501624 William Duncan McArthur Army Black Watch 51st Highland Division from:Dundee My father William Duncan McArthur was a prisoner in Stalag XXA. I have his dog tags and his number is 15369. He came from Dundee and he was a Dundee weaver.
He was a piper in the Black Watch which was part of the 51st Highland Division. He was captured at St Valery during the retreat to Dunkirk as his division was fighting a rearguard action to assist in the evacuation of Dunkirk. He was Lord Ogilvy's Batman. He died when I was five and thus I have only dim memories of him now that I am 47 and have a family of my own.
I have heard several stories of him. He was once working as a farm hand when he saw a Nazi Sergeant beating a Jewish woman with his rifle butt. My father became enraged and chased the Sergeant with a pitchfork with the intent of killing him. He was brought before the authorities of the camp to be executed but he explained that he could not understand the German language and what the Sergeant was saying and so his life was spared. This excuse saved his life.
On another occasion whilst in the camp, 17 camp inmates were desperate to contact their families at home to inform them that they were not dead. They all wrote their names and addresses on any material they could find such as cardboard, paper, bark or leaves. They did not know how to get the addresses to the outside world so my father stuffed all of the bits of paper and bark into his boot and threw it over the camp fence. A postman found the boot and delivered it to the French Underground and it was finally delivered to my mother who notified the families of their loved one's presence in the camp.
He remained in the camp for the whole war. Once he was home from the war, he weighed only 6 stone. His legs were so badly ulcerated that the medical authorities wanted to amputate both legs. My mother forbade this and over a long period of time, tended him and saved his legs.
At his funeral in Sydney, Australia in 1965, a man came to the funeral whom none of our family and friends recognised. Once he was approached he stated that "Bill McArthur saved my life and so I have come to pay my respects".
If anyone knew of my father, especially in WW2 please contact me.
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