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Private Kenneth Walter Wadsworth
Unit : No.3 Platoon, "A" Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion
Army No. : 3779182
Kenneth Wadsworth enlisted on the 26th June 1940, and was serving with the 70th Battalion The King's Regiment when he volunteered for the Airborne Forces, completing course No.17 at Ringway from the 5th to 13th July 1942. By 1944, he was acting as Lieutenant McDermont's batman in No.3 Platoon, "A" Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion. He was taken prisoner during the fighting at Arnhem Bridge, and was sent to Stalag XIIA, IVB and finally IVD at Torgau. The following is his account of his time in captivity.
September 20th 1944 - Arnhem
At four o'clock or thereabouts I was taken prisoner by the 1st Battalion of the Waffen SS and after being marched to the road at the side of the river I was minutely examined by their officer in charge for anything of any use to them (as loot)! From there they marched us to a disused roadside café about 8km outside of Arnhem! Once again we were interrogated by German Officers! It was here that I had my first taste of German bread which is dark brown and tastes like sawdust, but at that moment I was glad of anything, owing to the fact that I had had nothing to eat since I left England and was suffering from shock!
September 21st 1944
After spending my first night's sleep for many days on the floor of the café, I was feeling very stiff in every limb and very very hungry but I was not rewarded for my shouting in German except for a bang in my back from the butt of a German rifle. From this moment I decided to improve my German as much as possible, I spoke enough to get by, but needed much more! Food! Little was I to know that food was going to be my greatest worry during my stay as a kriegsgefangener. At six o'clock in the morning we started out in an open truck to a position behind the German lines. In this truck were about thirty of my comrades from the other battalions and four Germans with smizers [Schmeissers]. As we passed along the road the Dutch civilians waved to us and gave us victory signs. The German standing next to me pulled out one of our 45 Colts and fired upon two girls standing on the street corner! Unfortunately he succeeded in wounding one in the stomach, the other fell on her friend crying. The German said That will teach you to wave at the British swine. I told the boys what he had said but we were defenceless and could do nothing to stop this show of German arrogance! After a very cold journey we arrived at a little German village called Lutfen and it was here that we slept for the night on some straw on a railway siding. Although there were about six hundred soldiers in this enclosure, about sixty feet by forty, it was not fit for pigs!
September 22nd
This morning we arose and tried to make ourselves tidy. There was one tap in a cellar for all the men in the barn and every one of us was filthy! Owing to the fact that we had been fighting for many days in burning houses and we were all covered from head to toe in charcoal! Shaving was our least worry because none of my friends in my Battalion were captured with any shaving or cleaning kit and very few clothes. There were some glider pilots and some RAF NCOs who had some kit and they lent it out to as many who cared to shave. I was very worried about my two friends Harry and Jon who I had lost during the fighting. I knew that Harry was wounded in the leg because I carried him into a cellar but I had to leave him so that I could go back to my machine gun and keep the Germans from getting into the house the wounded were in. But I had not seen Jon for three days. Gradually information came in and I heard that Jon was captured at the same time as myself in another part of the town and he was coming to this barn! This eased my mind a great deal and I look forward to seeing them both. Jon arrived and it seems he had been treated just the same as us. We checked up on what food we had and found we had two biscuits left and these were soon put away. In the afternoon the Germans came with a field kitchen and gave us a piece of bread and some thin soup. This gave us a little strength and made us feel much better. Little did we know that was going to be our last meal for five days. That night we were herded into groups of fifty and told to keep together. Later we were told that these groups were for railway travelling and we were to be packed like animals into cattle trucks. But tomorrow was to bring forth all our fears!
September 23rd
Rouse! Feeling very washed out. Our legs were rubbery but we managed to carry on. We formed up and marched to the station without our boots, these had been placed on the train the night before. It was from this moment that we realised that we were prisoners. Many of us had contemplated escaping at the first opportunity but the Germans frustrated these moves by keeping us very closely guarded. Once in the trucks, some sitting many standing because there was not room for us all to sit.
September 24th
To try and write in minute detail of the following five days is impossible but a few things I can still remember of this hell journey! The wagons were made for eight horses or thirty men but as I said because there were fifty in a wagon the sanitary arrangements on my wagon were nil. There was nowhere for men to relieve themselves, fortunately we had no food so there was no need. Water! That was our next worry, we had none and were solely reliant on rainwater running down the roof and catching it in any receptacle we had. It rained at least four times so we did not do too bad. Food was the most prominent thought in everybody's mind so once again we searched our clothes but the first search had been too thorough. Cigarettes - we still had a few left between us, these we smoked, re-rolled and re-rolled until we had no paper or tobacco left. This journey to us all was one long nightmare, fortunately I had kept my head, even when men around me were going to sleep mentally.
