Aussie Soldier by Denny Neave

Author:Denny Neave
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Big Sky Publishing

“To make a compass, a magnetised needle or pointer is the first essential and you can imagine that a POW camp would not be a likely place to find one lying around. Again, ingenuity came to the fore. One brand of British safety razors advertised a good gimmick: ‘Why cut your fingers when picking up dropped razor blades? Use our razor with a magnet in the handle!’ So every POW who wanted a compass requested one of these specials in his next clothing parcel from home. And there it was: an innocent razor, not a suspicious item but something that every soldier possessed. Later on, the escape committee would organise metal to be magnetised on the transformer of our ‘canary’ – the secret wireless set. We made quite reliable compasses out of razor blades and sewing needles. Every person had a Hussif (sewing kit), complete with needles and thread. The simplest compass was made with a razor blade magnetised by stroking the blade with a magnet and then cutting it to an arrow shape with a pair of scissors under water. An aluminium bridge was shaped to balance the blade on a needle point, and the compass was ready to be assembled in a case with a final fancy touch of a dab of luminous paint, which came from a watch, on the needle point.”

Ron Lister, Crete, 1941

Some escape attempts were well planned and orchestrated. But occasionally it was a spur of the moment decision, taken when an opportunity presented itself, that could create the push for freedom.

“Me and some others were planning to escape (from Stalag VIIIB) but our actual escape was not planned, it happened on impulse. Some of us were standing at the gate one night, just looking. The guard was walking up and down and a German came in, leaving the gate open. It was dark, so I said: ‘I’m going out the gate. Is anybody coming?’ And two chaps said: ‘Yeah.’ So that made three of us. And I said: ‘Righto. Once we’re out, don’t look around. Just keep walking. If we get shot in the back, bad luck.’

“Blue” Heron, Germany, 1941

“I said to him I wanted to go to the toilet and he was lax, so I just walked along and moved the door of the train and I opened the door and jumped out into the snow. The snow cushioned me and I got up and walked away. I hid, but a kid gave me away. This is what you had to be careful of, some people were lenient towards you and some people got scared of you and the next minute I’ve got the police on me.”

Doug Nix, Greece, 1941

“I made six attempts to escape, and the first time was from the hospital. They moved the least wounded of us into a block of flats and I tried to get away. I got over the wall, but I almost fell on top of the German guard. So that was that.”

Keith Hooper, Crete,

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