209293 Pte. Leonard Baker British Army Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment from:Walthamstow My Grandather, Len Baker was part of the BEF, and was being evacuated from Dunkirk when he a 3 or 4 others were separated from their regiment by advancing Germans. They managed to hide in the woods just outside Dunkirk overnight,the following morning they attempted to get back to the beach, but the Germans where everywhere, they came across a farm and hide in the barn. The farmer's wife discovered them and supplied them with food and water, after a few days the farmer's wife told the farmer that she was hiding British soldiers in their barn. The farmer was not happy, and confronted the soldiers telling them to leave, but his wife convinced him to let them stay for a few more days. Unfortunately, a German patrol turned up the following day and the farmer panicked believing the Germans would kill if they discovered the Brit's in his barn, so he gave them up!
Pte. Len Baker and his fellow soldiers were captured and taken prisoners. They were gathered together with other British troops and matched to Stalag XXIB in Poland. Marching from France to Poland took it's toll on the prisoners with food and water being scarce. The Germans would find barns or halls to lock the prisoners in when they stopped over night en route to Poland. The British troops had to match in the clothes and boots they were captured in, the soles on the solider's boots soon wore out, so when they were kept in a barn over night they would gather up any straw that was available to them and "weave" it into mats to put in the bottom of their boots for the next days match.
On arrival at Stalag XXIB the prisoner's details were taken and a POW number issued. Pte. Leonard Baker was No6064. Life in the camp was very difficult. Len Baker saw a number of his friends die from ill health, the Germans also executed Len's best friend for decent!
When Leonard Baker was liberated he weighted less than 6 stone, and was physically very weak. His time as a POW left him with deep psychological scars. In his later years, Len developed pain in his left foot, it became so bad he wasn't able to walk. He attended hospital and had his foot x-rayed, they found a lump in his foot,and decided to attempt to remove it. What they found was a stone buried deep under the sole of his foot. A stone that Len was convinced he got during being matched from France to Poland, where his feet got so sore he couldn't even feel them!
Len never really spoke of his experience during the war until very late in his life, But during the 80s and 90s he regularly went to Dunkirk for the annual memorial and reunion. One year he completely took his family by surprise by speaking fluent German, something he had never done before and something we never know he was able to do! He learnt by listening to his German captors.
|