The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

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5043255 Lt. Ernest Francis Kinsey British Army Army Education Corps My father Ernest Francis Kinsey was captured in Crete on the 1st of June 1941 and after spells in Oflag XC and Oflag VIB was transferred to Oflag VIIB in Eichstaett on 8th September 1942 and spent the rest of the war there. (The dates are all from his German 'Personalkarte I' which I still have). His POW no. was 3443. At the start of the war my father was a regular soldier stationed in Egypt. From there he went to Greece and then Crete. At the time of his capture he was a Lieutenant (I think) in the Army Education Corps (A.E.C) probably seconded to the Intelligence Corps. He was a ciphers officer (probably the chief ciphers officer) on Crete. My father was on the march from Oflag VIIB to Moosburg which was strafed by American fighters. He never talked much about this and I only found out the full horrific details a few years ago from internet searches. His only story about the strafing, recounted many times, was how his friend Brian Porter had apologised profusely for having broken their biscuits after they dived into a ditch to take cover. Oflag VIIB was close to the town of Eichstaett, site of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Walburga. The tomb of St. Walburga is in the abbey and at regular intervals oil produced by liquefaction used to flow from the tomb. Towards the end of the war my father was allowed to accompany the camp's Catholic army chaplain Padre Tony Antrobus on a visit to the abbey. They also met the abbess who presented my father with a vial of oil from the tomb. The vial was kept in a finely embroidered container which my father afterwards kept pinned to his vest. He had it on the march. After the camp was liberated my father was flown back to England from Landshut. The plane in front of the plane carrying my father crashed on take off from Landshut killing all on board. You may or may not believe in miracles. I think my father probably did. My sister is named Walburga. The second story relates to the camp commandant, an old Prussian officer name Blatter (I think) nicknamed 'Heldentodt'. Sometime during the war period a German guard on night duty at the camp panicked when hearing suspicious noises in the latrines and threw a grenade into the latrine building. The details are not clear but someone was killed and after the war the commandant was accused of war crimes as a result of this incident. Padre Tony Antrobus gave evidence in his favour and 'Heldentodt' was cleared. As a sign of gratitude the ex-commandant presented Tony Antrobus with a large pen drawing of Eichstaett market square. Tony gave it to my father and we still have it today. The inscription on the back of the drawing confirms the story. Father Anthony Antrobus was the Catholic Army chaplain at Oflag VIIB and after the war returned to his native Liverpool and life as a parish priest. He was great friends with my father. Dominic Kinsey Add to this record.  Related Content: Oflag 7B 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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