The memoirs of Sqn Ldr Rupert Parkhouse, recorded in 1995 – Part 17. First post in this series is #9775 on page 489 of this thread.
ABOUT the end of October I sent my family some POW letters which reached them, and in mid-November I was transferred to the famous Luftwaffe camp at Dulag Luft [near Frankfurt] where after a very perfunctory interrogation – after all my information was four months old – I can't really describe my delight at being among RAF officers again. The Red Cross parcels had arrived and there was plenty of chocolate and supplies and new clothes, so it was a completely different environment which caused me great joy.
There were permanent staff there, among them Wing Commander Day, Roger Bushell the famous escaper who would be shot by the Germans after the escape from Stalag Luft III, Bob Stark, a New Zealand navigator, Lt Cdr Jimmy Buckley who would drown in a Danish lake after escaping, Alistair Panton who had just come out of hospital in Belgium after being badly burned when he was shot down, and Woolloomooloo Baird who came from a town of that name in New Zealand. An indication of stress levels was perfectly indicated by Alistair Panton who had been shot down three times and who had frightful nightmares every night, he would bale out of bed and we had to put him back and calm him down.
About November 10 I was sent by train to Stalag Luft I at Barth on the Baltic coast, a compound near a flak school and with two large barracks each holding 120 chaps, a dining hall, and another block being built to the east.
Once again we were rather short of food and I remember particularly Christmas 1940, when we had a special piece of pork and we were entertained by the NCO batmen with a selection of RAF songs containing quite a few lewd passages which amused us all greatly. I still like to remember them now but they're not suitable for this occasion.
NEXT POST: Rupert joins the tunnelling teams and has yet another narrow escape.