The Diary of
Dr F.A. Middlemiss:-

"Life as a Prisoner of War
in World War Two".

His Life Before the War.

Frank Alexander Middlemiss was born on 25th March 1920 and was brought up in Leytonstone, East London. He attended Canterbury Road School where he lived in the same street. Later he attended Leyton Boys School. His parents were separated and he was brought up by his mother.

In World War Two he was called up for the Army, and having failed the entrance exam for Army Intelligence*, was put in the Medical Corps.
*Editor's Note: His father had died just before he took the exam.

In 1940, while he was in the Army, his house was hit by a bomb, but his mother, who was in the back kitchen, was uninjured. (One can see that the house that now occupies the spot is a newer design than the others in the road).

During the war, he served in the British Army, mainly in U.K., India, Iraq, and Tunisia. He was in action in Tunisia with the 8th Army and Italy with the 5th Army (from the first morning at Salerno).

At the beginning of the war they were only taught how to carry out defensive retreats. Later, as the tide turned, they were taught how to attack and advance.

The Anzio landings saw his company cut off behind enemy lines and he spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. Having learned German at school, he acted as a translator between Allied and German officers.

The Diary.

He managed to keep a diary during his period of captivity, which he transcribed with illustrations in 1987, of which this is a Website presentation. The illustrations are from this transcription. The copyright of these is unknown, but we belive their inclusion here is "fair use".

It is of interest to read how the POWs put on plays, concerts and even saw the occasional Hollywood film, that had perhaps been sent by the Red Cross, via Switzerland or Spain. The Food Parcels seem to have been a major aspect of their life and despite the War, they were still somehow shipped to the POWs in large quantities, together with new uniforms and blankets. It seems that they did a lot of their own cooking using the contents of these parcels, which seemed to be their main source of food and interest.

POWs who were so unfit that they could no longer undertake military service were sent home, via Switzerland. Another point to note is that the camp guards seem to have been so depleted towards the end of the war, that the POW's arranged for their own internal security using their own Warrant Officers, as there were hardly enough German guards to secure the perimeter fences.

It was the legal duty of the Germans to keep the POWs safe from danger, as the battle lines moved closer. So, as they moved away from the front line, one reads that their imprisoment became more informal and, by April 1945, they were billeted in people's houses, allowed to walk about freely (as long as they saluted German officers) and buy food in German shops, using German money, or by exchanging items of clothing for food. Finally, they were released to make their own way to US or British Lines. However, even after release they were not always safe. He noted, years later, that members of the Hitler Youth and SS were around, shooting at soldiers in Allied uniforms, even if obsensibly, behind friendly lines.

A sample of his diary, as transcribed in the 1980s.

After the War.

In 1946 he began his studies at Queen Mary College of the London University, graduating with first class honours in 1950 and being awarded a PhD in 1955 on Lower Cretaceous Brachiopods (a type of shellfish).

He had a long and varied career lecturing, examining, conducting research, overseeing research students, advising public bodies, leading field meetings and liaising with prominent geologists in his field both in the UK and world wide. In 1982, during a round of cuts when much of the college's main-stream geology was transferred to UCL, he agreed to retire, yet continued to perform all his teaching, research and administrative duties unpaid for 14 years. He was made Reader Emeritus and continued full-time until the department closed in 1996. In excellent health, even in his 70s, he continued to lead field trips, striding ahead of the undergraduates, who often struggled to keep up with him. He stayed in touch with former students all over the world and produced the ' Old Students ' Newsletter for many years.

He met his future wife, Florence, a fellow student, in his first week at QMC in October 1946, and they were married in 1949, when he was still an undergraduate, and lived at first in an attic in Camden Town. He had an almost encyclopedic knowledge, ranging across a huge variety of eclectic interests, including music (especially Mozart), opera, ballet, the theatre, history, archaeology, wine and winemaking, animal and plant life and even train timetables.

His last years were spent caring for his wife, who lived to see their diamond wedding anniversary. He is survived by his two daughters, five grandchildren and so far three great-grandchildren. He died on 22nd January 2014, age 93.

We are not sure of the location of the original diary, but it may be in boxes with hundreds of other family documents. The 1987 transcrption was donated to the local Historical Collection after it had been transcribed to Word, ready for the WebSite to be setup.

Frank with two of his grandchildren, and a great-grand daughter.

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