Arthur Burkett's Diaries

Linda Burkett

Description

This is an extraordinary diary of Arthur Burkett, an ordinary British Soldier and Prisoner of War during the Lamsdorf Death March. For four months, 100,000 Allied POWs were marched across Germany and away from the approaching Russian forces sometimes marching over 40 kilometres (25 miles) per day. Arthur's story gives a terrifying insight into the daily struggle of the POWs from freezing temperatures, hunger, exhaustion and health problems. This story gives Arthur's first-hand account of where he went, who he met and what he saw. It shows the courage of men, kindness of civilians and the brutality of war in the constant effort to survive. It covers his daily life as a POW before the March and during some of his three years in captivity. We therefore invite you to read the memoirs of POW number 220660, a normal 22 year old from Walthamstow called up to fight in the Second World War.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Memoir

Informations

• Publié par: Brown Dog Books
• Date de parution: 28 avril 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785453809
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Diary of a Prisoner of War on the Lamsdorf Death March
LINDA BURKETT
First published 2019
Copyright © Linda Burkett 2019
The right of Linda Burkett to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Published under licence by Brown Dog Books and The Self-Publishing Partnership, 7 Green Park Station, Bath BA1 1JB
www.selfpublishingpartnership.co.uk
ISBN printed book: 978-1-78545-379-3 ISBN e-book: 978-1-78545-380-9
Cover design by Kevin Rylands Internal design by Andrew Easton
Printed and bound in the UK This book is printed on FSC certified paper
DEDICATION
Dedicated to Roger, Steven and Kim: the grandchildren he never met.
The diaries were handed to Linda Burkett by her mother-in-law (Elsie Burkett) when she remarried following Arthur’s death. Linda was then given the final diary by Arthur’s niece Betty, which had been given to her as a memento of her favourite uncle.
Following Linda becoming a widow in 2013, she painstakingly typed up the diaries over 18 months to ensure they were not lost. Linda wanted the world not to forget the suffering that he went through, and pursued the publication of his words.
Her daughter Kim Hamer (née Burkett) greatly supported the publication through her enthusiasm for the project and ideas on the layout and detail to include. Kim provided significant support to the wording of the additional sections and the final edits prior to publication.
Her cousin Margaret Hatton helped to translate the German words. A small selection of German words could not be translated based on place names changing or the words being POW ‘slang’. We have chosen to keep these words within the diary as Arthur wrote them. Arthur rewrote some of the diaries, adding further details which are included in this book.
This is therefore the memoirs of POW number 220660.
Contents
Arthur’s Story
Lamsdorf March Diaries
Arthur’s Post-War Life
Appendix 1 – 1943 Diary
Appendix 2 – 1944 Diary
Appendix 3 – SS Guards Identity Card
Arthur’s Story
Pre-War
Arthur Burkett was born on 18 th September 1917 in Wolverhampton, Staffs, where his father was serving in the British Army.
His parents were William T A Burkett (1884-1949) and Hannah née Abrahams (1885-1972).
They had four children, two boys and two girls; Arthur was the youngest boy.
Arthur left school aged fourteen years old, despite being an extremely clever student, as his family were unable or unwilling to allow him to continue his studies.
It was told that Arthur often could not go to school as he did not have any shoes.
During the War – Pre-POW Years
Arthur was called up for World War Two on 28 th March 1940 (which interestingly was his future wife’s birthday) and was sent overseas on 5 th August 1940 under Army number 2003345.

Arthur holding gun

Arthur (top row, second right) with fellow POWs

Arthur sitting on gun

Arthur standing at sphinx


Army pay book
Arthur was enrolled into the Royal Engineers as he was a very practical person.

