Pte. Doug Albert "Joe" Beckett
British Army Royal Army Ordnance Corps
from:17 Sturdie Avenue, Ipswich, Suffolk
My father, Doug Beckett, known by his nick name Joe was a POW from 29th of April 1941 till 4th of April 1945. Having been one of the 10,000 soldiers left behind on the beaches of Kalamata, Greece. He travelled the usual route after capture to Corinth followed by Salonika POW Camps, then to on to Stalag 18a, POW Camp, Wolfsberg, Austria and the associated work camps there. His POW number was 2497. From here he escaped on three occasions and when captured he was sent to punishment camps. He was released by American Soldiers as the War in Europe came to an end.
Doug had two very close friends whilst being held as a POW. Joe Ryan an Australian soldier and Sammy Hoare a New Zealander whose correct name might have been Private H. Hoare according to my father's Returned POWs questionnaire. I am trying to contact their families. Doug and Sammy escaped from Stalag 18a on 18th of December 1943 and reached the Hungarian Border at midnight on 25th of December 1943 having walked across the Alps through the snow. Where they were interned as free men at the castle of a Count Mihaly Andrassy in Szigetvar, Hungary where they stayed until the Germans invaded Hungary in May 1944 and where recaptured and sent to Semlin, Concentration Camp at Belgrade, Serbia for interrogation because they were both wearing civilian cloths and carrying fake Turkish passports when captured.
Also at the castle was a Roy Natusch Service number 33965 a New Zealand soldier known as the Double Dutchman and a master of escapes. (Nine books have been written about his wartime exploits). Doug and Sammy escaped from the concentration camp when it was bombed in error by the American Air Force. Sammy managed to get away but Doug was taken POW again soon afterwards. According to my father Sammy was sent to England after spending some time fighting with the Resistance Fighters, where he met and married an English girl before being repatriated to New Zealand. Doug sadly died in 2010, with me his son by his side.
