Cooper, J L G

,

Lance Corporal Joseph Leonard Gearing Cooper

Family/Last name:
Cooper
Forename(s) and initial(s):
Joseph Leonard Gearing
Place of birth:
Romford Essex
Date of birth:
6/7/1915
Nationality:
British
Service number:
2575963
Military Unit:
British Army, Royal Corps of Signals
Rank when captured:
Lance Corporal
Place of capture:
France
POW number:
10010
Camp
Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf / Stalag 344
Data sources
The National Archives (UK)Other Sources (Relative Report)
View a commemorative certificate for this prisoner

My grandad, Joseph Leonard Gearing Cooper was at Lamsdorf for five years through the war.
He was in the Royal Corps of Signals and was captured, I think he said, just outside Dunkirk.
He tells stories of catching chickens, breaking out, swapping for potatoes with the villagers and returning
to the camp. I have no Idea if this is true.
He also was on the Long March and tells of sleeping in a hay barn loft and when he woke up everyone
had gone, then he started walking alone and some American soldiers started to shoot at him, he called out
and they realised he was British. He then “hitched a lift” on an American plane back to England.
We are not sure how much of this is based in fact, he’s quite fond of pulling our legs, though I do tend to
think there may be some facts in there too.
He’s now 100 years old and this year he’s shown me his tag from Lamsdorf and a German propaganda
leaflet that he picked up along the way, he’s kept them safe all these years.
Happy for you to comment or share his story.

Donna

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