Sgt. Ronald Mayfield Cridge
New Zealand Army No8 Co. N Group 26th Battalion
from:Christchurch, NZ
My Father, Ronald Cridge was as a POW in Stalag XVIIIA:
Embarkation 22nd July 1941 - After enlisting, Ronald was sent to Burnham Camp for initial training before being sent with his friend Brownie Dann to Wellington with the 1st Section of the 4th Reinforcements on the evening of the 7th November on the “Rangitira”. Embarking the following morning on the Polish ship the “Batory” sailing on the eve of the 8th Nov into a howling gale. They were acompanied by The “Achilles” & the “Maunganui”to Sydney. The troops had 2 ½ days leave then sailed in convoy with three larger ships full of Australian troops escorted by three Australian Cruisers to Fremantle. The Batory was a liner of 14287 tons and Captained by Deyczakowski, but owned by the British and employed as a troop carrier during the war, also used to uplift the families from Singapore. The Convoy spent 5 days in Fremantle while the cruisers searched for a German Raider in the Indian Ocean. The convoy then departed for Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where they had a days leave in Colombo. While on board Ronald was excused many duties and lectures as he worked six evenings a week as film projectionist in the ship’s cinema.
The Convoy reached Port Tewfik on the 16th Dec. where the New Zealanders disembarked and travelled by train to the Maadi Military Camp a few miles out of Cairo. Christmas day was spent at Maadi. After further weeks of training and two weeks guarding Italian Prisoners of War, the renforcements were finally moved to the Helwan Military Camp where they were drafted into different battalions and other support units. Ronald joined the 26th Battalion and Brownie Dann the 20th, separated after a long time sharing the same platoon, barracks and ships.
Egypt: We get a fair amount of leave which is spent mostly visiting various places, I went to the Pyramids last time, they were marvelous affairs full of old tombs and tunnels. Another interesting place was the “Dead City”, where Egyptians have been buried for centuries, the designs are glorious and huge some as big as several of our houses put together, the zoo is also great. My mailing is: Southern Training Company, Middle East Forces,Overseas.
21/Jan/1941 - Received your first letter today, although I see you’ve sent lots, probably missing somewhere. We have been here about 5 weeks now I have just finished a training course in Cinematography Operations, so that I will have a special job screening instructural films for the boys, entertainment and taking film. You must have had a quiet Christmas ours was quite good dinner althugh no “duff” and we had the day off !! I have been made Battalion Orderly Corporal."
Ronald was taken prisoner at Kalamata with some 1000 NZers and 1100 Australians and several thousand British. They were force marched to Corinth arriving on the 2nd May 1941 when he again met up with his friend Brownie Dann. From Corinth they were moved to Salonika arriving there on the 9th June. Two trainloads carrying most of the NZers left Salonika on the 11th & 12th June. Ronald was on the train to Wolfsberg in Austria. The main camp for all the Allied Prisoners Of War was established at Wolfsberg, Stammlager XVIIIA, attached to Wolfsberg were dozens of different types of working camps all with their own quarters and guards.
Ronald spent some 300 days in solitary confinement, generally for endeavouring to escape. He also had to wear a French Uniform as his had been removed from him which meant short trousers and as he had no leggings and only had the “clogs” (boots with a fabric top and a wooden sole, very hard to walk in and not waterproof) he suffered from the cold until at last the Red Cross supplied him with a new uniform and boots arrived from his parents.
29th May 1941- Ron was listed as missing in action : "Captured - while holding rear guard action at Kalamata Bay, to allow the majority to escape out to waiting ships, taking the men to Crete - 29th April, 1941. The ships had gone we were left and took to the hills, where we were captured, carrying our friends we were marched for days to a rail junction, without food or water. We were hearded onto cattle trucks at Corinth and shunted on our way, for many days more, still without food or water. I, with two friends, managed to carry some water with us to share around. We travelled by train to a few miles North of Athens where we had to disembark and walk again as the rail tunnels had been blown up by our engineers on the retreat. From there we were marched for many miles over hills, rather like the Christchurch Port Hills, on very primitive tracks, to a town called Lamia. We slept on the track where we stopped, exhausted. The nights were cold.
