Edward Beetlestone
British Army
I am trying to find this information on behalf of one of my work colleagues whose father, Ted Beetlestone, was captured (possibly during Dunkirk) and detained at Stalag VIIIb sometime before 1942 during WW2. Fred only has sketchy memories about his fathers 'war' and would just like to piece together what he can. During his father’s time at Stalag he participated in a Sports Meeting amongst the POWs in which he won two Shields, one for the Shot-put and one for the Discus.
I have enclosed photographs of both shields which as much as my colleague could tell me are made from wood from one of the beds in Stalag VIIIb. The metalwork is nailed in place and the detail is hand painted on. As you can see the Sports meeting was held on the First of June 1942 and was the second such meeting to be held there. The text that states 'BK. 37B' I would assume refers to [sic] his fellow bearer Charlie Reed sometime before June 1942. Ted was apparently returned to England as part of a prisoner exchange with the Germans. I don't know if prisoner transfers were very common (or if they actually happened) but could possibly of been because of his duties as part of the medical team and therefore being classed as a non-combatant? Fred would like to know any information regarding the history of the shields and the sports meeting. If you can shed any light on this moment in history it would be very much appreciated. Any information sent to myself will be passed on to Fred Beetlestone.
