249165 Cpl. Geoffrey Pickering British Army Durham Light Infantry from:Whitley Bay, Northumberland Geoff Pickering enlisted in the Durham Light Infantry as a Gunner in 1939 when he was 22 years of age. He served in North Africa and was captured at Tobruk and sent as a POW to PG53 Sforzacosta, Italy.
With the Allies landing in Salerno in 1943 most of his his camp were quickly dispatched to German POW camps. Geoff was posted to Stalag 1VD/Z Torgau/ Annaburg where he remained until it was liberated in 1945. Of his experiences in POW camps he spoke little, other than to say that the Italian camp was by far the harshest and definitely the worst experience of his life. He said no Red Cross parcels ever reached them and that the living conditions were terrible. He suffered life long back problems as a result of his treatment in Italy. However he did live a long and successful life, dying in 2003 at the age of 86 yrs.
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