225359 Gnr. Joseph Jerome Deponio British Army Royal Artillery My grandfather, Joseph Jerome Deponio, was born in North Wales to Italian parents in 1919. He was the eldest son and enlisted with the Royal Artillery, a gunner, army number 4191861, POW number 13046 and was captured at Dunkirk.
He was driving a lorry of officers to find another route and drove around the bend straight into a German ambush. He was marched to Poland. At some point he threw his guitar over a hedge because he simply couldn't carry it any longer.
He spent the whole war in the camp, with frequent petty escapes in the knowledge that he would be recaptured and then given hard labour - which meant extra food.
During one of these escapes the Germans were not so quick to capture them, possibly on purpose, and he and his friend walked for miles in the snow. His friend, Frank Nuttall, could go no further and sat down. He told my grandad to carry on without him. If he had left him there he would have died, so my grandfather carried him on his back until they were picked up shortly afterwards. Both were given time in 'solitary' and then hard labour. I don't think they bothered to try again.
There was also a chap called Bill Williams who he used to talk about, and others too.
When he returned to England he was in Sussex where he met my nanny, and settled there.
There is a photo of him on this website (which I found a year or so ago, but cannot find again) and I have no others of him during this time.
He came home speaking German - of great use during my GCSEs - and being able to get a tune out of almost anything you gave him. I would like to know if he played any instruments at the camp, or if he was in any shows that they performed as he spoke of them often when I was a youngster.
I would love to hear from anyone that knew him, or anything about his time during those long years.
|