207826 Sgt. George Frank "Gert" Parker South African Army from:Durban, South Africa I always knew that my father had been in a prisoner of war camp in Germany, and heard a few stories but didn't know a great deal. I had a childhood friend who lived a few blocks away from us, and for some reason throughout our childhood our parents never met. We'd known each other for years, and when I was about 15, I was visiting her and there was a great thunderstorm. I usually walked home, but I rang my Dad and asked him to come and fetch me. We heard the doorbell ring, and heard my friend's father answer the door. We heard a shout and then strange scuffling sounds and were terribly alarmed to see our fathers in each others' arms and crying.
Our fathers had both served in Stalag 8a. My father, Gert (or possibly known as George) Frank Parker, was with the South African Forces, and I think he was a sargent. My friend's father was Horace Lee, and was with the British Army. They had been best friends during their time in the camp. They both had photographs of each other, and Horace had done drawings of all his friends including my father.
When the war was over, Horace went back to England and my father returned to Durban in South Africa. They completely lost touch with each other. Both married, and Horace came to live in Johannesbury, South Africa with his wife, not knowing where to even look for my father, knowing my father lived somewhere in Durban. However, by that time, my father and his family had moved to Cape Town, and then South Africa, not knowing that they were both living a few blocks apart! As you can imagine, they made up for lost time and saw each other each week until my father died in 1979. Horace died a few years later.
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