206953 Eric Hodgson Royal Air Force HQ206 Group My father, Eric Hodgson, spent about 18 months in Stalag IV B after being captured on Leros in 1943. He had prisoner number 267453. He was a wireless operator in the RAF. Whilst he rarely talked about his wartime experiences, I have managed to glean the following history from his photo album and the occasional comments he made.
He was shipped out to Egypt in 1941, travelling in HMT Orcades from Greenock to Durban (with a stop at Freetown) and then in SS Mauretania to Egypt (via Aden). He kept the Christmas 1941 dinner menu titled "HQ206 Group MEF" and with a "Merry Christmas Other Ranks!" signed by CB Cooke Air Officer Commanding. He was transferred to Cyprus and was there on his 21st birthday in Sept 1942. In late 1943 he was part of the force sent to occupy Leros following the Italian surrender, but was captured when the Germans, with total air superiority, overwhelmed the Allied forces there.
He was sent as a POW to Germany. I have the POW Christmas card he sent home (franked on 4th Jan 1944) from Dulag Luft. I also have two postcards he was able to send home from Stalag IV B. I think they speak eloquently of the despair of life in the camps and they boost the POWs got from parcels when they arrived.
Dated 10th Jan 1945 "Dear Mother & Dad, My luck has still not improved there is very little mail & parcels coming in now, & I'm not one of the lucky few. This streak must break sometime & the sooner the better. Parcels have run out again & cigarettes are only for the privileged few. I hope you sending plenty a few five hundreds would be just the job now. Love Eric"
The second one was dated 11th Feb 1945 "Dear Mother & Dad, Well I'm in a much more cheerful frame of mind this week. The reason of course - parcels arrived last Thursday so that we are now eating better & have a few cigarettes to smoke. You've no idea what a colossal boost it gives to the morale of the camp when parcels arrive after an interval without. No more mail from you yet. Love Eric"
I remember he mentioned the bitterness caused when a few of the American POWs captured in the Battle of the Bulge were involved in stealing some of the few possessions of fellow POWs who had been in captivity for several years in many cases.
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