CHAPTER 9 - THE MESSAGE
“Heap on more wood! – the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will,
It was Christmas 1944 in Stalag 344. A number of British soldiers, including myself, had been sent there after being captured. We were sent to work and that meant being split into several groups each day each with their own armed guard. Forced labour they called it. Our group was lucky in a way as our guard had suffered from frostbite and shell shock on the Russian front and had been sent to the Stalag to work as a guard since he was no longer fir for active duty. Our group leader, we called him “boss”, was an older man who had served in the First World War. After a while a rapport developed between the group and the “boss and guard. They turned out to be quite friendly in a bluff sort of way and really did not bother us too much.
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Pte. Joseph Hutt |
Stalag 344 |
It was the 19th of December and the prisoner’s discussions turned to Christmas. They were surprised when the guard told them that his “boss” had asked if the POWs could do him a favour. The guard explained to them that the “boss” was willing to give them a permit to finish work an hour early if they would go to the woods and chop down a Christmas tree and take it to his home. Apparently his grand daughter was living with them and it was for her. We all agreed to help. We duly chopped down the tree and delivered it to the “boss’s” cottage. We were all treated to a cup of coffee and met his little granddaughter. She was such a pretty little girl and at first terribly shy. Suddenly she spoke in German to her grand father. “She would like to sing you a carol” he said. |
She then sang a carol in German, which we all knew as “Silent Night”. When she had finished she wished us all a happy Christmas in German, which we certainly understood.
Then her grandmother spoke. She explained that her son, the girl’s father, had been killed on the Russian front. Her eyes filled with tears as she told us but she too wished us a happy Christmas.
That night we returned to the camp and all our talk was of that little girl. At the time we had started receiving Red Cross parcels and it was suggested that we share some of “goodies” such as chocolate with our little friend. We all agreed and a parcel was prepared.
On the 22nd of December the “boss” paid us a surprise visit and thanked us profusely for the present to his grand daughter. He then added his sincere wishes that this would be our last Christmas in captivity. In that room, that day, there was such a spirit of peace and good will between friend and foe.
1944 turned out to be a good Christmas for quite a few people as the message came through loud and clear.