213230 Pte. Thomas Joseph "Toenails" Bowles British Army Dorsetshire Regiment from:Salford My father served during WW2. He joined the Army in 1938 and went to France with the B.E.F in 1939 with the Manchester Regiment. He was a machine gunner. He was lucky enough to escape from France on the last warship H.M.S Shikari. Sometime between 1940 & 1942 he transferred to the Dorsetshire Regiment and stayed in the UK for home defence.
In 1944 he went to Normandy and went ashore on Mulberry. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Caen. He told me that he was held in cattle trucks in terrible conditions for a few weeks. He was sent to Stalag 4B and then to Stalag 4G where he worked in the gasworks in Leipzig. I don't think he was treated too badly but he said the Russians were treated dreadfully but he never gave any details. He was also, I believe ,on the great march and suffered badly eventually being liberated by the Americans. There are many details I don't know but my dad has passed away so I am lucky to have this bit of information
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