Dachau War Trial
8 December 1945
DIRECT EXAMINATION
(LAURENCE – recall –direct,cross)
(EDWARDS – direct)
Questions by the prosecution:
Q. Will you state your full name, please?
A. Edwards, Llewellyn Edwards.
Q. And how old are you?
A. Thirty – five years of age.
Q. And what is your home address?
A. 12 Nora Street, Roath, Cardiff, Wales.
Q. Are you a member of the British Army?
A. I am sir.
Q. And what is your regiment?
A. Welsh Regiment, sir.
Q. And where are stationed at the present?
A. Landside.
Q. And how long have you been a soldier?
A. Sixteen years, sir.
Q. Now, Edwards, I will ask you whether or not you were taken prisoner in North Africa?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. On what date?
A. 11 February 1942, sir.
Q. And by whom were you taken prisoner?
A. By the Germans, sir.
Q. Now, after you were taken prisoner, to what place were you taken?
A. To Camp 85, Brindisi, Italy, sir.
Q. And after you left Camp 85, where were you taken?
A. In May to Camp 65, near Gravisni.
Q. And from Camp 65 to what place were you taken?
A. In June 1943 to Camp 52 near Genoa.
Q. And from Camp 52, where were you taken?
A. After the capitulation of Italy we were being transferred, officers and non-commissioned officers, being transferred by train to Germany.
Q. And what if anything happened to you while you were on this train?
A. I escaped from the train three miles north of Cremona, sir?
Q. Were you subsequently recaptured?
A. Yes, after nearly a month.
Q. And after you were recaptured, were you later brought to Germany?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And to what place in Germany were you brought?
A. Dachau Concentration Camp, sir.
Q. And when did you arrive at Dachau Concentration Camp?
A. On the 18 October 1943, sir.
Q. Now, when you arrived here, were you alone or were there other people with you?
A. No, sir, there were about eighty of us.
Q. Were there any other members of the British Armed forces with you?
A. Yes, sir, two or three French and two English soldiers.
Q. Now, Edwards when you arrived here in the camp at Dachau, about what time of the day was it?
A. It was just before mid-day, sir, around about mid-day.
Q. And where were you taken within the camp?
A. To the Camp square ---- I can’t speak plainly, because I have no teeth.
Q. Now, when you arrived at the camp square, what happened there?
A. We had to take all our clothes off, sir.
Q. What was the weather that day?
A. It was drizzling cold rain, sir.
Q. And after you had your clothes taken off, then where were you taken?
A. Taken down, and all the hair taken from our body and head with clippers.
Q. And then where did they take you?
A. To the bath, sir, hot and cold, sir.
Q. And then after you were in the shower room, then where were you taken?
A. Taken along and given prison uniforms, sir.
Q. And after you received your uniform, where did you go?
A. Back and collected our uniform which we had taken off.
Q. And what was done with that?
A. That was put in brown bags with whatever belongings were in our pockets, put in brown bags and put into a magazine.
Q. Now, following that, will you please state whether or not you were placed in a block.
A. Yes.
Q. Now, after you were placed in the block, did you make any effort to obtain an interview with the Camp Commandant?
A. Everyday sir.
Q. Was this effort to obtain an interview successful?
A. No sir.
Q. Who was the Camp Commandant at that time?
A. Weiss, sir.
Q. Now, did you later see the Camp Commandant?
A. Not Weiss, sir.
Q. Who was it you later saw?
A. Another officer that took over from Camp Commandant Weiss, sir?
Q. And approximately when was it that you saw that officer?
A. In the early days of November 1945, sir.
Q. And where was it you that you happened to see him?
A. The Camp Commandant was coming down to the camp with the then Rapportfuhrer?
Q. What was the name of the Rapportfuhrer
A. That one there (pointing)
Q. What is his number, please? Stand up and look and see which man it is.
A. Boettger, sir.
Q. Now, will you explain what happened on that occasion?
A. As all my applications had failed to reach the Camp Commandant I approached him in person. I saluted him in the military style without removing my head-dress. The Rapportfuhrer struck me down.
Defense: Now, if it pleases the court, I want to object to this matter, as being an incident of evidence not proper in rebuttal proof. It is entirely new incident, which has no where appeared in the record before. According to the Manual here, the defense will not be entitled to surrebuttal, so this is as though a witness were coming in here and making an accusation, and not permitting the accused the opportunity to affirm or deny the accusation. I therefore object to the introduction in rebuttal proof of any new matter, and this is the first material bit of proof that has occurred in this line of testimony, and is definitely without the scope of either the prosecution’s proof in chief or in the defense’s proof in chief.
President: What is your reference?
Defense: Sir, I don’t have that paragraph open here. Colonel Denson probably has the reference.
