262503 Pte. Robert Birse British Army 5th Btn. Gordon Highlanders from:Aberdeen On 27th of April 1936, my father, Robert Birse enlisted at Bucksburn as a lorry driver. During WW2, he was captured at St. Valery at 11am on 12th of June 1940 and taken to Stalag XXB. For some time, he worked on a farm there. He never talked much about it. On 2nd of February 1945, he escaped, this was when the Russians were approaching, he said.
After the war, he came to Australia and started an earth-moving and asphalt business. It seems that lorry driving must have stayed in his blood. In 1984, he died young, aged only 68.
He left two sons, Alastair and Robert John Birse.
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