Vaughan, J

,

Trooper John Henry (Jack) Vaughan

Family/Last name:
Vaughan
Forename(s) and initial(s):
John Henry (Jack)
Place of birth:
Gravesend, Kent, England
Date of birth:
5/9/1921
Nationality:
British
Service number:
305373
Military Unit:
British Army, Royal Horse Guards
Rank when captured:
Trooper
Place of capture:
Crete
POW number:
22092
Camp
Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf / Stalag 344
Data sources
The National Archives (UK)Other Sources (Relative Report)
View a commemorative certificate for this prisoner

My father, Jack Vaughan, was captured in Crete and spent 4 years in VIIIB He had deducted one year from his birth date so that he could join the Royal Horse Guards at 17. In January 1940, the regiment took horses to Palestine and there he rode as many as 70 miles a day through many places mentioned in The Bible, including one day drinking ice cold water from Jacob’s Well. As the war progressed and European countries fell to Nazi Germany, he transferred to the Commandos after undertaking specialist training in Egypt. He went to Abyssinia where he took parts in raids behind enemy lines, sometimes covering as much as 200 miles in a day. After a further short spell in Egypt, two commando units went to Crete, but the weather was too rough to land. After changing on to a cruiser, he eventually landed at Suda Bay and fought hand to hand across the island for five days before being captured by the Germans. 

He was taken to Stalag VIIIB where his experiences were horrific including being hospitalised for four months after being severely beaten. Released by the Americans in 1945, he returned to the UK spent some time in hospital receiving treatment before resuming Guard duties at Whitehall. Later, due to his treatment in the prisoner of war camp, he was disabled out of the Horse Guards. 

I have cartoons and pictures drawn in a log book by WMH who I have now deduced is Bill ‘Toad’ Hughes as a result of meeting up with the wife of former inmate Stan Livingstone – she also has a log book containing a cartoon by WMH. We found the reference and some further pictures in a book called Almost a Lifetime by John McMahon. 

We know of at least 5 cartoonists / artists who drew in prisoner’s log books.

There is a display at the Guards Museum at Combermere Barracks, Windsor, England, of all of Jack Vaughan’s wartime memorabilia, including his birth, marriage and death certificates, his wartime log, his red cross parcel lists and cap badges.

Michael J Vaughan 

 

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