Prosecution: It is page 56. It doesn’t say what you say, though, it don’t say that.
Defense: I probably left out a “the” or an “and (Defense Counsel then read from the Manual.) I didn’t quote it verbatim, and I will apologize to the court for that delinquency.
Prosecution: May it please the court, may I have the opportunity to answer that? The matter which has already been testified to by Sergeant Edwards is preliminary to the main gist of his testimony. We think we are entitled to show the circumstances leading up to the main point for which he is being put on the stand, which is in direct rebuttal to the testimony of one of the defendents produced in this case. And we think, as a matter of orderly procedure, we are entitled to show the circumstances preceding the main event which he will testify to in a couple of minutes. That is why he is being taken along step by step, and we submit that that is perfectly proper procedure.
Defense: May it please the court, I haven’t the remotest idea what the main event, the feature, will be, but I submit to the court that it is improper to permit counsel, by chronological relation of certain events preceding the feature, to accuse forty people of murder, just under the guise of it being incidental to that feature that we wait for. Now this man has come in and testified that one of the defendants knocked him down. That is a new matter. It is an accusation against Boettger. It is an accusation that Boettger will not have the opportunity to either admit, deny, or explain, and therefore I submit, as a matter of law, and a matter of just plain, simple fair play, such a matter should not be permitted to be introduced in proof without giving defense an opportunity for surrebuttal, and that opportunity is not provided in the rules for procedure.
President: The objection is overruled. The court wants it clearly understood by the accused that we will continue to receive evidence on any matter that you feel is essential to the defense of the accused, that it is proper to receive, that has probative value, and we will continue to receive it for an indefinite period.
Q. Now, Edwards, after you were struck down, what was said?
A. It was told me by a Polish interpreter at that time that the Camp Commandant said “What does that dog want?”
Q. Then what was said?
A. The Polish interpreter asked me ---- I told him I was a British soldier, ex-prisoner of war in Italy, and that I should have gone to a prisoner of war camp in Germany. He then gave me permission for a political interview.
Q. Now, who did you go and see for that political interview?
A. The Political Agent and Criminal Investigator for Dachau.
Q. Did you get to see him the first time you went to see him?
A. No, sir.
Q. What was on the door at the office there when you went to see this man?
A. Herr Kick, Political Agent, Criminal Investigator.
Q. How many times did you have to go there before you finally got to see Kick?
A. I saw him on the fifth time I went over there, sir.
Q. Now, when you got to see him on the fifth time, explain what happened.
A. I had a Polish interpreter with me, and Kick said, “What does this man want?”, in German. The Polish interpreter told him who I was, and the Polish interpreter was trying to assist me in asking Kick questions, to try and get me what I was after.
Q. Then what happened?
A. Kick struck the interpreter out.
Q. Then what happened?
A. He told me in plain English - - “Now we can speak.” He asked me what my nationality was, and I told him English. He called me a liar. I said I wasn’t, I was English, and a British soldier. He called me a liar. At this time there was an SS man came into the room and Kick spoke to the SS man, and the SS man pushed me. Kick struck me, and that was carried on between one and the other for a period of, I should imagine, of over an hour.
Q. Now, with what did Kick strike you?
A. With his fist, sir.
Q. Now, Edwards did he hit you with his open hand, or with his fist?
A. His fist and open hand, sir.
Q. At the time you went to Kick’s office, how many teeth did you have in your head?
A. Fifteen, sir. On the bottom, sir. Fifteen of my own, sir. On the top I had artificial teeth.
Q. And when you came out of Kick’s office, how many teeth did you have?
A. I just had a stump here and there.
Q. You may state whether or not those teeth were knocked out in Kick’s office.
A. They were, sir.
Q. Now, were there any lacerations or cuts any place on your body as a result of that beating?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where?
A. Here (pointing)
Q. Do you have a scar there at the present time?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was there any other place on your body that you were cut as a result of that beating?
A. My mouth and nose, sir.
Q. Now, after that were you given medical treatment?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where?
A. In the hospital, by a prisoner, sir.
Q. And were you subsequently transferred to a prisoner of war camp?
A. Not for quite a long time, sir.
Q. On what date were you transferred to a prisoner of war camp?
A. At the end of March, sir.
Q. Of what year?
A. 1944
Prosecution: You may inquire
CROSS- EXAMINATION
Questions by the defense:
Q. Where were you taken prisoner?
A. In Libia, sir.
Q. And what was your unit in Lybia?
A. Welsh Regiment.
Q. How long had you been in Africa?
A. Since the declaration of war, sir.
Q. And you went to all of these camps in Italy first?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you were taken prisoner by Germans, or Italians?
