207643 Spr. William Diver British Army Royal Engineers from:32 Lecky Road, Derry, N.Ireland My grandfather William Driver enlisted in the Royal Engineers in November 1939 aged 43, having also fought previously in World War 1. He served with the British Expeditionary Force in France up until the evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940, was then posted to the Middle East and finally to Crete where he was taken prisoner in May 1941. He was transported to Lamsdorf where he spent four years in Stalag 344 until his liberation by the Russians in April of 1945. His prison number was 8273. He died in the mid 1960s so I never had the opportunity to talk to him about his wartime experiences, but my father has told me some of the details. He suffered severe deprivations as did all the POWs, and was struck with a rifle by a guard for passing a cigarette butt to a fellow prisoner. This affected his eyesight for the remainder of his life. I've travelled to Crete a number of times, but would love to find out more about the camp where he was held. I have a photograph taken in the camp with him on the far right of a group of POWs. I also have some German newspaper clippings showing the airborne invasion of Crete, and some postcards that he sent from the camp.
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