Sergeant Hilary Charles Morton (George) Jarvis

From Rosalind Lomas 27/08/2023.

My father, Hilary C M Jarvis, was a first year medical student at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London prior joining the Royal Air Force. He enlisted in the RAF in March 1941, trained in the US and left No 11 Training Operations RAF Newmarket on 13/14 September 1942 in a Wellington IC on a mission to bomb Bremen. He crash landed near to Oldenburg in Germany

After his capture Hilary C M Jarvis worked as a medical orderly in the general medical clinic (Revier) when he arrived at Stalag VIIIB and was known by everyone as “George”. After a year in the camp, senior Medical Officer Lt Col T Henry Wilson arranged for him to be transferred from the Revier to Lazarette 344, the camp hospital, where he learnt from the medical staff, observed and assisted in more complex treatments and operations. He left Lamsdorf by train on 3 March 1945 with Lt Col T Henry Wilson, Lt Col Leslie Lauste and their patients. Their destination was Stalag VIIB at Memmingen, Germany from where they were liberated by the Americans.

After the war Hilary C M Jarvis went on to qualify as a doctor and worked as a GP and Police Surgeon in Brighton, Sussex, UK until his death in 1987 aged 66.

He was for ever grateful to Lt Col. T Henry Wilson who gave him wonderful opportunities to learn, observe and practice in the camp even though he was not a qualified doctor. Hilary C M Jarvis wrote a book about his experience as a POW under the pseudonym “George Moreton”. This is called “Doctor in Chains” and, although out of print, is still available on Amazon. An extract from “Doctor in Chains” can be found in Philip Baker’s book, Lamsdorf – In Their Own Words. Clare Makepeace also mentions and acknowledges my father in her book, Captives of War.

There are two boxes of his papers together with a selection of photographs in the Imperial War Museum in London which can be ordered for research purposes. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030000792

The papers include a number of letters home which mention day to day happenings in the Revier and Lazarette and also the numerous doctors he worked with. Also there are four testimonials from doctors which he subsequently used in his future career.

Anna Wickiewicz viewed these papers when researching for her book Captivity in British Uniforms, Stalag VIII B (344) Lamsdorf.

Hilary C M Jarvis was awarded the MBE for his work during the war in December 1945.

Lt Col Leslie Lauste wrote an obituary detailing their experiences in the camp after Hilary C M Jarvis’ death in 1987.

On a visit to the site of Stalag VIII B (344) Lamsdorf in August 2022 I (Rosalind Lomas – daughter) saw the excavation of the Lazerette and various artifacts. A documentary is planned to show the results of this project.

I attach 5 photos but I have considerably more which I have taken from my father’s albums in the Imperial War Museum. Some are general photos of the camp and some relate to medical matters. I believe some were taken by Arthur Weston as they are duplicates of ones put on Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf Facebook page by his daughter Sheila Weston.