A. By Germans, sir.
Q. And you first came to Dachau on 18th October 1943, is this correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And the first Camp Commander in Dachau that you saw was not Weiss, was it?
A. The first Commandant when I arrived in Dachau was Weiss.
Q. Did you see him?
A. I saw him going around the camp, sir.
Q. But he wasn’t the man who said, and spoke to you, “What does that dog want?”
A. No, sir.
Q. In fact, you never had any conversations with Weiss, did you?
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know the name of the Commandant who said to you, or in your presence, “What does that dog want?”
A. I think his name was Weiter.
Q. And at that time you say Weiter, the man up there on the extreme right, knocked you down?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And where did he hit you?
A. He hit me here (indicating).
Q. In the face?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you lose any teeth as a result of that?
A. No, sir.
Q. So after the Polish interpreter told the Commandant Weiter what you wanted, Weiter gave you permission to go to the Political Department, is that right?
A. He told the Polish interpreter, sir, that I was to see the Political Agent.
Q. And when was the first time you went to see any Political Agent?
A. In November, sir, 1943.
Q. About what time?
A. Around the 7th or 8th, sir.
Q. And was it necessary for you to go back to his office five times before you were able to get to see him, is that correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, the Polish interpreter spoke to Kick, is that correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. In German?
A. In German, yes.
Q. Do you know what he said?
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know what, if anything, he said that caused Kick to strike him?
A. No, sir, he was interpreting from English into German. I couldn’t speak German.
Q. Do you know exactly what it was that he said in German to Kick that caused Kick to strike him?
A. Well, if he interpreted what I told him, I told him I was an English prisoner of war, and I wished to be sent to a Prisoner of War Camp, or for the Geneva people to be informed that I was in Dachau.
Q. But you don’t know, of your own knowledge, do you, whether or not that was exactly what the Polish interpreter interpreted to Kick?
A. No, sir.
Q. As a result of this conversation that was going on between the Polish interpreter and Kick apparently for no reason at all Kick hauled off and struck him?
A. that is what I said, sir.
Q. And then you say Kick told you the Polish interpreter to go out, and he turned to you and started talking in English, is that Correct?
A. In slow English, yes, sir.
Q. Did he speak good English?
A. Well, understandable, sir.
Q. How long did you talk with him in English?
A. Well, for about twenty minutes, sir, and then for the remainder I was just answering I was English and I was being called a liar, and I said “I am not, I am English.”
Q. What did Kick accuse you of being?
A. Not of being English.
Q. And up until that time did Kick strike you?
A. The first man to push me was an SS man.
Q. No, Will you please answer my question, Sergeant. Up until that time had Kick struck you?
A. No, sir.
Q. And after apparently twenty minutes elapsed an SS man came in, is that right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is he here in the box?
A. No, I don’t see him.
Q. Do you know what his name is?
A. No, sir.
Q. And he pushed you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know why?
A. After Kick had spoken to him, sir.
Q. And do you know what Kick had said to him?
A. No, sir, I have no knowledge of German sir.
Q. When the SS man pushed you, what did you do?
A. I just stumbled the way I was pushed, sir.
Q. Did you make any effort or attempt to come back at the SS man?
A. I had been too long in Dachau to try anything like that.
Q. You had been in Dachau just about less than a month.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And your being that length of time made you realize the futility of making any passes back at SS men?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So that when this SS man pushed you, you made remonstrations whatever?
A. No, sir.
Q. You just took it?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did he push you towards Kick, or away from Kick?
A. Toward him.
Q. Now, when you were pushed in the direction of Kick, what did Kick do?
A. He struck me.
Q. With open hand or fist?
A. Well, it felt like his boot.
Q. Did he hit you with a boot?
A. No, but it felt like it.
Q. Where did he hit you?
A. On the face.
Q. What part of the face?
A. Here (indicating)
Defense: Indicating the right nostril.
Q. When he hit you, what happened to you?
A. I swayed back to my original position, sir.
Q. Back to the SS man?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did he do, push you back toward Kick?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did he strike you with?
A. His fist, sir.
Q. Where did he hit you?
A. Here, sir. (indicating)
Defense: Indicating under the right ear.
Q. Then what happened?
A. That went on, backwards and forwards, for about an hour, sir.
Q. After this SS man hit you, did you bounce back toward Kick?
A. I was trying to dodge one or two.
Q. Were you successful?
A. One or two, yes, sir.
Q. And you say this beating took place between the SS man and Kick for about an hour?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And as a result of that you lost several teeth, is that right?
A. Fifteen, sir.
Q. Fifteen teeth? After this all was over, how did you leave the room?
A. I staggered out of the room, sir – with assistance.
Q. Who helped you?
A. A foot from the SS man.
Q. And did you leave the building in which the room was in?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did you go?
