Much of my reasoning for creating a blog to record Edwards wartime documents was to ensure these items could be both seen and understood by the whole family. Whilst I limited who knew of this blog from the beginning I am pleased to say my confidence in its content has grown over time, and as such i have worked to inform more and more family members of its existence.
I am delighted to confirm that with this greater exposure has come a great deal of positive feedback and encouragement to continue with this project from friends and family alike.
What I had not considered in this process is that there are more than just documents we as a family must record. Reading this blog appears to have encouraged conversations between family members and inevitably lead to memories being discussed. Memories which included short stories Edward had shared following his war time experience.
My understanding is that Edward, like many of his generation, did not often discuss the war or what he experienced throughout it. However it has been suggested that on such occasions that he had frequented a local drinking establishment he did begin to open up and share the odd anecdote. The stories he shared, whilst obviously unsubstantiated, I believe are worth recording to give a more human side to his experience.
It's memories of such conversation's that inspired Richard (My Uncle/Edwards Son) to get in touch. He sent me a number of short stories Edward shared but today I will only record two, as they are relevant to the stage of Edwards journey we have reached, his time in Stalag VIII C.
(Left to Right - Richard/Ruth/Ted)
One such tail involves the work he was expected to carry out as a prisoner of war. Whilst details are not known of the location it seems Edward was working in a quarry.
"A truck was blown up or exploded in some way and he was interrogated by the Germans accused of sabotage. He had nothing to do with it and took a beating for nothing".
Richard does stress that he cannot guarantee the accuracy of such stories, but I think what it does do is confirm Edward will have been having a tough time of it at this stage of his war.
Work camps known as Arbeitskommando (Kommando for short) were common throughout the war consisting of smaller camps attached to a main Stalag where it's prisoners were put to work. According to the Geneva Convention this was acceptable provided the conditions met certain criteria and that prisoners were not working on behalf of their enemies war efforts, though this was often ignored.
There are 9 work camps listed as having been associated with Stalag VIII C with varied locations, which appeared to have changed over the course of the war. Some such camps are a great distance from Stalag VIII C but it seems the majority are in fact the old Polish prisoner work camps (Polenlager) located in and around Silesia (Historic region of central Europe made up mostly of modern day Poland with small parts of Germany and the Czech Republic). Silesia is an area rich in natural resources to this day:
(Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silesia)
This is consistent with Edwards account as the camp is within this region and the quarries will have been a natural place to have benefited from the local prisoner resource.
Further adding to the image of increasingly difficult conditions Edward was experiencing is Richards second memory referencing this time:
"Im not sure if you would remember but Grandad never had many teeth left. He said he complained of toothache and was checked over by a German dentist who pulled out good teeth and left the bad ones".
Accurate or not I think the clear message of Edwards accounts are that he was not treated well during his time in the camp.
These stories help to bring his experience to life and I thank Richard for sharing these memories and others I will reveal as the story further unfolds. I hope this will also inspire others to share their memories to be recorded and fill in the many gaps.
The short sentences provided are memories of what will, I am assured have been much lengthier tails. I understand Edward had a tendency to "cut a long story short" bringing to a close what had already been an incredibly long account. This appears to be a family trait passed down to my own Dad (Ted/Edwards Son) who often employs a similar style.
Possibly to me too..........?
This blog served only to record 4 sentences after all.
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