September 29th
We arrived at Linsberg a distance of three hundred kilometres from Arnhem and here we received back our boots. When we put them on and tried to stand up we found that our legs collapsed but with a bit of perseverance most of us were able to walk to the Stammlager [Stalag XIIA] about two kilometres from the train station. This camp was the filthiest place I had ever seen in my life. The mud was an inch on the floor and there were five hundred men in every tent and two hundred in each hut. Altogether including Russians, Poles, Frenchmen, Indians and Englishmen there were seven thousand men.
September 30th
It was on this memorable day we received our first Red Cross Parcel. This parcel is the topical subject in every POW camp from Aachen to Posen. The one consideration in this camp was to keep clean and try and get some fresh air now and then but it was impossible in the tents, lying in the mud and sleeping with five hundred other men. But we managed it somehow neither Jon or myself have been ill yet (touch wood).
October 1st
Today we went out working for the first time for the Third Reich and we have been promised extra food but I don't think we will get any. This work consists of bomb damage disposal work and we managed to pick up one or two things for our own use such as fork knives etc.
October 2nd
My working party was changed today and we worked on the railway station unloading blocks of concrete and bags of sand. We found it very hard work on so little food.
October 3rd
Worked on a hospital that had been bombed and some of the Sisters came out and gave us soup and bread for which we were very thankful.
October 4th
We are beginning to get into a groove. Up in the morning and queue for half an hour for one fifth of a loaf and a spoonful of molasses, at dinner time we get some parsnip soup and in the evening we received a bowl of hot water also called soup. We are beginning to feel stronger, but it is not good food and hard work.
October 7th
Today we moved to Mulburg two hundred kilometres the same travelling facilities as before and the same treatment. But we are getting hardened to the life. It will make us or break us but it won't break me.
October 10th
Mulburg is a very large Stalag [IVB] 25,000 men. There are two home guards here captured by a German commando raid on the Scottish coast in 1940 and are still here that surprised me the most.
October 11th
Parcels once again and we are lucky as half a parcel between two men is our lot. But it does not last for ever so we always have one good meal and then kaplatt and so to bed.
October 12th
Every morning we go out in the exercise compound and watch a very good game of football played by the teams organised in the camp and some of the games are just as good as first division football. We have one or two professional footballers here as POWs. The Germans leave us alone here and do not interfere with us.
October 13th
As a very good show in the camp today it was presented by the Dutch and was very very good, both jazz and symphony were played very well. The price of admission was one cigarette and it shows just how useless money is here in Germany. A very good exchange market is established in the camp - as usual run by the British boys!
October 14th
Today I met some of my friends who were captured in Sicily and Italy. We had much to discuss and I found out quite a lot about what happened after I was wounded. They told me of very bad treatment by the Italians in Italy and how they had been waiting for twelve months for a letter from home, which does not give me much hope.
October 15th
Met Danny Lee today he had tried to make a break but had been recaptured and put in solitary confinement. Saw some more of the boys and they had many a good tale to tell.
October 16th
There is a rumour around the camp that we are going out on the Arbeits Kommando and I imagine that it's true because the Germans don't give us bread for nothing, they want work.
October 17th
On the road, only this time I think for good it is to Halle just south of Berlin in the very heart of Germany. To what kind of work we do not know but we imagine salt mines, coal mines, railway and numerous other kinds of work.
October 18th
Today marks a change in our lives as POWs, instead of resting we must go out working with a pick and shovel from six o'clock in the morning to six o'clock at night out in all weathers. The food is issued out the night before hand so that we may take out a small sandwich for dinner.
October 19th
Our work masters are men from the German ministry and it seems they are short of men and that we are required in place of German navvies who are today in the German Wehrmacht.
October 20th
For the first time today we realise that we are still in grave danger of being killed but this time by our own bombers who come here every day and bomb hell out of us and I do mean hell. When these twelve thousand pounders start dropping, everything is blown sky high. The only reason the jerries stop us working is because of flak but we are all in favour of the bombing it will finish the war sooner.
October 21st
Another big raid today probably a two thousand bomber raid on Berlin, some flight bombers went to Mersyburg.