A. I was escorted back into the camp, sir.
Q. By whom?
A. An SS man.
Q. The same SS man?
A. No, sir a sentry.
Q. Where had he been?
A. Well, they used them to bring people coming over, a sentry brings them over and accompanies them back.
Q. Is he here in the court-room?
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know what his name is?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you ever see him after that?
A. I saw him around the camp, yes, sir.
Q. Never knew what his name was?
A. No, sir.
Q. Is that the only time that you ever saw Kick?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you see him again?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did he beat you that time too?
A. He pushed me this time, sir.
Q. Where was this, in his office?
A. No, sir, inside of the camp, sir.
Q. How long after this push that you received was it that you were transferred to a prisoner of war camp?
A. About four months, sir.
Q. Did you see Kick after that – after the push?
A. You mean after I left Dachau, sir?
Q. No, after you got pushed the second time in camp.
A. I saw Kick on the second time inside of the camp.
Q. Yes, that is the time he pushed you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you see him after that?
A. Not up until now, sir.
Defense: No further Questions.
There being no further questions, the witness was excused and withdrew.
The court then, at 12:10 o’clock P.M. on 8 December 1945, adjourned to meet at 8:30 o’clock A.M. on 10 December 1945.
Signed
W.D. DENSON
Lt.Col. JAGD
Trial Judge Advocate.
Showing posts with label WW2. Show all posts
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Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Sergeant goes back to accuse his Nazi tortures
Taken from the Evening Standard - November 26 1945
‘Taffy’ Edwards, scarred and limping, is in London on his way to Dachau
Sergeant goes back to accuse his Nazi torturers
Evening Standard Reporter EVELYN IRONS
In London on his way to Dachau is a 35-year old soldier with a scarred face and a limp. He is Sergeant E.L. Edwards, of the Welch Regiment. Last time he entered Dachau he was kicked, beaten and tortured.
This time he goes as witness against the men who kicked, beat and tortured.
He will give evidence against some of the 40 people who ran Dachau camp and whose trial in a U.S. military court began on November 15.
Sergeant Edwards, a regular soldier now acting as mess caterer at a Glasgow transit camp, was married last Monday at his native Cardiff to Lilian Hurley, the girl who never gave up hope he was alive.
An hour after the wedding a telegram summoned him to London to await an airplane to Munich en route for Dachau.
There is one Nazi in particular whom Taffy Edwards wants to confront at the Dachau trial.
His name is Kik, political agent of the Gestapo.
Dressed in the striped concentration camp uniform of a political prisoner. Edwards protested to Kik that he was a British prisoner of war. After a 3 a.m. grilling during which he tried to force Edwards to deny his British nationality. Kik shouted “You are a liar.”
“I knew no more,” the sergeant told me, “until I came to at 7.30 next morning outside the camp hospital, with my teeth knocked out and gashes on my head and over the left eye.
“I was told as my wounds were stitched with ordinary needle and thread that I was to see Kik again next day.”
“When I appeared a second time I could not speak through my split and swollen mouth. When Kik demanded, ‘You are not English are you?’ I could only nod to tell him yes, I was. He struck me again on the mouth.
Sergeant Dachau the
In the camp where minutes he was hanged by the left arm from an iron clamp fixed to the wall. He is still unable to use that arm.
Edwards first arrived at Dachau on a cold, wet day in October, 1943, after a five-day train journey, during which he had only one piece of bread to eat.
The handcuffs which held him fixed to a post in the rail truck had to be sawn off because his wrists were so swllen.
With 60 other prisoners of many nations, including two British submarine men; he was made to stand naked in the big square for three hours.
All of the men were then ordered in groups of five into the shower baths, where they stood under ice-cold water after the skin had been scalded off their shoulders by a boiling hot shower.
After a final hot shower they were lined up in the square again. Twenty of these men died of pneumonia, the sergeant told me.
That first day at Dachau, Edwards was beaten up six times for such “offences” as failing to answer when his name was called in an unrecognisable German accent.
“I was lucky,” he grinned wryly. “I missed the gas chamber and the 25.”
He saw eight Greeks who had the “25.” They had their feet clamped in an iron box, and their heads forced down while they were beaten 25 times on the naked flesh with a yard-long piece of rubber pipe.
Taffy Edwards used to weigh close on 11 stone. When he came out of Dachau after eight months his weight had dropped to 5 stone.
‘Taffy’ Edwards, scarred and limping, is in London on his way to Dachau
Sergeant goes back to accuse his Nazi torturers
Evening Standard Reporter EVELYN IRONS
In London on his way to Dachau is a 35-year old soldier with a scarred face and a limp. He is Sergeant E.L. Edwards, of the Welch Regiment. Last time he entered Dachau he was kicked, beaten and tortured.
