Surrendered and Captured

The Dieppe Raid

Surrendered and Captured

Transcript

We only marched a few miles and ended up in a giant building where we all laid down and tried to rest and then they took us by train to Dieppe, that’s in Germany near Poland and that’s where we ended up – VIII-B That’s the number of the camp, Stalag VIII-B. That’s what they called it. Interviewer: As I sit here with you today, you can help me understand. You became a prisoner of war. (I did.) Take us through that. What was it like you mean? (Ya.) It was horrible. I guess it’s better than dying but it’s – a thing you don’t wanna do is surrender. But we did and they shipped us back to Germany. So we were there for almost three years and that wasn’t too bad except you’re always hungry and that. Other than that it was okay. Interviewer: What about the living conditions? They have great barracks, maybe 300 men in one so that’s the way you lived, ya. And then there was work parties, people went out to work, some of them. And other than that, you just tried to get some food. That was the big thing there because the Red Cross only came once a month. And that was a feast. That was like a feast because you had two men split that parcel. That was great. And right next door we had Russians, little kids and everything in there and we used to throw them over anything we could for food but that wasn’t very good either. They’d trample each other. That wasn’t a good idea either.

Description

Mr. Stanley recalls his days as a POW.

Stanley Edwards

Mr. Stanley Edwards was born February 17, 1923 in Big Valley, Alberta. He enlisted in the army on February 19, 1941 as part of the Calgary Tanks holding rank of trooper. He first received training on the Churchill tanks at Stettler, Alberta and for another year trained in Camp Borden, Ontario before travelling overseas to Scotland. In the summer of 1942, the crew went to England to undergo advanced training. Mr. Stanley fought in the Dieppe Raid as a member of the tank crew. He was soon captured and taken prisoner where he would remain until 1945, shortly after the war ended. Returning home to Canada, Mr. Edwards began working at the Calgary Brewery, married Anncherri and raised four children with his wife. In retirement, Mr. Edwards volunteered within his community and to this day is a member of the local legion. Now residing in Calgary, Alberta with his two daughters, Mr. Edwards is honoured in having an opportunity to travel back to France for the 75th Anniversary of the Dieppe Raid. This being his first time back since wartime, Mr. Edwards looks forward to seeing the terrain where he fought and visiting the gravesite of his brother who never returned home and pay tribute to those who served alongside him during this battle.

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