October 23rd
When I returned to the camp tonight they asked me if I would accept the job as room commander and as the vote of the room was unanimous I had to accept. It entails taking charge of the men. The rations, clothing, health and many other little jobs. It will help to fill in the time so I don't mind.
October 24th
We seem to get in a groove again and we look forward to any news whether it's German or English as long as it has a bearing on the ultimate end of the war.
October 25th
The war has now come to a deadlock and more of us are showing signs of despondency, such as small arguments and petty quarrelling but I hope that the men will settle down and show some more comradeship towards one another. Parcels always brighten things up so roll on the parcels.
December 24th
It is now Christmas Eve and two months since I took up this pencil and wrote of the days happenings. But fate has played us a cruel trick, instead of being free we are still behind the wire and working hard in the bitter cold. To make things a little easier we received a Christmas parcel today which will give us some English food for this happy day, also sixteen cigarettes for the coming week! The Germans have not given us any extra food so we are dependant on our own small supply.
December 25th
Christmas Day we got up early from force of habit, lit the fire, and proceeded to make a small breakfast. Mine consists of a biscuit pudding containing two biscuits, raisins, powdered milk and some German bread. After what we have been used to, this is as good as a seven course meal in Blighty. For dinner the cooks managed to get us a fairly thick soup with macaroni in it. Tea meal was whatever you could make with your own food. For as a POW you are entitled to a third of a loaf a small piece of German sausage and a piece of margarine. When we come home from work we receive a bowl of soup prepared by our own cooks to the best of their ability with the rations Jerry gives them.
December 26th
Once again work calls and owing to the temperature being anything from two to fifteen degrees below zero we find it very hard work. What we need is warm clothing but unfortunately none are forthcoming for the present.
December 27th
We have been informed that on New Years Day we will not be required to work so we still have something to look forward to.
December 31st
New Years Eve we are too tired and sentimental to wait up for twelve o'clock but we cannot help thinking of days that are gone. One of the sentries woke me up to ask what time one of the men in my room who is on early shift wanted waking so for an hour I have lain in bed thinking of home, the future, the past and last but not least the present. Hoping that I will see my wife, child, mother and father and all my friends this coming year. I pray for a speedy end for this war and a happy reunion.
1945 January 1st
The new year has started with a fifth of a loaf and a piece of Limburg cheese, apart from tomorrow's rations we have very little to look forward to, the news is not very good but we manage to keep the old chin up. We went in the shelters again today.
January 2nd
Everything was quiet at work today. We had an air raid at 12 o'clock but not overhead so we had to continue work. Tonight seventy six old prisoners moved into the camp and seem to be having trouble settling down.
January 3rd
Whilst at work today I saw my first squirrel in Germany, but when I approached it didn't move so I did not have the heart it kill it. The new chaps are fine chaps but are very mixed Poles, Hindus, French, South Africans and British boys. There is rumour of a parcel on Saturday, let's hope it turns up.
January 4th
Today we have been told that we are to receive a Christmas parcel on Saturday and a Canadian parcel in a week's time, which at the time of going to press is wonderful news. I saw my second squirrel today - maybe the same one.
January 5th
Dentist today, I had a filling in one of my back teeth, it was done by a woman dentist (ginger hair). It was the best filling I have ever had done. 32 Americans escaped today, no more news.
January 6th
Parcels - we received them this afternoon and from then onwards it has been one mad rush to eat as much as possible in the shortest possible time, just as if we were a gang of wolves. But it comes but once a year so what matter. Air raids have been very frequent but I am still in one piece.
January 7th
Today is Sunday and owing to yesterday's gorging yours truly is flat out but I have been sleeping it off. I still have some of the parcel left.
January 8th
Work again! 12 degrees below zero on a centigrade thermometer when the German Obermiester was not looking we spent most of the day round a wood fire in the corner of the hut. No Air Raid.
January 9th
I am feeling much better today and this evening I have eaten all my rations as per usual in one meal but it is the only way. Jon saw red today we are going to Seables Aircraft Factory tomorrow. No air raid.
January 10th
From Seables to our working area is ten kilometres and today we dragged a damn big machine all the way and arrived there at 12 o'clock, very good going. At one o'clock we continued working with pick and shovel. I felt the cold very much temperature 10 degrees below zero. Waited one and a half hours for Strassebaugen. No jam and sugar ration. No air raid.