This time he goes as witness against the men who kicked, beat and tortured.
He will give evidence against some of the 40 people who ran Dachau camp and whose trial in a U.S. military court began on November 15.
Sergeant Edwards, a regular soldier now acting as mess caterer at a Glasgow transit camp, was married last Monday at his native Cardiff to Lilian Hurley, the girl who never gave up hope he was alive.
An hour after the wedding a telegram summoned him to London to await an airplane to Munich en route for Dachau.
There is one Nazi in particular whom Taffy Edwards wants to confront at the Dachau trial.
His name is Kik, political agent of the Gestapo.
Dressed in the striped concentration camp uniform of a political prisoner. Edwards protested to Kik that he was a British prisoner of war. After a 3 a.m. grilling during which he tried to force Edwards to deny his British nationality. Kik shouted “You are a liar.”
“I knew no more,” the sergeant told me, “until I came to at 7.30 next morning outside the camp hospital, with my teeth knocked out and gashes on my head and over the left eye.
“I was told as my wounds were stitched with ordinary needle and thread that I was to see Kik again next day.”
“When I appeared a second time I could not speak through my split and swollen mouth. When Kik demanded, ‘You are not English are you?’ I could only nod to tell him yes, I was. He struck me again on the mouth.
Sergeant Dachau the
In the camp where minutes he was hanged by the left arm from an iron clamp fixed to the wall. He is still unable to use that arm.
Edwards first arrived at Dachau on a cold, wet day in October, 1943, after a five-day train journey, during which he had only one piece of bread to eat.
The handcuffs which held him fixed to a post in the rail truck had to be sawn off because his wrists were so swllen.
With 60 other prisoners of many nations, including two British submarine men; he was made to stand naked in the big square for three hours.
All of the men were then ordered in groups of five into the shower baths, where they stood under ice-cold water after the skin had been scalded off their shoulders by a boiling hot shower.
After a final hot shower they were lined up in the square again. Twenty of these men died of pneumonia, the sergeant told me.
That first day at Dachau, Edwards was beaten up six times for such “offences” as failing to answer when his name was called in an unrecognisable German accent.
“I was lucky,” he grinned wryly. “I missed the gas chamber and the 25.”
He saw eight Greeks who had the “25.” They had their feet clamped in an iron box, and their heads forced down while they were beaten 25 times on the naked flesh with a yard-long piece of rubber pipe.
Taffy Edwards used to weigh close on 11 stone. When he came out of Dachau after eight months his weight had dropped to 5 stone.
At the fall of Bengazi........
At the fall of Bengazi in January 1942, a large column of our troops and transport left the area in an attempt to reach Cairo by crossing the North African desert. I was Senior N.C.O in charge of a 3-ton lorry with 10 men and an Indian driver, with orders to bring up the rear of the column and to pick up any stragglers I came across in the desert. During the first night on the road we burnt all transport and Bren Carriers which we thought would be unable to make the journey, and then started the long trek across the desert. We found vehicles having got stuck in the sand and towed them free, and we picked up a number of stragglers so that we found ourselves miles behind the column. At about 2p.m. a 15cwt. truck came to meet us carrying an Army Officer who shouted to us to keep to the left of the truck as there were unexploded bombs to the right. This officer turned out to be a German in British uniform who wanted to drive us to a mine-field. Those of us who ignored his orders were fired on latter. Then my lorry broke its springs and buried itself bonnet-deep in sand, and we were left with no alternative other than “shanks pony”. I checked the number as we left the lorry and found that there were 29 of us. I split the group into 3 parties, - two of 10 men and the other of 9, - but the men of my own battalion wanted to come with me so that there were 11 in my party and 9 in each of the others. Each party had a N.C.O. in charge.
On the forth day, five of the men in my party were taken very ill and needed medical attention. After discussion with the men I took the five to within 100 yards of the nearest enemy position and saw them being picked up by Italian soldiers.
On the tenth day the remaining six of us were sick and our feet were very swollen. Two of the men had high temperature and fever, and these together with another man and a Corporal, decided to take a chance on the road.
L/Sgt. Churchill and I were now left. We travelled eastward and lived quite well on provisions we found in broken-down lorries.
On the 20th day, after we had had a two-day rest we saw a great deal of activity on the horizon. We gathered as much food and water as we could carry and beat it. After we had been on our way about three hours, sand began to blow up around our feet, - and then we heard a bang! We made our way towards a wadi but found ourselves confronted by six men – a German Recovery Section. The German Captain approached us and took all our particulars. We were about 250 miles behind German lines.
