Buirchell , W R

Signalman William Roy (Bonnie) Buirchell

Family/Last name:
Buirchell
Forename(s) and initial(s):
William Roy (Bonnie)
Nationality:
Australia
Service number:
WX2280
Military Unit:
Australian Army (2nd Australian Imperial Force)
Rank when captured:
Signalman
Place of capture:
Crete
POW number:
4562
Camp
Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf / Stalag 344
Data sources
Other Sources (Relative Report)
View a commemorative certificate for this prisoner

My father William Roy Buirchell (Bonnie) was a POW in Stalag VIII from 1941 to 1945. He was a signaller with the Australian Army and was captured on Crete. He was one of the later captured soldiers as he had tried to hide in the mountains of Crete after the original decision to surrender.

He spoke little about his experiences and after rest and recuperation in Scotland he returned to his home town of Kojonup in Western Australia. There were some snippets of information that I did not fully fathom but may be interesting to others. My father spoke of working in the coal mines, he had photos of a concert put on by the POWs some of the cast dressing as females. He hated soccer and the Italian language but seemed sympathetic to polish. One of the migrants to arrive in Kojonup after the war was called Andy (Ampol Andy as he ran the Ampol service station). My father was friendly towards him and often said he was a nice man who was a polish prison guard when he was in Stalag VIII.

Anthony Buirchell

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