Telegraph | News |
'He's so ignorant, he must be a limey!'
Following my third escape from captivity and the successful breaching of the disintegrating German frontline in Bavaria, I ended the war with the advancing American Third army.
The breaching of the American lines had been the tricky bit since every time I showed myself to a lager of Sherman tanks over the brow of a hill, I was fired at by trigger-happy GIs.
I succeeded in establishing my British nationality only after a shouted quiz concerning baseball and football matters of which I knew next to nothing.
Finally I was allowed forward with my hands in the air staring down the barrels of a multitude of guns with the words 'He's so ignorant he must be a Limey' fresh in my ears.
In the city of Regensburg, awaiting repatriation to Britain, I commandeered a German-occupied private house, magnanimously allowing the family to remain, though insisting they cook what food I could scavenge.
The European war ended while I was there with the mother doing her best to marry off her daughter to a victorious Englishman!
I was unable to oblige however since I had already pledged my troth to a Czech girl who had provided sustenance and comfort during my second escape attempt.
The lady is now my wife though it took half a decade and a 104-year prison sentence for breaching the Iron Curtain before I could bring her to Britain.
----Christopher Portway, Brighton
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