The Diary

1st May, Tuesday.

Dismal cold day. Debating whether to skin out after dinner or wait until "Dutch" Holland comes back from Mainburg [he had gone with Sgt. Maj. Sutherland]. Helped to make soup midday; the last Jerry soup? - tomato powder, peas, beans, spuds, pork bones.

Decided to leave. Snow afternoon, turning to drizzle evening. A truck called in to evacuate a man shot by the SS *(several have been shot in outlying billets) [It was mainly this that finally decided Eric to be insistent upon leaving today]. The truck was an old Jerry fire truck. We climbed on board. First took the wounded man to 59 Field Hospital, where we got coffee and doughnuts and toilet requisites from an American Red Cross van and a lift in their van into Mainburg, where we had more coffee and doughnuts.

Registered with the RAMP organization[ Recovery of Allied Military Personnel ]. Found a billet. Had stew from the Yanks. Good brews in the civvy house (where we had commandeered their kitchen as our billet). Gave away most of our Red Cross stuff to German civilians in the street [at the end we had almost more Red Cross material than we could carry]. Slept in the cosy kitchen of the civvy house.

*Editor's Note: In more recent years he mentioned that the Hitler Youth were also thought to be shooting POW's and that this was a great cause for concern at the time.

2nd May, Wednesday.

Up at 5.0am. Wash and shave in the civvy house. Good breakfast of porridge, steak, fried Spam hash, fried bread, bread and jam, tea. [Gave most of our remaining tea to the people in the house. It was the first real tea they had seen since the beginning of the War].

Parade for tickets 7.0am; much snow. Journey on lorries to REGENSBURG. Registered in a group; drew rations. Walked out to find a civvy billet, but failed. Evening walked in the country to the next village. Rations not so good - only twice a day [the Americans thought we must have been starving and that to give us full rations would make up ill. So that at first, at Regensburg, we had much less to eat than as prisoners, and wished we had not given away our Red Cross food]. Found a billet in a deserted building.

3rd May, Thursday.

Woke up with severe diarrhoea; went sick and was given bismuth tablets. Weather shows signs of clearing. The plane service started this morning [ferrying ex. POWs home] and many leaving. Mucking in temporarily with a ginger chap. Breakfast fried eggs (powder), C ration, tea. Mid-morning brew of coffee. Afternoon, moved into a room with most of 125 Group.

Groups are leaving so rapidly that we decided to move into the house [this was the office block of the severely bombed Messerschmidt factory]. Had a comfortable room with 5 sleeping. Dinner: C ration, coffee. Supper: corned beef hash, tea. The prospect arose of being deloused [an essential formality before being evacuated by air from Germany] during the small hours, so Lofty went out to try and find the Group Leader and his mates in their civvy billets, but failed [The American Authorities would not delouse a group and declare it ready to travel unless all the group were together]. To sleep on tables.

Editor's Note: In later life, he noted that the delousing process had evolved into a single small puff of DTT, whereas before it meant being sprayed all over with some chemical.

4th May, Friday.

Up at 1.0am with news that most of our group had deserted us and joined another group for delousing [so many were away sleeping in town that the group system was in chaos]. Much trouble trying to form a section at a moment's notice out of men in a similar plight to us, most of whose sections were in town. Eventually got 16, with the prospect of 9 of our section returning in the morning to make the 25 as the new 125 Group and we persuaded the sergeant to delouse us as a group.

Up early. Breakfast: cereal, corned beef hash, tea. The 9 men returned and were deloused, making us ready to go. Mid-morning brew of coffee and Canadian biscuits. Dinner: C ration, tea. Still no planes arrived, although many sections were waiting at the field [the air-field attached to the Messerschmidt factory]. 1.30pm the first planes were arriving. Went sick again and was given mixture.

Cannot leave anything lying about here! 2 boxes of noodle soup swiped, our only supper and breakfast if we don't leave today. Only 6 or 7 planes came, however, altogether. Dull, nasty weather. Dinner; C ration. Supper onions with bouillon, cocoa.

5th May, Saturday.

Still dull rainly weather. No groups left today. Had bath morn. Walked around Regensburg with Eric afternoon

6th May, Sunday.

Started on three C rations per day [as 2nd May]. Dull, cloudy, rainy morn but began to clear midday and quite promising by sunset. Planes began to arrive midday and about 30 came during the afternoon; some groups left. Eric and I for a walk aft around the nearby villages and then to a milk factory on hearing stories of great looting, but only found any amount of malted milk powder.

7th May, Monday.

All groups were ordered to stand by today and groups up to no. 80 were out on the road [waiting to embark]. A lovely spring day, very hot, and great expectations but actually, although a great many planes arrived, many left empty and may took only sick, and no groups left at all.

Afternoon came the official announcement of the END OF THE EUROPEAN WAR: None of the ex-KGF (POWs) showed much interest in the news but at night many got drunk in the town and the Yanks were firing off verey-lights and tracer bullets. In fact, most of the British were feeling intensely annoyed and browned off at continually being messed about, especially the earlier-numbered groups who have been waiting out on the road every day. To cap matters, there were no rations evening except for the first few groups. Spent most of the afternoon down by the Flying Field, watching the transports coming and going; very pleasant.

8th May, Tuesday.

Very fine morning. K rations issued (double issue morn to make up for last night). Lofty and Arthur went out to get sugar and wine morn. Planes arriving thick and fast and may groups g etting away. Groups up to no. 110 were out on the road and nearly all gone, but we [Group 125] must wait another day at least. Very hot summer weather. K rations again midday but reverted to C rations eve.

General Patton was on the flying field in afternoon.

9th May, Wednesday.

Everything went smoothly today. Lovely weather. Group 125 embarked on a P47 (Dakota) transport plane. During the flight we had an excellent view of the Black Forest and the Rhine. Landed at Rheims and travelled in lorries right through the city to a reception camp on the race course. Here the entire area of the race course was occupied by many thousands of ex-prisoners of all nationalities, but mainly British, American and Canadian. There was no accommodation whatever for such numbers, but fortunately it was balmy summer-like weather and we slept under a hedge.

10th May, Thursday.

Late morning transported in lorries many miles out into the country to a remote airfield on the Chalk uplands. Here we embarked on a Lancaster bomber. Took off at 12.30. pm Had a good view of Brighton on the way and landed aft at Ford, Sussex, on a small temporary airfield surrounded by fragrant cow parsley. On to a re-equipment camp at Sompting (Camp 113).

11th May, Friday.

Spent the day in documentation and re-equipping. Strolled in the village evening.

12th May, Saturday.

After midday meal, several hundred ex-POWs, all in brand new uniforms, embarked on a special train at Worthing Central Station. To Victoria, and arrived home on repatriation leave 5.0 pm.