Not many people are aware of the fact that even in Forced Work Camps, Pows wrote poetry. Below there is a moving poem written by Mr Harry Tapley. Written by Harry Tapley, 4th Btn Gordon Highlanders PoW No. 5532 Kriegsgfangener Lager Stalag XXB, XVIIIB, XXA I find it hard just to explain As I travel back down memory lane Of the strength of mind, and stale black bread And cattle trucks, and frozen dead The companionship, when might was right The petty thieving in the night, The lice, the rags, the hunger pains The barbed wire fence, the stink of drains The sudden blackouts when you stand A raging torrent of commands, Sleeping in snow in open spaces Guards death frozen in their places Sharing out each little mite Eating potatoes black with blight Clogs and foot cloths hurting feet While topping miles of sugar beet Dreaming of bellies being filled While just another prisoner's killed, The eager listening to all news The lies, the rumours, the different vi...