January 11th
Everything has gone wrong, the much dreaded snow has arrived and our feet are constantly wet and extremely cold. The foreman at work put our little fire out and said we could have no more wood. On returning to the lager we have been told that the coal ration has been stopped and that there is no more jam or sugar. Roll off the boat! No air raid.
January 13th
The day of days we finished work at one o'clock, upon returning lo and behold forty cigarettes, sugar, jam and half a Canadian parcel. Everything was running smoothly - am reading a good book called Middle Class Murder. No air raid.
January 14th Sunday
I have been surrounded by the remnants of my parcel all day. We had a hell of an air raid at 12 o'clock. Have heard that the Russians have started an offensive. Good Work! Wrote home today and hope that it reaches my wife, mum and dad. Received my months pay tonight - 21 marks.
January 15th Monday
At 1 o'clock this morning a four hour air raid on Berlin Loona and Merseyburg finished and we all crawled out of the shelter for five hours sleep before arbeit. The day was pleasant and Pinocchio was in a good mood. I found time to make myself some pancakes out of dried biscuits and enjoyed them very much.
January 16th Tuesday
Quarantine! Today three more men contracted daphnia - one man has already died. The Germans gave him a military funeral. One man (Harris) was caught stealing potatoes from the cookhouse and was publicly disgraced in front of the whole larger. There was another long air raid tonight but all the boys were singing in the shelters and the time passed quickly. Room commanders meeting tomorrow.
January 17th Wednesday
The quarantine was lifted today and we resume work tomorrow. Jam and sugar ration tonight. Have appointed a camp policeman to watch any stealing. Had a good hot bath in a wooden bath.
January 18th Thursday
Everything was quiet this morning until we received the news that the Russians have started their long awaited offensive. Advanced 200 kilometres -125 miles. No air raids.
January 19th Friday
The news is very good it appears that the Russians have broken through and if this is true and I pray that it is, the war should not be long in finishing. I am dividing a parcel with Robo tomorrow. No air raid.
January 20th Saturday
The lager bought a trumpet for one hundred pounds and one hundred and forty cigarettes. This is a very high price but in German everything is dear. The news is the same but we live in high hopes because it is the only thing we can think about. The conveyor has started. No air raid.
January 21st Sunday
Another man has died his name is Matthews, he was a chap from the first battalion signals. The place where he died was Wilemburg and he died of daphnia. We stopped a little concert we were going to have in memory of our comrade. He will be buried as soon as possible with full military honours. No air raid.
January 23rd Tuesday
There are five more suspects of daphnia, everybody has had their throats tested. It is a rumour that the Russians have reached the Oder. Today it was fifteen degrees below zero and we had to work with every piece of clothing we have on. No air raid.
January 24th Wednesday
Jam and sugar arrived today but unfortunately it was very short ration. It has snowed all day and it was thirteen degrees below this morning but the conveyor must go on. The German newspaper admitted that the Russians are two hundred and ten kilometres from Berlin. Roll on the Russians.
January 28th Sunday
The snow has been falling very heavily for the last few days and it is now about a foot deep in the streets and a lot deeper in the drifts, all our clothing and boots are wringing wet. The news is good, Posen, Danzig and Breslau have all fallen. It has also been rumoured that the British and Canadian forces are advancing up the Ruhr valley but I think this needs a pinch of salt. Another man passed out today with pneumonia! No air raid.
January 29th Monday
One of the boys received his first letter today so we all got a bit of news from home, amongst this as the news that the King has decorated four hundred Arnhem heroes. The boys have agreed that any man who got out of Arnhem needs shooting for desertion in the face of the enemy!
January 30th Tuesday
Whilst returning from work this evening I saw a large number of Hitler Youth Movement boys being trained as fighting ski troopers and considering their age they were very good, but God knows when the Nazis expect to use them. The ruskies still seem to be advancing slowly. I expect they will hold a line down the river Oder. Our boys are advancing very lengsarm. No air raid.
February 1st Thursday
Things have been very easy today, we spent most of the day at an old roadside café drinking beer, we were supposed to be moving snow. The thaw has begun to set in. My throat is very swollen so I am going to see a doctor in the morning. I sincerely hope it is not daphnia! Air raid (heavy).
February 5th Monday
I have been in a coma from Friday morning and do not remember any more until today, but the boys have told me it has been touch and go, but I have regained some of my wits so I can manage to keep the old diary going up to date. The Polish doctor has told me that it is only my constitution that has pulled me through. Air raid.
