We had lifted up 2 concrete masts and were moving them further along the yard. The Germans and I fastened on our slings, saw the masts being hoisted O.K. and then made our way towards the space where they were to be put. We arrived before the crane and stood waiting. As it almost reached us, one end of the masts fell to earth with a terrific thud, landing about 2 yards from me. It gave me an awful shock: it was the first mishap which occurred since my arrival there. We never discovered the reason why the masts came down, the slings and hooks were intact after the incident. I made a resolution after that to never walk under anything which was hoisted!
On Whit Sunday we sent a football team to a camp in Dresden at Freital to play a match. I’m afraid our side lost 2-4 but it was quite a change to get out of the camp and see something fresh. The next day, Whit Monday 29-5-44, was another holiday for all. Our gang worked a few hours in the morning but got time off during the week.
The next exciting event took place on Tues 6-6-44 - the invasion of France. I heard the news at about 12.30 p.m. the same day. We were pulling the loaded wagons out and had a late lunch that day. The Germans evidently heard the news of the invasion on the wireless in the canteen at lunch time. Albert, the German, had gone to lunch and at about 12.30 he came racing down to the crane and was as excited as a child. At first, I couldn’t understand what he was babbling about until it suddenly dawned on me - invasion. He mentioned Normandy and gradually I pieced it together - we had invaded there. I told the Frenchman but he was very sceptical, having heard so many rumours. The Germans were certainly pleased and later told me ‘it wouldn’t be long now.’ Sure enough, next morning the Frenchman came in and confirmed the news. My morale went up quite 500%. It had come! We had waited long enough for this great day.
The following days were devoted to securing news of the fighting, but there was little doing in this respect as our forces found it hard going for the first few weeks. We received a hard blow soon after invasion: news of V.1. I did not believe this at first. I thought the Germans were trying to counter or soften the blow of invasion by spreading propaganda of a new weapon. I asked the Frenchman to tell me what the V.1 was but he seemed reluctant to discuss it. All he said was, ‘It’s a pilotless plane.’ I firmly believe he knew exactly what it was but would not tell me as I was an Englishman. I think he believed I would feel concerned about my home if I knew what was happening. I admired him for that. The Germans did not like the V.1 at all. They said, ‘We bomb England and Churchill will send thousands of planes to bomb Germany.’ They were right: the planes came alright!"
Note: Thanks to the attention to detail of my dad, I found the date written on the back of his copy (above), together with the names of all those on the photo. I am amazed at the number of items he kept and brought home with him and have been able to incorporate them into my version of his memoirs.
@purplehaze12 Yes, he was certainly not as badly off as some PoWs. In fairness I should say that I think the time in the German PoW camp was the most bearable and probably the best organized. He did have several minor injuries/ilnesses and of course being hungry all the time and incarcerated away from home and the uncertainty were probably
the most difficult aspects to cope with.
I am fascinated by the attitude of the German soldiers in this. They seem to want to get on and get the war over even if that means defeat. And I suppose by then they were retreating on all fronts so they knew that was inevitable. Poor things were indeed right about being blown to pieces.
That has puzzled me slightly but earlier in his diaries my dad did say his feeling was by this stage that it was only the 'hard line' German soldiers who still believed in victory. I suppose the others just wanted it to be over. If I take only one thing from the experience of reading his diaries it is the 'ordinary humanity' of most people, whatever their nationality.
Dave, thanks very much for your interest. (I always wonder if I am boring everyone as of course this interests me but........)
I serialised the last days of my dad's PoW experience from his diaries here if you'd like to have a look: http://365project.org/quietpurplehaze/add-ins/2012-05-07
Thanks dear Hazel to share those fascinated story of you family with us
( I`ve read it all ) I think all stories of the both WW should be told so we never forget.
the most difficult aspects to cope with.
Christine, thank you for taking an interest.
That has puzzled me slightly but earlier in his diaries my dad did say his feeling was by this stage that it was only the 'hard line' German soldiers who still believed in victory. I suppose the others just wanted it to be over. If I take only one thing from the experience of reading his diaries it is the 'ordinary humanity' of most people, whatever their nationality.
Yes, and I wonder how that German photographer would feel if he could know that his shot is on 365?!
Dave, thanks very much for your interest. (I always wonder if I am boring everyone as of course this interests me but........)
I serialised the last days of my dad's PoW experience from his diaries here if you'd like to have a look:
http://365project.org/quietpurplehaze/add-ins/2012-05-07
( I`ve read it all ) I think all stories of the both WW should be told so we never forget.
Thank you for all your interest in my dad's diaries - it's much appreciated.