234446 Tpr. Henry Lee Spencer British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Tank Corps from:West Ham My father was a prisoner in Stalag XXA (54) in Thorn. He was Henry Lee Spencer, born March 27, 1912, Plaistow, West Ham; died June 28, 2000 Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. Trooper 7881077, 2nd Battalion, Royal Tank Corps, 1929 - 1935. Trooper, R.T.R., Calais HQ 1st Armoured Division, captured May 25, 1940 during defense of Calais. Survived "death march" to Poland. Prisoner number 7358, Stalag XXA(54). "Escaped" to the East on Wednesday 14th of February 1945 working his way down to Odessa where embarked on SS "Moreton Bay", 7th of March 1945.
A couple of Dad's chums were Frank Bylett, Norwood, London SE25; and Bill Barlow, Salford, Lancs.
Like most men, Dad said little about his P.O.W. experiences. I remember him talking about:
- how utterly unprepared the Brits were to defend Calais
- he saw one of his best friends killed by a Vichy/Nazi French sniper in one of the dock cranes at Calais
(This would explain my Dad's lifelong antipathy for the French. I remember when I was a young man I asked Dad if he had ever shot a man. With a twinkle in his eye, he said "No - but I think I winged a Frenchman.")
- he was in a bunker when a German officer opened the hatch, pointed a Tommy gun at them, and said in good English, "It's all over for you chaps."
- he saw men, too exhausted to walk, murdered in cold blood in the May 1940 march to prison camp
- how life as a prisoner was very unpleasant, and how men became very petty
- how the Brits never doubted for a moment that they would win the war
- how they starved in the last winter (1944 - 1945)
- how the guards in the last winter (1944 - 1945) were mostly old men and youths
- Dad slapped around a young fellow who was ready to give up and die after years as a P.O.W. - a not uncommon problem
- prisoners "borrowed" a piano and installed it in a hut
- they listened to the BBC and the guards would ask them for the latest news
- he put sand in the tanks of German lorries headed for the Russian front, when he was assigned to petrol them up
- he respected the men of the regular German army
- Brits utterly despised the Nazis - as did most men of the regular German army
- how the Polish resistance begged for help in January / February 1945, but British prisoners were warned not to help them
- how hazardous was his escape through the Baltics to Odessa
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