For five days we were treated with unusual civillity, - until our hosts realised that F/Sgt. Churchill was not connected with Mr. Winston Churchill. We were taken back to Bengazi and handed over to the Italians about three o’clock one afternoon, and placed in a stone-built guard-room which had a small window covered by some strands of barbed wire. We escaped through this window, but we were in strange territory on a very dark night and were re-captured after about four hours of freedom and admonished by an Italian Officer. That night we were taken by road from camp to camp until, at the end of four days, we reached the outskirts of Tripoli. Here we met 31 survivors of a prison-ship which had been torpedoed a few hours after leaving Tripoli, among whom was the Welsh Middle-Weight boxer Tommy Enoch. After three days we were taken to Tripoli and put on board a prisoner-of-war ship bound for Italy.
We were taken to a prison camp near Brindisi, where we arrived in the afternoon. By midnight we had effected our escape and were near Brindisi port, but were captured and returned to camp by morning. On our return we were called to the tent of the camp R.S.M. a New Zealander, who informed me that if I wanted to escape again, he would arrange for a supply of dried food, raisins, sugar, oatmeal etc. Three days later, Churchill and I, simply walked out of the camp. It was so easy that we thought that a trap had been laid for us, so we took it easy for a couple of days, but on the 5th day we were picked up by Italian police and brought back to camp.
After about two weeks near Brindisi we were transferred to P.G.65., near Bari. This camp had no lavatories, - just a pit with planks across it. Water was brought by truck and buffalo cart. There were fleas as big as flies. I complained about these conditions on my letter-cards and was brought before the Camp Commandant. We formed an escape group but although several prisoners managed to get out, they were at large only a few hours. On one occasion I insulted a Caribineri (police) Officer and was placed under arrest. The guardroom was outside the main camp wire and whilst I was confined there I realised that it provided an easy escape route. I was after three days and set about exchanging soap, tea, tinned meat and Scotch-oats for chocolate, coffee, raisins, sugar and biscuits. Then I made sure of being placed under arrest and found myself once more in the guardroom. After roll-call at 7pm I got out by taking the window off its hinges and parting the barbed-wire. I now had 13 hours before the next check. Instead of going through Bari via Altamura, I went through Gravina, making for on the coast. I was free for four days and then, while passing a “Contradini” farm house I noticed some tabacco plants and fancied a smoke. I picked a couple of dry leaves and rolled them and smoked them. This was a very foolish thing to do, for someone passing by noticed the smoke and I had it! One shout from those Ities and 60 per cent of the population came running, - for to catch an “Ingleezi” soldier meant praise for the village from Mussolini himself. I was taken to the leading Fascist and then, while they all embraced and congratulated each other, I was taken back to the camp.
Ten days latter I was taken to another section of the camp and had to report to the guard every four hours. I got a friend to report for me and arranged with another chap to escape the next day. This time we were on the run for 10 days before being picked up.
In February 1943 most of the senior N.C.O.’s were moved north to P.G.52 at Chiavari, near Genoa, and here Churchill and I were parted. Here the Italians took every woollen garment away from us, except our socks, but we received Red Cross parcels often. In order to enable us to boil water for tea, parties of 20 to 30 men would go out under escort to collect dry wood. I attached myself to this party one day and told the sentry I was the British N.C.O. in charge. After I had exchanged tunics with a British Tommy, a couple of chaps started a fire to distract the sentries and I just walked away. I kept inland, about 20 kilometres from the coast, and on the morning of the third day I came across a bicycle belonging, I presume, to a farm worker. I travelled on this for about 16 hours and then concealed it under some hay and made my way on foot.
I arrived at Benivento on 17th August1943. There was a curfew in force and I was picked up by the Caribineri at about 4.30pm and taken back, via the civil prison, to P.G.52. Here things went on much as usual – bribing the sentries for information which might lead to escape.
On 6th September 1943 we were informed that Italy had capitulated. The Camp Commandant called the Camp R.S.M. and told him that he had been informed by his superiors that we would be released at the earliest opportunity. He assured the R.S.M. that he and his men would defend us against any attempt by the Germans to interfere with the camp. Imagine the laughter this caused.
The Germans walked in at 4 o’clock on the afternoon of the next day, and caused chaos. They fired their revolvers and drove us all inside. On the morning of September 10th all senior N.C.O.’s were rounded up and marched to Chiavari railway station, en route for Germany.
