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Showing posts with the label escape from Stalag XXA

Just few hours to understand life in Stalag XXA(20A) in Torun

"I will always be grateful to Pawel for helping me understand better what happened to my father when he was captured by the German army after the fighting at Dunkirk. Like many former British POWs, Dad was reluctant to tell his children very much about what he had endured during the war. We knew he spent most of the war in German POW camps, in particular one in Poland. From his army records we discovered that camp was Staleg XX-A. I contacted Pawel at very short notice recently when I was in traveling with my husband in Europe. Pawel was able to meet me in Torun to walk me through the history of Staleg XX-A and some of the forts of Torun. My father, John Wilkinson, was with the British Expeditionary Force, serving in the  Light Tank Regiment of the 1st East Riding Yeomanry. We believe he fought at Cassel in France before being captured.  It was extraordinary for me to walk with Pawel at Torun where the British POWs disembarked, knowing my father would hav...

To freedom through Berlin Paris and Spain

        This time we had a great opportunity to host a son of Corporal Tom MacGrath from 51st Highland Division, Mr Tom MacGrath When Tom jr wrote to us, we were more than curiuos to learn about his father stay in Stalag XXA. It turned out that after spending two years in dreadful conditions of Stalag XXA, corp. MacGrath decided to escape from the camp. It took him some time to prepare the operation. But with help of local Home Army he managed to do so. The route was difficult and exhausting but fortunatelly through Barlin, Paris and finally Spain he got home safe and sound. Thanks to British Army reports, his son and grandson recently retraced Tom's footsteps, crossing the Pyrenees into Spain. It was a next thriving visit in which we actively took part! Hope for more!