208344 Cpl. Horace "Harry" Huff British Army Royal Engineers from:Sheffield My Grandad was Horace Huff, the camp barber, and a prisoner for 6 years during World War 2. It has been interesting to read other accounts of the camp Stalag 383 and the goings on. His story makes me so proud and I am sure there are many like it from the time spent there.
Towards the end of the war all huts were marched out of the camp on their way to Berlin. My Grandad noticed the number of people who were contracting dysentery and being shot. My Grandad encouraged an Australian man to break ranks and roll down a bank into some woods and made shelter in the rough ground. The pair then spent a week living in the woods living on berries and raw farm produce. They then heard an American tank coming with German prisoners and were enlisted to guard prisoners at the farm. The farmer's wife was unwilling to let the pair near her small children gathering them and repeating 'nein' to my Grandad. With some persuasion using a photo of my mother, who was 2, she became more friendly and after a few days there the American troops returned.
From there my grandfather was taken to a repatriation camp and sent back to England. He was 6 stones in weight upon his return and went into a rehab program visiting local factories and natural sites of beauty to re-aclimatise with England. This was a big help to his recovery and he soon became a good humoured and hard working steel worker once again.
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