Wood, W J
Sapper Walter James Wood
My father’s name is WALTER JAMES WOOD, Prisoner of War number 31356, he was at Stalag 344 until 1945 where left on the march which is called, I believe, the Long March or The Death March. He always maintained he worked in a coal mine in the PoW camp – can this be right? I don’t know what date he arrived but he was captured in St Valery near Dunkirk.
I am in the process of investigating more, in the meantime, can his name please be added to the list of those interred.
I have so much to think about in finding this information today. I grew up on stories “from the War” which my father told, and although in later life they were frankly embellished as he grew older and iller, it has been a powerful experience finding that his recollections from my childhood years tally exactly with the accounts and photos on your website. He told me of the horrors of the long march and I can say with absolute honesty that he never, ever, got over that experience for the rest of his life. It affected his health and shaped his entire life thereafter. He died in 1999 after what I can only describe as a very unfortunate life. Having said that, he rarely complained or made a fuss.
There is a photo on your website – a white block with men washing in what looks like cold water. My father used to tell me about cold water showers or washes after a shift in the coal mine. There is a man looking out of the window, the first window on the far right, I know it cannot be my father but…it looks just like him. I suppose it doesn’t matter whether this man IS my father – he could have been and that is enough. But, I feel it is him. Can you tell me who would have lived in that block? Was it for coal miners do you know? My father was not an officer – he was a sapper in the Royal Engineers when he was captured.
Helen Wood
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