28 August – Keeping a promise

When in Poland last year, we promised Mr. Piotr Tarnawski (historian at the Stargard museum) and Mr. Piotr Stanek (historian at The Central War Museum in Poland) that we would try to get them a list of Canadian POWs incarcerated during the Second World War in Stalags 2D & 8B. Those are the 2 Stalags that my dad was in for over 2 years. From Johanne’s research, she learned that this information is available at The National Archives in Kew. Before we left for Europe, I downloaded from The National Archives site a complete list of British Army POWs but the information for Commonwealth POWs was only accessible at The Archives. Last Saturday, we failed to get the information, thanks to a Bank Holiday weekend which closed the Archives for 3 days. Today is our 2nd attempt and there aren’t many more opportunities before we fly back.

Now that I’ve had a glass of wine at the Chequers, allow me to share today’s experience with you. We leave by 10:00 am for the 1 hour and ten minute drive to Kew and the site of The National Archives. Having travelled the route already, we’re confident we can find the way, or should I say overconfident. We glance at the Google directions which have us taking the M25 towards London, but it’s the large signs indicating direction for M25 that have our attention. At the roundabout to join the M25, we follow the signs and exit at the 2nd spoke. Johanne looks at the Google directions, which tells us to exit at the 4th spoke. We’re on the M25 towards London but heading east instead of west. “Not to worry,” I say. “We’ll just take the first exit, turn around, and go the other way.” We drive for at least 30 minutes with no sign of an approaching exit. On the westbound side of the M25 (where we want to go), we see an overturned car off on the side of the highway and the traffic approaching it has come to a halt. The traffic backlog goes for miles and we realise turning around is no longer an option. Johanne is consulting our map of England which is fine for major routes but very difficult to read for secondary roads. We’re heading towards the east side of London and we need to be on the west side. We don’t relish the idea of driving through London Centre so Johanne is looking for other routes. We take the exit for Biggin Hill and look for anything that will take us west. Johanne directs us towards Croydon which we manage to find but poor signage and confusing roundabouts leads us south to Coulsdon. After 2 ½ hours, we’re just south of the M25 near Reigate, closer to where we started in Forest Row than our intended destination of Kew. I’m ready to throw in the towel and head home. As I search for a way out of this mess, a sign appears for the M25 towards Leatherhead. Johanne convinces me to try once more. The rest of the journey is tame compared to what we’ve already done but it has taken a toll (excuse the pun) on us. I’m discouraged that we have wasted so much time that could have been better spent at the Archives. Johanne is feeling slightly car sick from having to read the map while I navigate the roundabouts. She says, “I really hope they have the information we’re looking for, because I don’t want to come back here a third time to do more research.” We arrive at The National Archives 4 hours after we started. The good news is we actually find a parking spot in the parking lot. We get a bite to eat in the cafeteria before it closes then go to the information desk. After we tell her the file numbers we’re looking for, the Librarian searches on the computer and starts referring us to other documents. Johanne says pleasantly, “Thank you but We really don’t need those. I’ve already researched the files we’re looking for.” The Librarian can’t imagine why we want a list of all POWs so she continues searching for other documents but after much interruptions from Johanne finally she writes down the Library # of the files we want and she suggests a particular book in the library that might be helpful. Johanne asks if she’s sure those are the correct numbers because she’s reversed every number for each of the three files. She laughs at her silly error. Johanne is not impressed. We then go and get registered so that we can access the files. The process requires each applicant to successfully complete a computer-based interactive test in order to receive the personal reader card that provides access to the Archive’s treasures. Once we get our cards and order the files, we go for a cup of tea while we wait for them to be retrieved. Afterwards we wander over to the library section to find the book that was referred by the librarian. The book covers the subject of POWs adapting after the war and wasn’t of any use to us. Forty minutes later, the files are in Johanne’s receptacle, # 27H in the reading room.

We glance at the documents and realize that we’ve hit the jackpot! Two of the files are lists of all Canadian POWs incarcerated in German POW camps! The third is a list of all Air Force POWs. This is amazing stuff. The only problem it is not sectioned by regiment or Stalag. It is an alphabetical list of names their Stalag, POW & regimental numbers, and their regiment. We split up. I take one file folder and use my camera to film each of the pages but it’s not so easy. I have to split up each page in several sections in order for the image to be readable. Johanne thinks there must be a better way and asks a fellow at the information desk if they could photocopy the pages instead. He says, “That’ll be pretty expensive. Why don’t you just use our photographic equipment for free and the images could be sent to you via email?” Away she goes and the librarian helps her focus the camera so that each full page could be captured. Fantastic. Johanne gets herself organised and her production line begins to churn out digital copies of the 119 pages of records.

While she was busy setting up, I find my dad’s entry for Stalag 2D. Johanne is panicking because she thinks they close at 5:00 pm and doesn’t want to come back again. She finds out they close at 7:00 pm. and by 6:00pm we’re finished – with time to spare. We now have two copies of the alphabetical list of all Canadian Army POWs held in German Stalags (my 158 pictures & Johanne’s complete page version). Also for good measure, Johanne copied the Air Force list. We’re thrilled. In spite of a very difficult beginning, we’ve achieved what we set out to do.
The road home isn’t as smooth as we expected with a few wrong turns along the way, but we don’t care – we’re buoyed by our accomplishment and the earlier troubles of the day soon fade away.

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to visiting my 1st cousin Vivienne (1st cousin on Baker side of family) in Worthing and sharing with her Robin & Sandra’s Baker Family Tree. Its a 1 hr drive down by the sea, away from London and in relatiively familiar territory. Piece of cake!