L/Cpl. Donald George Durrant
British Army Royal Engineers
from:Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent
My Dad, Donald George Durrant, was an engineer in the 8th Army. They were called the Desert Rats and he was posted to the Sahara Desert. He was taken prisoner - it may have been at Tobruk - and was sent to a POW Camp. He attempted to escape twice. Once with his friend Tich. As they were crawling on their bellies along a wall some Germans were crawling along the other side of the wall. Unfortunately they met at the end and they were both returned to the camp. He tried escaping again but got caught on the wire and was shot through the groin but recovered.
The guys in the camp were shipped over the Med to Italy and the prisoners were marched up through Italy all the way to Bologna where the city turned out in the streets to watch the column march through. Don dropped down to his knees and crawled out into the crowd under the noses of the German guards. He was taken in by Italians. Don let his black hair and moustache grow. He learned to speak Italian and joined the Italian resistance. However after a couple of years he was re-captured and sent to a POW camp in Gorlitz, Poland called Stalag 8a.
He was badly treated and starved there and the prisoners were made to break rocks in a quarry. Don somehow survived to the end of the war and was liberated by the Russians.
He was taken back home where my grandmother had decorated the street and everyone turned out to welcome him home. However he was too tired and emaciated. He couldn't face up to all the fuss and hid around the corner.
To add to the trauma, since he was away for years, his fiancee thought he was dead, as he hadn't been heard of and had married someone else which broke his heart.
There is lots more to tell and I have been asked to write a book of his story so I am researching and gathering evidence in earnest. If anyone has a relative or knows anyone from the WW2 Desert Rats or knows of his friend who was nicknamed Tich as he was short in stature, or maybe had a relative that was in Stalag 8a, please do get in touch, any information or contacts you have would be gratefully received.
