Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

To begin with, all dates & periods are approximate also, but for the Red Cross I and many others would not have lived to tell the tale.
We were captured on the morning of 8th April 1941 at Fort Michelle & were held there for a couple of days with no rations & about ½ pint of water per day – this was contaminated with petrol & kerosene which gave us all dissentry – this complaint remained with me for my whole P.O.W. life – thereafter I was in 12 different camps. We were then moved to Dinna where we remained for several days during which time we were issued with a serving of soup, about a breakfast cupful.
After Dinna we were transported by motor lorry (28 to the vehicle packed very tightly and not allowed to get out even for sleeping on one particular night at least) to Benghazi where we were held for a week or so where we slept on concrete floors had a wholly inadequate water supply and sanitary arrangements & were issued with a tin of uneatable Italian tinned meat – of approx 4 oz – to two men every second day & an Italian army biscuit (similar to a large soda biscuit about 4” square.
We were then transported in similar fashion to Tripoli where we remained for 3-4 weeks under very poor conditions food was black coffee in the mornings a very sour loaf of bread about the size of a Sargeants bread roll & impossible to eat unless it was toasted to a cinder until all that could be tasted was the charcoal. Macaroni in small quantities & occasionally a small portion of meat – sanitary arrangements was shocking. Water was negligible.
Whilst travelling to Italy we were battened down below sea level in holds & were only permitted to come on deck in ones and twos occasionally for natural functions.
Upon arrival at Naples we were taken by train to Capua & marched some miles to a camp where we were housed in tents with low tressles a few inches off the sodden ground by this time most of us were too weak to do much for ourselves & it was an effort to walk – the food mostly macaroni was a little more plentiful but definitely insufficient. The sanitary conditions were not good & we still couldn’t get a bath until towards the end of our stay when we were treated with a travelling shower outfit but by this time lice had taken charge of us & it was impossible to rid ourselves of same. Both to & from this camp – the local citizens were exceedingly hostile & at times spat upon some of the troops.
The next camp was Sulmona in the province of aquila. The accomodation was much better here but water supply was bad. Food passing fare – for Italian food – mostly macaroni &/or rice. Occasionally meat & vegetables. We were able to have a shower every week or two here. Like many others & apart from my dissentry I developed jaundice – there were no medical supplies worth mentioning nor were there in any of the previous camps. We were in Sulmona for about three months during which period we were issued with one or two Red cross Parcels. We were not able to send letters home because we had to have stamps & naturally we had no money to buy same.
After Sulmona we were taken by train to Bulgano & then marched to a camp at Prato Al Isarco where we were housed in a large winery in three tier beds each holding 12 men with about three feet between the beds – but in some places because of shortage of space two sets of beds were pushed together. The food & Red Cross parcels were a little more plentiful here but medical supplies were poor but there was a hospital in Bolgano where they sent the very sick – I had 3 weeks in hospital with dissentry & Berri Berri – received a number of injections which helped considerably.
After this camp we were taken to Grupiginano near Udine (campo 57) where we remained until the Italians surrendered (about 1 ½ years). Until our own men got to work (those who could) the sanitary arrangements were bad & it was not until we were in this camp some 6 – 8 weeks that we could have a shower & then we had to walk to the far end of the camp of 30 acres. Spasmodically thereafter we were permitted to have a shower but not very often. The medical supplies were only those sent by Red Cross – the food was exceedingly short about a level tablespoon of rice or macaroni per man per day the usual sargents bread roll size of bread every second day & an Italian biscuit on alternate days. There was a very small ration of vegetables mostly cabbage which had to be boiled to a liquid to make it go one ladle per man. About once a week there was occasionally a little meat to go with the “soup” & once or twice a week there was a cheese ration about 2” square & ½ inch thick. Red Cross parcels were more plentiful here but with long periods between issues. Parcels from home were also drifting through. Whilst in this camp I had 2 – 3 months in hospital in Udine for dissentry Berri Berri & carbunkels. all the work had to be done by those who were able to get around as there were only two very elderly women who supervised linen – whenever it was issued & issued the food. Many men died here & in the camp through insufficient treatment & food etc. Whilst in this camp we were searched at least once or twice weekly – everything had to be taken out to the parade ground no matter if it were snowing! The beds were pulled down & the floor boards taken up – it was an all day process as there were 97 to each hut in two decker beds each carrying eight men; the beds were about 4 feet apart; one only very small heater was in the centre of the hut but not enough fuel to keep it alight for more than about an hour. the only clothing we had until the Red Cross came to our aid was very second hand Italian pantaloons & shirts & jackets & for a long period many of us were without footwear.
When the Italians surrendered we were taken over by the Germans & transported – in cattle trucks very tightly packed first to Markt Pango in Austria & then to Gorlity in North East Germany. in Austria we were housed in filthy barracks previously occupied by Russians & infested with fleas and bugs. Sanitary arrangements were just as bad. food was practically nil – a bar of Red Cross chocolate which we had saved divided between three of us per day was our main sustenance – until our chocolate ran out. Cattle trucks were again used to take us to Gorlity in N.E. Germany. Here we were housed at first so close together upon the concrete floor that it was impossible to get in or out of the building without treading on people all the way. Then we were put into barracks with 3 tier beds with only a very narrow passage between the beds some of which were pushed 2 & 3 together. food was so scarce the troops were eager to get into working parties in order to get enough to eat to keep them going.