From Lamia we travelled to Salonika, we stayed there for a few days before being shunted into horse wagons and went to either Austria or Czechoslavakia. I was sent to Austria. Red Cross managed to get food parcels to us at some of the waiting junctions. – arrived at Stalaag XVIII - Near the City of Graz." The Camp Commandants, name was Hauptmann Steiner.
22nd July 1941 "My Dear Folks, At last we have been given the opportunity to write something like a decent letter I do hope that you have received my numerous notes through the Red Cross. Well we have been captured some 3 months now and have seen more in that time than I ever imagined possible. The scenery through the Balkan States is marvellous, but I will tell you more about that at a later date. You may write as often as you like to the given addresss. We are allowed to receive parcels from home amounting to 10lbs per month. The Red Cross officials were around today, they have promised us parcels in the near future, my health is keeping up well so you have no need to worry,Your ever Loving Son Ron."
"12th Oct. …..all’s going well, we received boots from the British Red Cross today, preparing for winter and snow, as we are in the mountains, big excitement today I received a tin of N.Z. honey in my parcel from the R.C. I don’t think I told you that only 3 from our Battalion were captured, the others all got on the boats to Egypt. So we were really unlucky. Red Cross organise a camp newspaper which we get occassionally,..."
Photo at POW Camp Austria 18 .1 .1942
Front Row: S.Whittel,T.Newton, B.Oldham, D.Duggan. Ron Cridge, R.Jahmeton
Back Row: G.Quirk, Q.Gray,R.Woods,G.McKay,G.Bissel,F.McCallum,S.Ryans,G. Herring.
"26th July 1942, well all still in the Pink, although we colonials are getting very late mail, but at least we are getting our cigs parcels.
We had a wonderful concert last night lots of good acts. My Haggis Mate and I were runners up in the Camp Event. I can speak this lingo well now.
Now working in a difficult job- canal work.
There is not much food to go around, thankfully the RC parcels keep us going, we will pull through.
Heard they caught Ned Kelly on the Coast."
"21st Feb 1943.. have changed my address to Stalag, quite a nice change to see all my Christchurch friends Cranny Hearn & others"
"11th July1943 – yesterday we had a Christchurch reunion a few personalities, Vic MacDonald, Maurice Collins, Lance Rankin 26 in all a truly grand afternoon. News is good, but nothing can happen quickly enough for us.- Keep smiling Mum, Cherrio.."
"14 July - A card from my friend John (Jack) Dillon from[Brisbane,QLD]. from Stalaag VIIA Austria with his photo. "
G Bissell & Ronald Cridge, 1942.
"16th Nov. winter is here, becoming intensely cold again. For the last 2 months I have been out in the forest gathering wood for the winter. Carl Carlisle has just produced his latest pantomime entitled “Lights Life” a great show he is an enormous asset to our Stalag
22nd Nov. 1943, I have been moved out of Stalag to this terrible godforsaken hole Luzon, we in Germany are entitled the “Toothless Terrors”, there are exactly 104 but 12 went through, they are doing time in the local “Boob”. There have been more “Captains” here dishing out orders than I have ever seen before even in the front line.
Liberated 28 April 1945
"28th May 1945 – Margate England N.Z.E.F. I landed in England with practically nothing, just ever so relieved. We had a wonderful trip over by “Lancaster” Bombers, boy what a kite. We were with the Yanks in Germany for 3 weeks they gave us a most marvellous time, they’ll do me. Today we are busy getting re equipped, we are almost finished. Just received a ‘tenner” mighty queer to handle real money again. I shall write again shortly ."
In London Ronald again met up with his friend Brownie Dann at a service Club. They travelled home together on the “Rangitiki” which sailed from Liverpool on the 26th July 1945.
Comment by the late Eric Fearnside: “At four o'clock in the morning, we heard the cries, "Raus! Raus!" and we were tumbled out of bed for what was to become the last time at Stalag XVIIIA at Wolfsberg. Bewildered and shivering with the cold on the parade ground, we were told by the Commandant that we were being evacuated to a safer area. Taking only the bare essentials, we marched off into the unknown. The date was the 10th of May, 1945. The war had been over for two days, we could not believe it, we were at last going home. We were free....
