172540 Corporal Lionel George Degenhard British Army 1st Bn. Beds & Herts Regiment from: My Dad, Lionel Degenhard was shot in the leg and captured at the battle of Kalamata, Greece on 28 April 1941 and was liberated from Stalag 357 NCO Lager, Fallingbostel on 2 May 1945.
He had been transfered there when Stalag 357 was moved from Thorn (Torun) Poland. Prior to that he had been imprissoned at Stalags 18A (Wofsburg) and 18B Zweig Lager (Spittal - Drau)Austria.
In a handwritten log he recalls the following camps where he was forced to work:
- Klagenfurt - Canal Work - July to Sept 1941
- Dachstein Obertraune H.V. 75 - Barracks Building - Sept to Nov 1941
- Kleine Glodnitz A/13001/L - Road Making - Nov 1941 to Mar 1942
- Huttengerg A/11205/L - Sawmill - Mar 1942 to August 1943
- St Veit 11093/GW - Building - Aug to Sept 1943
- Reichendorf A/550/L - Farm work - Oct 1943 to Jan 1944
The log is a precious keepsake in an old school exercise book sewn between cardboard covers made of Red Cross packages. He lists friends, recalls poetry and songs, friends have written personal notes, he has drawn pictures and has included a comparison between what Canadian Red Cross sent their soldiers and what the European Red Cross sent the Brits. He implied the Canadians got more interesting contents. The references he recorded about their pantomimes and games really bring the experiences to life and the three real Gutschein uber Reichsmark and Reichspfennig POW money notes stuck to one of the pages remind me how real his experiences were. I have several photos which I will try to add later.
Dad died at the St David's Roman Catholic home for military personnel in Ealing on St Valentine's Day a month before his 90th birthday, 2006.
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