Borrett, R L

, ,

Gunner Reginald L Borrett

Family/Last name:
Borrett
Forename(s) and initial(s):
Reginald L
Service number:
907021
Military Unit:
British Army, Royal Artillery, 58th Medium Territorial Regiment
Rank when captured:
Gunner
Place of capture:
Menen, Belgium
POW number:
13744
Camp
Stalag VIIIB Teschen / Stalag VIIID
Data sources
Other Sources (Relative's report)
View a commemorative certificate for this prisoner

Gunner R. L. Borrett of the 58th Medium Royal Artillery TA regiment, worked as a tailor at Ottmuth aerodrome (Working Party E56).

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From: Mick Borrett
20th January 2020

Dad was Gunner Reginald L. Borrett from Ipswich of the 58th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery.
Army No.907021, POW No.13744

He was captured by the Germans at Memin near Ypres on 25/5/1940 on the retreat to Dunkirk. He was imprisoned in the civilian jail at Memin for a while and then marched for 3 weeks through Belgium and Holland and arrived in Germany at a town called LAMSDORF where there was a huge Prison Camp for British Prisoners. He was imprisoned in Stalag VIIIB for most of the war. He was on the infamous Death March from January 1945.

He worked on various work parties including logging camps. Railway Track Laying and coal mining. He finally ended up in the Tailors Shop.

I have various mementoes including photos, postcards, prison camp bank note, a stainless steel signet ring made by a Polish Prisoner (made from a nut), a piece of Silesian coal and a pair of miniature handcuffs carved from the end of a tooth brush made to commemorate the handcuffing of British Prisoners after the failed Dieppe Raid.

I also have two diaries including one of the Death March

Timeline

25th May 1940
Captured on retreat to Dunkirk , held for 10 days in civilian Jail Menim
Then marched for 3 weeks through Belgium Holland Germany etc to Lamsdorf , Stalag VIIIB

July 9th, 1940
Sent to Ehrenforst Laying Railway Lines and Building bridges etc.  Bitten by Snake hospitalised

January 20th, 1941
Sent back to Lamsdorf

February 16th, 1941
Sent to Skrochovic

June 17th, 1941
Working Party E603 Hindenberg working Concordia Coal mine 311 m deep

Februrary 25th 1942
Working party E51 Klarsberg Abwehr Coal Mine 750 m deep Mining Accident British POW killed Rather be shot than go down mine again so refuse to work

April 7th 1942
Solitary confinement in The Bunker for refusing to work down mine. More POWs join in and solitary becomes full resulting in overcrowded, insanitary conditions. Get impetigo that I make purposely worse to escape to hospital.

November 1st, 1942
Hospital in Lamsdorf for 8 weeks. Mate, Les Pongo Waring teaches me rudimentary tailoring. My skill records are fiddled from “machinist” to sewing machinist” and so I am now transferred to Tailors shop in Lamsdorf.

January 12th1943 Tailors shop in Lamsdorf.

January 14th 1944 E56 Ottmutz(th) Aerodrome Tailors Shop

Jan 8th 1945 Shonhurst Ready for the Long March..

 

 

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