After some weeks at Gorlity Stalag (or camp) 8A I with others was sent by train in cattle trucks to Loshnooitvich in Poland to work on the railways. Until the Red Cross parcels arrived some 3 – 4 weeks after us our diet consisted of artificial coffee in the morning a ladle of hot water just coloured with flour for Midday the same coloured water with if one was lucky a couple of small portions of potatoe about the size of a hen’s egg a very small loaf of bread about ½ one loaf between two. Sundays we were given mashed potatoes & a small portion of meat – we were working in the snow from daylight ‘til dark – we left in the dark & came back in the dark. The barracks were divided into rooms about 20’ square & about 20 to the room in 2 tier beds. The clothing position was bad & footwear was hard to come by – I was sick most of the time at this camp medical supplies were practically nil.
After about 3 months a big batch of us were sent to the coal mines firstly in Milavity & then Dimbrover. Most of the places we were sent to work were exceedingly dangerous and damp. the food was poor & the hours were long but we had new quarters but mixed with Cypriots Spaniards and other foreigners. Eventually through ill health I was given a job on the surface which held good at the next camp Dimbrover. Here the food was even worse – the meat, if any, was generally putrid cheese was artificial & so rank we were forced to discard it but for the Red Cross parcels we would not have been able to carry on especially as we were now being worked 20 days out of 21 – lucky sometimes to get the 21st day off. There was greater supply of bread in this camp than usual – we were issued with a desert spoon ful of artificial jam & sugar once a week. Medical supplies were Red Cross, clothing Red Cross mostly.
It was from this camp that we started on our 800 miles forced march through the snow blizzards & ice carrying as many of our worldly goods as possible with us.
But for my forsight or caution I am afraid most of us would have fared much worse than we did in our particular column. When we were ordered to prepare to move I first of all endeavoured to secure a sledge from the civilian through the guards but they would not permit the transaction so we set to & built our own – those who did not were forced to discard their food & clothing down to a minimum because of their inability to carry much & retain balance & energy on the ice & keep up with the pace set; as it was nearly all of us went in the groins owing to the condition of the ice on the roads & the speed we were forced to maintain.
for the first several days we were not supplied with rations & then because a number of us were not able to move quick enough we were left behind & picked up by motor lorries about 30 to the lorry. No parcels were allowed, let alone sledges but when the officers back was turned a friend & I put our sledge aboard & we all circled around it – the contents was all we had for some days as our driver got lost & finally dumped & abandoned us in a town on the border of the fighting. Eventually we were thrown into prison by the police & then transferred to another P.O.W. camp overnight – where we had our first shower – to 3 –0 4 weeks later we were attached to another column & the march went on. Most of which was in a daze & the number of towns& barns we were in is beyond my recollection. the food was entirely inadequate – when we got any & then it was generally only potatoes – more often than not we were forced on to the road well before sunrise only to be kept standing on ice & in the blizzards until 9 or 10a.m. then the pace was forced to make up time.
Generally we had to make camp in barns in the dark & then find what we could eat. Invariably if any it was potatoes. We got to the stage we were eating whatever we could “scrounge” along the road raw – raw potatoes or swedes etc
but there was not much of this as the guards were not friendly & if ranks were broken it generally meant being knocked over with a rifle or something. Once again the Red Cross stood by us & were able to arrange motor transport with neutral drivers to bring us a few food parcels from once or twice & this helped considerably but of course insufficiently. The sanitary arrangements were appalling & it was impossible to get a wash even, let alone a bath – one bath & delousing in 3 months!
From time to time we were camped with Russians or in quarters they had used & only those who saw these places can imagine the filth of them.
During the whole of the march there was no medical treatment provided except odd bandages etc carried by some of the ex medical orderlies & were used for the most severe cases of frost bite. The whole march took about 3 months during which time we covered over 800 miles out of Poland through Obersalicia – Sudaten land Checkoslavakia & ended at a village called Michael Nieu Kirken in Bavaria where we fended for ourselves for some couple of weeks & then we were picked up by the americans & driven in lorries to an airstrip flown to France & then after treatment flown by R.A.F. to England where I arrived about the middle of May 1945 with dissentry Berri berri & like the rest suffering severely from exposure & malnutrition.
The whole period until I arrived in England was 4 years & several weeks.
Parcels from home during the whole period must have cost well over £100 – time needed to get the approximate figure would delay this report. Suffice it to say that a clothing parcel was sent regularly every 3 months in addition to tobacco & book parcels sent by mother 4 sisters 2 brothers & many friends every time there was a possibility of sending same.
Communication with home was spasmodic & for the first 8 months I was posted “missing”. We were unable to send letters during the march.
N.G.H Croker (signed)