POW in WW2

[AnjiM]

Kev & Mack, thanks for the really useful information about Breville.  Knowing this, I'm going to send some time going through the rest of his papers and see if they give me any more clues.  I've a couple of maps and aerial photographs that might help.

[AnjiM]

Well I've just confirmed that the maps and photographs I have are of the River Orne and Breville area.  Looks like a strong indication of him being there.  I also have a letter that appears to have him still in Europe in the August of '44.  Possibly France as he is commenting that the wine and cider don't quite compare to London beer!

I had some feedback from ww2talk.com that he wasn't on the "Prisoners of War British Army 1939-45" register for British Army PoWs of all ranks held in Germany and German occupied territories.  So looks like the family story was just that; a story!   Thanks for all your help

[manmack]

anji,the family may be confused with a group of them who were dropped in the wrong spot,but they managed to get past the germans and back to their lines,mack

[manmack]

anji,heres a bit more,12th batt had been scattered during the drop,the first to arrive at the rendezvous point,which was a quarry half a mile from the orne bridge,were,12th batts commanding officer,Lt colonel johnny johnson along with major richie commander of A company,captain john turnbull,second in command of B company and the regimental sergeant major,most of the batt had landed on the eastern side of the drop zone,45 minutes later men began to arrive at the rendezvous point and began moving towards its objective,which was the village of le bas de ranville,the batt only numbered 60% of its strength,but by 0400 hours it had secured the village and began digging in to await the onslaught,mack
tune in next week for 12th batts fight against german tanks and infantry

[AnjiM]

Thanks Mack.  All this information has really given me something to look into with plenty of bed time reading!  Would you be able to help me with another query?  Would his service records, that I've applied for, show which company he was in during this campaign?

[loo]

I can't answer your question, but I did find a very interesting write-up about a relative of mine who was a POW in a book on the subject.  (It only covers Canadians - it's called In the Clutch of Circumstance, if anyone else needs it.)  There are tons of books on the War, and people have told lots of stories.  You might find a reference to this situation in a a book, if you have time to hunt them out.

[manmack]

anji,i have never seen a ww2 service record,but ime sure they will be quite detailed,mack