February 6th Tuesday
Today they gave me more needles and they tell me I must have fifteen doses of serum before I can hope to be well again. I have made friends with two Danish policemen who are prisoners here as well, their names are Karl and Paul, they both speak German so they are able to tell me all about Denmark. They were arrested in their own homes for not finding saboteurs in Copenhagen, they did not try hard enough for the Germans!
February 7th Wednesday
I am afraid Karl and Paul are leaving today and I will miss them but it cannot be helped. I have their addresses and will write to them both after the war. I have just had another injection but am feeling 100 per cent better. I am only hoping that the daphnia does not leave me with any deformity afterwards, it has left Jack Diamond paralysed down the left side of his body. Air raid.
February 8th Thursday
Considering it is my birthday I have been very quiet today but I am glad to report that I am up for the first time since Friday and am sitting up and taking nourishment very nicely (I mean German bread and cheese) there have been two days without spread meat this week. I think the Russians are having a rest this week and God knows what has happened to Monty! Air raid.
February 9th Friday
I am feeling lot better and I have been up all day sitting by a little fire. At two o'clock two Americans came in as daphnia suspects, one comes from Philadelphia and the other from Pittsburgh. They are the most dejected looking chaps I have ever seen since I first saw the Ruskies. We had a four hour raid today and Leauner got a hell of a bashing. No skilly only porridge.
February 10th Saturday
The food has dwindled down to almost nothing so I have written to the MO on behalf of the men here asking if he can get invalid parcels to us, but I'm afraid my letter will be in vain. All of us badly need vitamins to restore us to something like our former health. I only hope that the Russians can relieve us some other wise we shall be in a sorry plight. Tonight another man has died owing to the fact that he had had bad treatment and was left to fend for himself. Air Raid.
February 11th Sunday
I am beginning to feel much better but am afraid that it has left my heart a bit weak. I will soon be abler to find out because just before I came here I was due to box an exhibition with George Barnes but was unable to owing to the daphnia but I will soon know when I go back to the lager whether it has affected me or not. They have put the dead man in the coal house and are going to burn him at the earliest opportunity. Always I am thinking of my wife and hoping that I can see her and our child soon.
February 12th Monday
Today two Frenchmen came into this room so I have been speaking French nearly all day, it has been quite a change from German and it all helps to broaden my mind for a change. The Americans have taught me how to play peaknuckle which is another game I can add to my repertoire. One of these Frenchmen is courting an English girl so he has to get a divorce from his wife in Paris first. He is an antique dealer in London. I am feeling almost well again so I hope to return to the lager soon.
February 13th Tuesday
It is rumoured that we are going to receive some invalid parcels here it is the only thing that will put us on our feet again. This evening I spent quite a long time talking to the Polish doctor who speaks German, in the room there was also a Serb who speaks French so I had quite an interesting time translating for both. We talked of Poland, home cooking, clothes and many other subjects and it was with reluctance that we went back to our rooms. At twelve o'clock we had a hell of an air raid and the guns were going for a two hour burst. Our bombers made a big mess of some of the factories around here.
February 14th Wednesday
Parcels have arrived today and they have been divided between four of us. They are invalid parcels and contain many drinks. We have had five air raids in 24 hours but are still in the land of the living- thank the Lord and a deep shelter. Some more Frenchmen have come in the room so I have plenty of variety.
February 15th Thursday
Had my throat tested again today and I am still positive which means that I must still be careful. The Polish doctor has told me that it has left me with a weak heart but I am hoping that he has made a mistake. The air raids are getting very intense and I think the RAF are out for a crushing blow. The Russians seem to have stopped for a rest, not that I blame them they have done exceptionally well so far. The Germans have shot some of our boys who fell out whilst marching from Mulburg to Halle a distance of over one hundred kilometres, they were given no food so many of them dropped from exhaustion.
February 19th Monday
It has been three days since I put pencil to paper but nothing of any record has happened. The war seems as near finishing as it was six months ago. I had a relapse of my throat but am gargling every day for six times. Since these Frenchmen have moved in my French has improved I leaps and bounds. I am almost forgetting to speak English! Life has become so monotonous here that non of us worry when this blasted war will finish anyway, as my Yanks friends say. There is one here from Philadelphia called Homa ( Homer?) and he is one of the best Yanks I have ever met, he has entertained me for many hours talking about America. He is very interested in England and hopes to see England before he returns to America.
END.
Wadsworth escaped shortly before the end of the war and was sheltered by civilians in a village until American troops arrived.
My thanks to Mary Woolley, Kenneth Wadsworth's daughter, for this account.