The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

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258652 Capt. Herbert Derrick Bell Lorraine British Army Royal Army Service Corps from:Oxford Late Cadet C.Q.M.S., Glenalmond (Trinity College) Contingent, Officer Training Corps. Bertie Lorraine was commissioned on the 31st Dec 1938, Royal Army Service Corps - Supplementary Reserve of Officers. He was mobilized the 24th Aug 1939. From 1938 to 1940, he served with British Expeditionary Forces in France, where he was wounded and captured. From 1940 to 1945, was a POW (No. 1565) at Oflag VII-B in Eichstatt, Bavaria. On or about the 27th May 1940, during the Battle of France, Derrick Lorraine sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. Whilst in the ambulance, he was captured by an advancing German panzer division. On the 29th May, he was forced at pistol-point out of the ambulance and made to hobble over to the Blockhouse North of Cassel to ask the Gloucestershire Regiment soldiers commanded by 2Lt Cresswell to surrender. He shouted "Wounded British Officer here!" and hobbled over to the entrance to the blockhouse. In a low voice, he then said "˜Do not reply" and pointed to a dead German soldier nearby. "There are lots of those around here", he continued, motioning with his eyes toward the roof of the bunker and making Cresswell understand that they were on the roof of the bunker. He then hobbled on away from the bunker and back to the ambulance. He had no intention of trying to get them to surrender. He was then transported to Offlag VIIb in Eichstatt and remained there for the rest of the war. Derrick was my uncle and never spoke to his sons about the war. The story above is recounted in some of the Dunkirk history books, one of which is Dunkirk: The History Behind the Motion Picture by Joshua Levine. In this book, he is recorded as an artillery officer, this is a mistake, as he was RASC not RA. Mike Hurman Add to this record.  Related Content: Royal Army Service Corps Royal Army Service Corps Royal Army Service Corps Royal Army Service Corps Battle of France and The Low Countries 1940 Operation Dynamo - The Evacuation from Dunkirk and nearby Beaches Oflag 7A Prisoner of War Camp Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

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