224539 Pte. Roderick Shand British Army 4th Btn. Cameron Highlanders from:2 Duff Street, Inverness My father Roddy Shand, along with his brother Murdo and several friends, enlisted in the Cameron Highlanders on the Sunday that World War II broke out. My father was a piper and stretcher bearer. They were taken prisoner at St Valery and taken in cattle wagons by rail to Poland. The camp was Stalag XXA near Gdansk. My father kept a dairy for 5 years. I only kept the last diary from January 1945 until he arrived home in Inverness on 14th May 1945. My mother had asked us to burn his diaries without reading them when she died. We honoured her wish. The last diary is about the March - he always referred to it as The March.
He often talked about when they received their Red Cross parcels. These parcels contained rice, bully beef, cigarettes and chocolate. My mother was allowed to send him some things via the Red Cross but never food. She sent him a razor, blades, shaving stick and soap and underwear. The Germans didn't have real soap and this was highly prized. He said the German guards were "just like us". But in January 1945 the SS moved in. They were cruel. One prisoner was shot because he refused to put out a cigarette when told to.
The March started in January in freezing conditions. These men were not in good health and Dad said many gave up and died on the March. They were starved, ill-shod and ill-clothed. Eventually they were liberated by the Americans. My father said within half an hour the Yanks had them all fed. This contrasted with their treatment when they got back to England. They had to stand for two hours and when they were fed the food was too rich and greasy and made them ill.
My mother adored him and they had a good life together after the war. One of his friends from that time, named his son after my father, Roderick Alexander. We once visited them in Davison Mains outside Edinburgh. He had played in the British Legin Pipe Band, but I think he had had enough of uniforms and his hobbies were cycling, Scottish country dancing and helping to run the Amateur Swimming club. He was a really good man.
|