Royal Engineer cap badge
Arthur was captured alongside 33,000 others in Tobruk on 21 st June 1942. His diaries were started 9 months later in March 1943.
Following capture the Germans passed the prisoners over to the Italians. They were held at POW camp Derna overnight due to the time it took to process this number of individuals.
Arthur was lucky to spend such a short time at Derna as the camp comprised of groundsheet tents and had hardly any food. It is said that the Kommandant of the camp had ‘reprisal mania’ with the guards treating the POWs poorly and deliberately leaving them short of water.
The next camp which Arthur reached on 25 th June 1942 was just outside Benghasi in a steep sided valley. The sleeping facilities were groundsheet bivouac tents and the conditions were poor. Water came from a few small taps which meant long waits and difficulty washing. Trenches provided latrines and diseases spread from poor conditions, leaking sewage and flies. Weeks into their time as POWs many were still in the clothes they had worn when captured. Arthur left this camp on 6 th July 1942.
Arthur was then taken to an unknown destination by boat with up to 500 men being placed in the cargo hold with no washing facilities, buckets as toilets, hot conditions and no fresh air. The only food provided was one tin and a packet of cigarettes to last the two day journey.
The men were then sent to POW Campo number 85 in Brindisi, Southern Italy which was a transit camp. Arthur spent four days in this camp between 7 th July and 10 th July 1942 and was then moved onto Capua, Campo number 66 from 11 th July 1942 where he stayed for the next two months.
Again in Southern Italy the camp housed 5000 prisoners in stone bungalows and had a hall for dining and a common room. There was also access to Doctors and a delousing plant.
On 15 th September Arthur was moved again to the next POW Campo number 87 Benevento. He only remained at this camp for nine days which housed 6000 men and had poor conditions.
Arthur was then moved to Gravina, Campo number 65 which held around 6000 prisoners split into four sections. The food supply was poor, a typical day’s rations consisting of 7oz of bread, 1oz of cheese, 2oz of rice, plus a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of olive oil. Every Saturday each prisoner received a small piece of meat.
The sleeping barracks held 48 men in bunk beds with two people sleeping in each bunk. The water supply was poor and at times there were days without clean water. The Carabinieri (Italian Police) patrolled fences and prisoners were regularly searched for any item that may help them escape.
The POWs could write letters home but they were always censored.
Arthur spent from 25 th October 1942 to 9 th July 1943 in this camp then on 10 th July was sent to Sforzacosta where he stayed until 19 th July. This camp housed over 10,000 men.
The Italians declared Armistice on 8 th September 1942, following which the Germans demanded the POWs were handed back to them. They were especially interested in the engineers.
Arthur was therefore asked to sign a form headed ‘Discharge of PDG Rimpatriare ’ which raised his hopes of release. Unfortunately Arthur remained a POW under the Germans for a further two and a half years.
On 19 th July 1943 the POWs were marched to the station and placed on a two day train journey which took them to Brennero Station, Germany.
During the journey windows stayed closed and blinds were down, biscuits and bully were given for rationss. At Innsbruck in Austria, which Arthur remarked was the prettiest country he had seen, the prisoners were given coffee and soup.
Once in Germany the men were given hot drinks, a loaf of bread between two, cigarettes, and a Red Cross parcel. They then arrived at Stalag VIII-B in Mühlberg, Germany where Arthur received the following badges.

Here the men were bathed, shaved, x-rayed and inoculated. Each POW had their clothes disinfected and their fingerprints and photo taken. Here is Arthur’s form.

In terms of the camp conditions the main concern was how packed each hut was with the numbers of men.
The POWs remained hopeful for release following the news that Mussolini had resigned and Allied troops had taken over five Italian cities.
Arthur spent from 21 st July 1943 to 9 th August 1943 in this camp until he was transferred to POW Stalag Lamsdorf VIII-B.
Three weeks later on 2 nd September 1943 Arthur was moved into a working party (or forced labour camp) of 1000 men in Heydebreck, Blechhammer, still under the command of this Stalag and very close to Auschwitz. As the working parties were so large they were able to have things like a library and visits from the Beau Battalion Camp band.
Many of the men worked in the chemical factory which produced synthetic oil. Arthur talked of men having to work eight hours straight without any food or water.
Arthur was assigned a job as tailor at the camp and initially came under a lot of criticism from his fellow prisoners for having a soft job. As time went on he did ‘private’ repair jobs for his fellow prisoners and his job was seen as increasingly valuable. Arthur finally got hold of a sewing machine but without needles: he had to make his own from the cobbler.
His diary for 1944 is only partial but he tells of the bombing and injuries of his fellow men and the fear that ‘his side’ would kill him (see Appendices).
Arthur stayed in this working camp until with the Russian advancement he was sent back to the main Stalag VIII-B.
Summary of Arthur’s POW Camp Movements:

Tobruk
21/06/1942–22/06/1942

Derna
23/06/1942–24/06/1942

Benghasi
25/06/1942–06/07/1942
85
Brindisi
07/07/1942–10/07/1942
66
Capua
11/07/1942–14/09/1942
87
Benevento
15/09/1942–24/10/1942
65
Gravina
25/10/1942–09/07/1943
53
Sforzacosta
10/07/1943–19/07/1943

St IV B Mühlberg
21/07/1943–09/08/1943

St VIIIB Lamsdorf
10/08/1943–01/09/1943

Heydebreck
02/09/1943–22/01/1945

In January 1945 Arthur began his march from Lamsdorf Stalag 344 on what is known as the Lamsdorf ‘Death March’. As the Russian Army advanced into Germany, POWs were marched for up to 40 kilometres a day in groups of 300–500 prisoners. By the end of the march many had walked more than 500 miles and some closer to 1000 miles.
The groups were small and went around the big towns to avoid attention from the civilian population, who at times were also being evacuated.
The temperatures reached as low as -25˚C as January and February 1945 were among the coldest months of the century. Many POWs wore ill-equipped clothing for the conditions