208597 Pte. James Lawson Guy British Army Gordon Highlanders My father, Private James Lawson Guy of the Gordon Highlanders, was captured at St. Valerie in France in (my mother thinks) May, 1940. In total he escaped on five occasions – mostly for short periods. He was, however, ‘on the run’ between his first escape in 1940 and his recapture in 1943. It is thought he escaped somewhere on the route between St Valerie and Thorn in Poland (where he was eventually held in Stalag XXA (6)).). He stayed with Polish families and worked with them during this period. I have in my possession 21 letters and postcards he sent to his family between 1943 and 1944. All are written in pencil but most are remarkably clear. During the ‘transcription’ of these letters in January 2009, I spoke with ‘wee brother George’ (who is referred to in the letters and who is now about 80 years old) and he told me that my dad was with the Polish Underground between 1940 and 43. (My mother states that he spoke Polish fluently.) There are clear indications in two of his letters that he escaped twice during the period when these letters were written (1943/44). On his second recapture he was moved to Stalag XXA (156).
He was awarded the British Empire Medal on his return home and I have a copy of a letter from King George VI making this award. When he and my mother were married on 21 June 1946, the Glasgow Eastern Standard Newspaper ran an article headed ‘Captured for Life’. The eleven letters and ten postcards, dating from 29 August, 1943 until 24 May, 1944 were kept for years by his sister Agnes and eventually handed over to my brother Ron. He gave them to be and I have had copies bound and treated in a manner which will preserve them forever. I also still have the originals.
In spite of his stated intentions to the contrary in one of his letters, my father did become a coal miner on his return from the war, which contributed to his early death aged just 42.
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