208195 George "Geordie" Braithwaite British Army Royal Army Service Corps from:Byker, Newcastle My father, George Braithwaite was a driver in the RASC. He was attached to the West Kents at Dunkirk. He was captured in the town of Albert after six weeks on the run from the Jerrys. He was questioned and sent into Germany by rail. Where he and many others were forced to march through Bavaria into Checeslovakia and into Poland where he was put in the camp Stalag 8b Lamsdorf. George was a bricklayer by trade so was put on a work party in the town of Gliwitz building manholes along the river side. My father was a great man and never told us of the bad times until we were a lot older and able to understand. He told me of the time he and a mate made hooch from turnips. He saved a couple of bottles. On Xmas Eve all the boys in the billet were really down, so he got out the hooch and within an hour they were all singing. Many years later he took the family to a local caravan park for a week. My brother and I met two lads of similair age as us. George being a good father asked their names, lo and behold their dad was in the same camp as ours. The two met and a three day drinking spree took place. I don't think my dad saw Skipper Dodds again. Unfortunately my Dad had a stroke in 1998 when he was seventy. He died five years later but always said he had a good life, and he did with my Mother and his two sons.
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