HIS DEAREST WISH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 28 June 1945, Page 7

HIS DEAREST WISH

‘GET HOME AND SETTLE DOWN’ i NEVER WANTS TO SEE EUROPE AGAIN Some idea of what our New Zealand men are feeling and thinking after a protracted stay in German prisoner-of-war camps is given by these extracts from letters written towards ,the end of May by Corporal Derek Grainger. At the time he was in a hospital in England after having been released from prison camps in which he spent four years. , Corporal Grainger is a son of the late Mr. F. Grainger and Mrs Grainger, of Wadestown. Wellington, and a nephew of Mr and Mrs C. A. Grainger, Nelson. Before the war he was in the head office of Woolworths, N.Z. Ltd. Our last few weeks'as prisoners-of-war were utterly unbelievable; the terrible forced marches, lack of food and water and the cold, he writes on 20th May. Thank Heaven it was all something of the past and one can try to forget it as soon as possible. I have managed to bring out my photos which I bribed a German sentry with cigarettes to take. When you see them .you will know that the stories of Buchenwald camp and others are no fairy stories! I had these photos taken at Chelm, Stalag 319. I will try to get home as soon as possible. Things have changed in our four years of prison life. To-day I managed to sneak out and into Newmarket. Good Heavens! how expensive things are—cigarettes/ etc. We cannot buy any food, shoes, biscuits, etc. because we have no ration cards at present, so back we came, bitterly disillusioned. I hope they will shift me soon from here to the N.Z. Army base camp. I had bad pleurisy in Hohenfels, Stalag 383. So far I have' not had the verdict of the X-Ray taken here. I hope to get home and settled down again and try to finish off my Accountancy exams. I just want to settle down in the peace and quiet of our own home, and I never want to see Europe again! THE CONTINENTAL SUNDAY To-day, Whitsunday, I took a Czechoslovakian P.O.W. down into Newmarket. He was astonished because all the shops were shut and streets deserted—he asked me why, and I told him it was the famous English Sunday, but it was beyond his comprehension. He said in peacetime in Europe Sunday is the busiest day in the towns; everybody promenades up and down and shops, theatres and cafes are all open and do a brisk trade. He thought the English Sunday simply terrible. He asked me what people did and I told him they all either stay home or go visiting on Sunday afternoons! There was nothing for us to .do —no tearooms open, no N.A.A.F.I. or soldiers’ club, so back we came. If I feel better I might get permission to go through to Cambridge—only 8 miles away; but it is not much use going on leave at present—one cannot buy anything; meals are hard to get, and I have not got confidence in myself yet; feel unsure if we are permitted to go into places—it is a strange experience. I have picked up marvellously in weight and condition; I now weigh 10 stone 5 lbs. We were certainly very skinny and suffering from malnutrition when we were brought here; also the dysentery had played havoc with my strength; but I managed to keep going somehow on the march in Germany so escaped being shot. But once we were released my stamina seemed to give way. Yesterday I went into Newmarket to buy a folder and some stamps at the Post Office. An English soldier and I were walking along in our ghastly blue suits and white shirt with red tie—our hospital uniform—when a ‘‘civvy” gave us 2/6 each to go to the pictures; we refused but he insisted; however, we didn’t go to the pictures as I just cannot be bothered with them. To go to see stupid dance bands and girls singing sloppy songs seems so callous after the terrible scenes I have witnessed—the ghastly barbaric treatment of prisoners, the starving, homeless people of Germany (although I have no sympathy for the Germans). The accountancy exams I sat in Germany on April Ist. to Bth are lost I suppose. We sat them with the sound of the guns pelting Nuremburg in our ears. It was very unsettling indeed! We were lucky when we were released not to be hit by a shell seeing that we were in farms with the Americans advancing from the River Iser on one side and the Germans retreating to Landshut on the other side. It was not very pleasent. We have been questioned about British soldiers who we know collaborated with the Jerries. I was able to give information about one R.S.M. I have kept the details in my mind ever since I was in Salonika camp; I vowed then that I would do my utmost to bring that chap to a courtmartial. Apparently hundreds of other men have reported him. I’m glad he is going to get what he deserves. INTEREST IN ELECTIONS I expect my transfer to the New Zealand camp at Westgate any day. Still no mail forwarded, though I received a parcel from N.Z. House from the Patriotic Fund—a big tin of oysters, a tin of honey, 100 N.Z. Capstan cigs., also 100 Martin cigs. from the Overseas League. Very welcome too as this country is very short of food. The weather here has not been too good; it’s fairly cold and has been overcast and wet all this week. By Jove! I notice a change in England since we were here in 1940. They are certainly beginning to show the strain after five years of war; most things are very scarce; people havjs plenty of money but can’t spend it; but it seems to me the same all over the world. We have some South Africans in the ward and they tell me it’s the same in their part of the world. The English boys are all “het up” over the election business. They all seem to want 'a Labour Government, but are suspicious of the Labour Party because of the number of foreigners in it and Jews.. Personally I think Churchill’s party will get in on papers and cakes of chocolate and a to see the Italians walking about with English girls. I get terribly wild every time I pass them on the streets; also the German P.O.W.’s are too well fed and treated in comparison with our treatment at their hands. Let’s hope the Jap war will not take too long so that the boys can all get home to their own countries and all these foreigners can be sent home; and normal trade can flow again. As far as I can see it’s going to take a long time to put the world to rights. I can hardly wait to feel the deck of the troopship under me and to know I’m on my way home.. So far I haven’t been inside an English inn,

I’m scared to drink beer as I don’t know just how it will affect my stomach, so am T.T. for the present, probably until I hit New Zealand. " HOLY SMOKES ” I have had a lot of leave from the hospital lately. The other day two of us hitch-hiked through to Cambridge. This time we had five hours there so we had a great time looking round. The Colleges are much more interesting than Oxford—they are better grouped; also the walks along the Cam down the river are really beautiful. The theatres in Newmarket send free tickets to all soldier patients at the hospital. I did eventually go, but didn’t enjoy them except the newsreels and popular science supports. Yesterday, while I was in Cambridge, the New Zealand padre visited the five Kiwis here and left us two packets of cigarette tobacco and papers and cake of chocolate and a cake. The cake was between us all. By Jove! it was good to roll our own cigarettes again with a decent tobacco and papers; especially after rolling butts in pages of our Bibles, as we had to do when prisoners-of-war. These were known as “Holy Smokes.” I hope to be home about July or August sometime. On my way down to the station to go into camp Dad brought me a fountain pen and also a silver eversharp pencil; but when I was captured the Huns stole the eversharp pencil along with my watch. The fountain pen had to go to buy bread to keep me alive in the foul prison camp at Salonika. I don’t think Dad would have minded because it saved us from death and starvation Three of us took it in turns to sell various personal belongings and so existed.