We were herded into freight cars, - 40 men to a car. Three of the cars had small apertures in them and, by a quick count, five of us managed to position ourselves so that we gained a place in one of these. At about 2am three of us decided to jump the train as it travelled round a curve at about 20 – 30 m.p.h. Helped by the others, I got through the small aperture, and was followed by Flt/Sgt. McNeil and Sgt.Irnine, R.A.F. We got off without mishap and lay still on the ground in case we should be spotted by one of the German look-outs on the front of each car. We made our way to a farm-house to find our position; we were a few miles north of Cremona. For the next fortnight we slept rough but lived very well and travelled fast, resting every fourth day. We walked to Mantova, swam across the River Po, and on via Modena to Bologna.
At Bologna we met four Italians who were friendly towards us and who wished to help in the downfall of Fascism. At a tunnel outside the town we cut a large tree which fell across the railway line and blocked the whole entrance to the tunnel.
We moved on to Lugo, where the German motor transport convoys passed us often. We saw an old trailer and turned it over in the road. Then through Forli towards Perugia. Fifteen miles from Perugia I parted company from the other two as the pace was too slow for me. I by-passed Perugia in an attempt to reach Rome.
When I reached a village near Terni I came across some Germans having target practice at a cross-roads. Here I had to seek the assistance of an Italian civilian, who said he would take me to a “circle” in Terni, but that I must have civilian clothes. He provided me with a pair of trousers, a shirt and a coat, and we took the electric-train for Terni. After a few minutes he went to the lavatory and on his return I saw an officer, sergeant and two men of the German Air Force come towards me with drawn revolvers. They asked me for my papers of identity and then searched me and found my A.B.64 and my attestation papers. They handcuffed me and stopped the train and ordered me off, at revolver point, about 4Kms from Terni.
I was taken to Perugia Castle, where the German Command was stationed, and interrogated by three German officers. I refused to answer their questions and was then put in a chair with my hands tied behind my back.
Evan-Llewellyn Edwards 3957688 Welch Regiment
On the forth day, five of the men in my party were taken very ill and needed medical attention. After discussion with the men I took the five to within 100 yards of the nearest enemy position and saw them being picked up by Italian soldiers.
On the tenth day the remaining six of us were sick and our feet were very swollen. Two of the men had high temperature and fever, and these together with another man and a Corporal, decided to take a chance on the road.
L/Sgt. Churchill and I were now left. We travelled eastward and lived quite well on provisions we found in broken-down lorries.
On the 20th day, after we had had a two-day rest we saw a great deal of activity on the horizon. We gathered as much food and water as we could carry and beat it. After we had been on our way about three hours, sand began to blow up around our feet, - and then we heard a bang! We made our way towards a wadi but found ourselves confronted by six men – a German Recovery Section. The German Captain approached us and took all our particulars. We were about 250 miles behind German lines.
For five days we were treated with unusual civillity, - until our hosts realised that F/Sgt. Churchill was not connected with Mr. Winston Churchill. We were taken back to Bengazi and handed over to the Italians about three o’clock one afternoon, and placed in a stone-built guard-room which had a small window covered by some strands of barbed wire. We escaped through this window, but we were in strange territory on a very dark night and were re-captured after about four hours of freedom and admonished by an Italian Officer. That night we were taken by road from camp to camp until, at the end of four days, we reached the outskirts of Tripoli. Here we met 31 survivors of a prison-ship which had been torpedoed a few hours after leaving Tripoli, among whom was the Welsh Middle-Weight boxer Tommy Enoch. After three days we were taken to Tripoli and put on board a prisoner-of-war ship bound for Italy.
We were taken to a prison camp near Brindisi, where we arrived in the afternoon. By midnight we had effected our escape and were near Brindisi port, but were captured and returned to camp by morning. On our return we were called to the tent of the camp R.S.M. a New Zealander, who informed me that if I wanted to escape again, he would arrange for a supply of dried food, raisins, sugar, oatmeal etc. Three days later, Churchill and I, simply walked out of the camp. It was so easy that we thought that a trap had been laid for us, so we took it easy for a couple of days, but on the 5th day we were picked up by Italian police and brought back to camp.
After about two weeks near Brindisi we were transferred to P.G.65., near Bari. This camp had no lavatories, - just a pit with planks across it. Water was brought by truck and buffalo cart. There were fleas as big as flies. I complained about these conditions on my letter-cards and was brought before the Camp Commandant. We formed an escape group but although several prisoners managed to get out, they were at large only a few hours. On one occasion I insulted a Caribineri (police) Officer and was placed under arrest. The guardroom was outside the main camp wire and whilst I was confined there I realised that it provided an easy escape route. I was after three days and set about exchanging soap, tea, tinned meat and Scotch-oats for chocolate, coffee, raisins, sugar and biscuits. Then I made sure of being placed under arrest and found myself once more in the guardroom. After roll-call at 7pm I got out by taking the window off its hinges and parting the barbed-wire. I now had 13 hours before the next check. Instead of going through Bari via Altamura, I went through Gravina, making for on the coast. I was free for four days and then, while passing a “Contradini” farm house I noticed some tabacco plants and fancied a smoke. I picked a couple of dry leaves and rolled them and smoked them. This was a very foolish thing to do, for someone passing by noticed the smoke and I had it! One shout from those Ities and 60 per cent of the population came running, - for to catch an “Ingleezi” soldier meant praise for the village from Mussolini himself. I was taken to the leading Fascist and then, while they all embraced and congratulated each other, I was taken back to the camp.
