242246 Bmdr. Basil E. G. Bryant BritiSh Army 23rd Regiment Royal Artillery from:Ipswich Basil was my step grandfather who was made a POW following the Surrender of the French Division under General Charles De Gaul of which the 51st and Units of 23rd Regiment RA. He was to be a prisoner for 5 years. He was one of many British soldier who were on the forced 1000 mile marches to move prisoners away from the advancing Russian's (To which in a perverse way we were truly grateful after the Russian's used thousands of British Commonwealth and American prisoners as bargaining chips after WW2 and sent them to Siberian Gulags as workers).
On discharge and returning to the UK he and his wife fostered a German boy named Werner who had lost his parents.
He never complained except to say De Gaul was a Arrogant B*****d for sacrificing the 51st and 23rd Regt RA to escape to England and become the person he did.
He died in 1976 following stomach cancer which was linked to his incarceration.
He was above all the grandad who smoked Mercator cigars (I had a rather large collection of the wrappers) and who used to take us out for trips to Pub Gardens to have a packet of Salt and Shake and a bottles of proper ginger beer in stone bottles.
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