215454 Charles Aitchison British Army Gordon Highlanders from:Dundee Street, Edinburgh My grandfather, Charlie Aitchison, Gordon Highlanders, was captured at St Valery 1940 and consigned to Stalag VIIIb until the end of the war. He was 6' 2" tall and was 32 years old when captured. He never spoke a word about his time in the camp, but the family believes he worked in a salt mine.
The only story I heard about his wartime experiences was told to me by my mother. It seems that he had been demobbed and had arrived home only a few days earlier. He took mother out for a walk (she was 11 at the time) and as they were walking along the street, they came across some German POWs working on the roads. My grandfather stopped and spoke to them in fluent German. After speaking to them for a few minutes, he walked off and went into a shop and came back with four pies and twenty cigarettes which he gave to the Germans.
My mother asked him why he gave them to the POWs. "They're just Jerries," he said. My grandfather told her that they were just working men like him, who had been captured, fighting for their country.
It was my privilege to know this man until he died in 1968 when he was only 60 and I was 14. Any knowledge of him would be gratefully received.
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