My
name is Dave Short, I am 30 years old and live in
Hartlepool
.
My grandad also called Dave Short or Ginge was a corporal in 1st
Battalion The Royal Scots and was part of the Highland Division at
Dunkirk
,
which was left behind as the rearguard to stop the Germans getting to
Dunkirk
so
the troops could get away. He was captured at a small village called Le
Paradis in
France
by
an SS company who promptly lined them all up to shoot. Just before they
where shot an officer of quite some rank in the SS was driving past and
stopped his men from shooting the prisoners and admonishing all SS
involved.
He
then had to endure a kind of death march from
France
to
Germany
during which he escaped in
Belgium
who shopped him to the Germans and so captured again. He managed to
write his name, address and army serial number on a scrap of paper and
slipped it to some nuns on the road side who posted it to my nana. She
got this scrap of paper 6 months before receiving official word from
whoever sent it.
Now
the story falters as the only story I know is he tried to slip some
bread to some Polish prisoners and something bad happened to him because
of it. He won a boxing trophy in the camp sports, a black marble thing
which my uncle still has. He was also in the Stalag 8b dance band led by
his brother in law Jimmy Howe who was also in the same regiment,
company, etc.
He
was repatriated in 1943 as a stretcher bearer along with the rest of the
band and had to go through
Sweden
to
get home in a kind if a swap deal involving German prisoners of war. The
Germans took one dog tag so that they would not fight again and if
recaptured who knows. During the hand over the Germans realised that
they were sending regulars back and not conscripts and they tried to get
them back to
Germany
.
Once
home the dance band embarked upon a kind of morale tour and even played
live on the BBC which my auntie olive can remember. My grandad played
the guitar and I think maybe the clarinet as well.