The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

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251097 Albert Sidney Standen British Army Royal Sussex Regiment from:Hastings, Kent Bert Standen told a few stories in his later years of his capture at Dunkirk after being shot in the ankle whilst they attempted to hold back the German advance at the Canals in Dunkirk. He was a PoW at Stalag XXID and we have a few family photographs which were sent to him via the Red Cross stamped on the rear with Stalag XXID. Bert escaped with a friend as they were being moved as the Red Army advanced on the camp. Whilst marching through the harsh winter they were sent to a nearby farm to scavenge food for the guards and prisoners. They decided to escape and not return to the marching column but instead hid and hoped they would not be pursued by the guards. Slowly they walked overland to Odessa where they met Allied troops and were to go by troop ship which would eventually go back to the UK. This journey would take months and would be dangerous. Bert decided he would make his own way overland not being a great sailor. His friend decided he would await a ship. Bert travelled overland back to France via the underground resistance network, unfortunately we have little detail of this part of his trip. He eventually arrived back in the UK after meeting Allied troops again in France. After debriefing he was told he couldn't be demobbed as the war still continued but he could have a choice of where he wished to serve. Bert asked "Is there anywhere with no rationing?" After a few weeks leave he ended up seeing out the remainder of the war stationed on the Isle of Man. After the war Bert lived a quiet life as a self-employed builder and grave digger in Headcorn, Kent. He had 5 children and died in Maidstone hospital in 1994. RIP Bert. Tony Howell Add to this record.  Related Content: Royal Sussex Regiment Battle of France and The Low Countries 1940 Operation Dynamo - The Evacuation from Dunkirk and nearby Beaches Stalag 21D Prisoner of War Camp Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.