Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 9, 2019 19:22:50 GMT 12
CAUGHT BY ARABS
AIRMAN'S EXPERIENCE
GERMAN GUARDS ELUDED
The misfortune to be captured twice by hostile Arabs while attempting to escape from the Germans in North Africa was experienced by Plight Lieutenant G. Fallows, of 7 Epsom Avenue, Epsom, who returned home with a draft of repatriated war prisoners yesterday morning. He was a prisoner in Germany for about two years.
In March, 1943, when a motor-lorry he was strafing exploded, Flight Lieutenant Fallows' aircraft caught fire and he was forced down near Mareth. He was not injured and was making his way toward the British lines when he was caught by Arabs a few miles behind the German lines. One Arab stood over him with a rifle until a party of Germans arrived.
He eventually found himself in Sfax. With about 10 other prisoners he was placed in a cattle truck bound for Tunis He kept in his boot a small saw which was included in his escape kit and on the journey cut two planks from the truck door.
Leap From Moving Train
The door was forced open and the New Zealander and ten others leapt from the moving train during the night. They walked about 20 miles and in the early morning hid in a barley field, as German motor traffic was fairly heavy in the area.
When they began to move away that night about 30 Arabs charged them with clubs and pitchforks. Some of the prisoners were beaten to the ground and in a few minutes they were all being taken to the Germans. Later they were sent to Tunis and flown to Naples.
From Naples Flight Lieutenant Fallows was taken by train to Frankfurt. After his interrogation, Flight Lieutenant Fallows was placed in a large Air Force camp, where he found conditions satisfactory. The monotony was one of the chief drawbacks and reading was almost the only diversion.
When the Russians were approaching the area, the prisoners were marched out on a 60-mile journey of four days across snow-covered roads. At night they slept in barns and they completed the journey in comparatively easy stages. They were then placed in cattle trucks and sent to Bremen, where they arrived last January.
Refuge in Prison Camp
The rail journey Flight Lieutenant Fallows described as "pretty grim." There were about 45 men in each truck and they slept on the bare boards in relays, as there was little more than standing room. Almost every man had dysentery and many suffered from frostbite.
In April the Bremen camp was evacuated and the men were marched toward Lubeck. They were only about seven miles out of Bremen when the Aucklander with four other airmen slipped out of the column and set off back to the Bremen camp. They crept for two nights and a day through difficult bog country and then climbed through the wires back into the camp, which was by them occupied by French prisoners. After a few days in hiding, Flight Lieutenant Fallows went across to a near by merchant navy internees' camp, and dressed as a seaman, waited there until Allied troops arrived to free them about three weeks later.
NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 7 SEPTEMBER 1945
AIRMAN'S EXPERIENCE
GERMAN GUARDS ELUDED
The misfortune to be captured twice by hostile Arabs while attempting to escape from the Germans in North Africa was experienced by Plight Lieutenant G. Fallows, of 7 Epsom Avenue, Epsom, who returned home with a draft of repatriated war prisoners yesterday morning. He was a prisoner in Germany for about two years.
In March, 1943, when a motor-lorry he was strafing exploded, Flight Lieutenant Fallows' aircraft caught fire and he was forced down near Mareth. He was not injured and was making his way toward the British lines when he was caught by Arabs a few miles behind the German lines. One Arab stood over him with a rifle until a party of Germans arrived.
He eventually found himself in Sfax. With about 10 other prisoners he was placed in a cattle truck bound for Tunis He kept in his boot a small saw which was included in his escape kit and on the journey cut two planks from the truck door.
Leap From Moving Train
The door was forced open and the New Zealander and ten others leapt from the moving train during the night. They walked about 20 miles and in the early morning hid in a barley field, as German motor traffic was fairly heavy in the area.
When they began to move away that night about 30 Arabs charged them with clubs and pitchforks. Some of the prisoners were beaten to the ground and in a few minutes they were all being taken to the Germans. Later they were sent to Tunis and flown to Naples.
From Naples Flight Lieutenant Fallows was taken by train to Frankfurt. After his interrogation, Flight Lieutenant Fallows was placed in a large Air Force camp, where he found conditions satisfactory. The monotony was one of the chief drawbacks and reading was almost the only diversion.
When the Russians were approaching the area, the prisoners were marched out on a 60-mile journey of four days across snow-covered roads. At night they slept in barns and they completed the journey in comparatively easy stages. They were then placed in cattle trucks and sent to Bremen, where they arrived last January.
Refuge in Prison Camp
The rail journey Flight Lieutenant Fallows described as "pretty grim." There were about 45 men in each truck and they slept on the bare boards in relays, as there was little more than standing room. Almost every man had dysentery and many suffered from frostbite.
In April the Bremen camp was evacuated and the men were marched toward Lubeck. They were only about seven miles out of Bremen when the Aucklander with four other airmen slipped out of the column and set off back to the Bremen camp. They crept for two nights and a day through difficult bog country and then climbed through the wires back into the camp, which was by them occupied by French prisoners. After a few days in hiding, Flight Lieutenant Fallows went across to a near by merchant navy internees' camp, and dressed as a seaman, waited there until Allied troops arrived to free them about three weeks later.
NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 7 SEPTEMBER 1945
