207609 Osman Parker "Ommy" Pearce British Army Royal Artillery My father Osman Parker Pearce MBE, LLB; recently passed away. He joined the Artillery in Newcastle at the onset of the war. He fought in the desert and advanced then retreated through Greece. Finally he was captured in Tobruk and taken to Italy. The Italians were relatively pleasant. From here they were serially sent to Germany in cattle trucks. He spoke little of his time in POW, just to say that without the Red Cross parcels he would not have survived. He said the Russians were treated the worst. His 'job' was a tin basher. He avoided anything to do with food because it provoked fights. He studied and completed his accountancy exams by post whilst there, afterwards becoming a solicitor. In an interview for his American grandson, he said that his greatest achievements in life were surviving as a POW and being awarded an MBE. I visited the camp site and museum a week ago. I do not think it was a time my father wished to remember. Throughout his life he would avoid arguments. Nothing perhaps was worth the anguish. He had dealt with things so much more extreme the pettiness of life did not come onto the same scale. He never said a word against the Germans. He may have told my mother more, but not his three children. He hoped for better for us and did not instil any prejudice.
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