Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Second World War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Second World War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
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223985
Cpl. Ernest Lloyd Gipson
United States Army
from:San Diego, CA, USA
My father, Ernie Gipson was captured at Anzio in 1944. Until his last few years, he never spoke of his time during the war, his capture or his time in Stalag 7A. After he began to share his memories, they just flooded out, and I began to appreciate even more the service he rendered to his company and to his family. He left camp before it was officially liberated, in the company of an American and a British friend. They headed for the front, despite the dangers, as he said they had figured it would mean faster processing and home if they made it to their own lines than if they waited for camp liberation and it's resulting bureaucracy. They were nearly killed a couple of times, but made it through, and were roundly yelled at by an American officer for taking such risks. Apparently the British friend saved him from the brig by stopping him from taking a swing at the American officer and the two of them actually made their way to Paris before they finally went back "into the system". I will look for more memorabilia, as I know that he valued the men he met whilst a POW, and would want their families to have any information I could post. It would mean much to find out if anyone remembered him after the war.