204550 Lance Corporal Derek Charles Greene British Army 1st Btn. Rifle Brigade from:7, Versailles Road, Anerley, London My Father Derek Charles Greene served in the 1st battalion of the Rifle Brigade in the 2nd world war, he was captured at Dunkirk and ended up eventually in Stalag VIIIA prisoner of war camp in Upper Silesia, Lamsdorf. During his time there he learnt to converse in several languages and was able to talk to other prisoners from different backgrounds. At some point he acted in one of the many plays that were put on at the camp, the play he remembers was called `Golden Boy ' by Clifford Odettes and it was produced by A.W Cullingham at the camp I have put a copy of the actors on here and if anyone recognises any please get in touch. While my father was at stalag VIII he had to work as a punishment breaking rocks up and one fell onto his leg and crushed his ankle which has never really healed properly as he did not recieve any proper treatment but he managed to walk on it eventually , during this time he couldnt get out of bed and a fellow prisoner used to share his food with him , then Dad got a fever and nearly died but somehow he pulled through , his weight had dropped dramatically and he , told me that they once ate one of the german officers dog it was a sausage dog and Dad said the officer called them babarians but never found out who actually killed it. My father eventually came back to England in an American plane in the bomb hatch as he had by now become infected with T.B he told the pilot that if he died please drop him out over the English sea ... but Dad survived. Eventually back in an English Hospital where he stayed for some months, he met his childhood sweetheart Joan [Kenward} and went on to have five children, Dad will be 92years old in August 2009 and has endured ill health form his chest problems all through these years and after a year long battle, is now in remmision of cancer, he is a true surviver ... he is now in the process of writting his life story ...
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