251663 Cpl. Thomas Walsh British Army 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers from:Cork City Thomas Walsh was captured at the Battle of Leros. He died relatively young, probably as an indirect result of his incarceration. Reading the stories of others fills in the gaps in knowledge.
My one memory of what he told me (I was 10 when he died and he didn't talk about it much) was that he escaped his Stalag on two occasions only to be recaptured. The German guards made it very clear that if he tried a third time he would be shot. He did escape again with a couple of others. He and the others were hiding in the roof of a church and a German patrol arrived. A German Shepherd Alsatian dog was dispatched into the roof-space and instead of giving my dad away the dog licked his nose and returned to his handler!
He reached Allied lines and was one of the first home at war's end.
That's the story anyway:)
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