Ten days latter I was taken to another section of the camp and had to report to the guard every four hours. I got a friend to report for me and arranged with another chap to escape the next day. This time we were on the run for 10 days before being picked up.
In February 1943 most of the senior N.C.O.’s were moved north to P.G.52 at Chiavari, near Genoa, and here Churchill and I were parted. Here the Italians took every woollen garment away from us, except our socks, but we received Red Cross parcels often. In order to enable us to boil water for tea, parties of 20 to 30 men would go out under escort to collect dry wood. I attached myself to this party one day and told the sentry I was the British N.C.O. in charge. After I had exchanged tunics with a British Tommy, a couple of chaps started a fire to distract the sentries and I just walked away. I kept inland, about 20 kilometres from the coast, and on the morning of the third day I came across a bicycle belonging, I presume, to a farm worker. I travelled on this for about 16 hours and then concealed it under some hay and made my way on foot.
I arrived at Benivento on 17th August1943. There was a curfew in force and I was picked up by the Caribineri at about 4.30pm and taken back, via the civil prison, to P.G.52. Here things went on much as usual – bribing the sentries for information which might lead to escape.
On 6th September 1943 we were informed that Italy had capitulated. The Camp Commandant called the Camp R.S.M. and told him that he had been informed by his superiors that we would be released at the earliest opportunity. He assured the R.S.M. that he and his men would defend us against any attempt by the Germans to interfere with the camp. Imagine the laughter this caused.
The Germans walked in at 4 o’clock on the afternoon of the next day, and caused chaos. They fired their revolvers and drove us all inside. On the morning of September 10th all senior N.C.O.’s were rounded up and marched to Chiavari railway station, en route for Germany.
We were herded into freight cars, - 40 men to a car. Three of the cars had small apertures in them and, by a quick count, five of us managed to position ourselves so that we gained a place in one of these. At about 2am three of us decided to jump the train as it travelled round a curve at about 20 – 30 m.p.h. Helped by the others, I got through the small aperture, and was followed by Flt/Sgt. McNeil and Sgt.Irnine, R.A.F. We got off without mishap and lay still on the ground in case we should be spotted by one of the German look-outs on the front of each car. We made our way to a farm-house to find our position; we were a few miles north of Cremona. For the next fortnight we slept rough but lived very well and travelled fast, resting every fourth day. We walked to Mantova, swam across the River Po, and on via Modena to Bologna.
At Bologna we met four Italians who were friendly towards us and who wished to help in the downfall of Fascism. At a tunnel outside the town we cut a large tree which fell across the railway line and blocked the whole entrance to the tunnel.
We moved on to Lugo, where the German motor transport convoys passed us often. We saw an old trailer and turned it over in the road. Then through Forli towards Perugia. Fifteen miles from Perugia I parted company from the other two as the pace was too slow for me. I by-passed Perugia in an attempt to reach Rome.
When I reached a village near Terni I came across some Germans having target practice at a cross-roads. Here I had to seek the assistance of an Italian civilian, who said he would take me to a “circle” in Terni, but that I must have civilian clothes. He provided me with a pair of trousers, a shirt and a coat, and we took the electric-train for Terni. After a few minutes he went to the lavatory and on his return I saw an officer, sergeant and two men of the German Air Force come towards me with drawn revolvers. They asked me for my papers of identity and then searched me and found my A.B.64 and my attestation papers. They handcuffed me and stopped the train and ordered me off, at revolver point, about 4Kms from Terni.
I was taken to Perugia Castle, where the German Command was stationed, and interrogated by three German officers. I refused to answer their questions and was then put in a chair with my hands tied behind my back.
Evan-Llewellyn Edwards 3957688 Welch Regiment
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Christmas In Nazi Horror Camp
Spending his first Christmas at home since 1932 is Sergant E.L. (Taffy) Edwards, of The Welch Regiment, of Nora Street, Roath, Cardiff.
It will be a very different Christmas for him from that of 1943 when, held as a political prisoner in the notorious German concentration camp at Dachau, he risked torture to steel a cabbage stump to supplement his daily ration of watery soup.
Sergt. Edwards arrived home in Cardiff towards the end of last week after being the only Briton to give evidence in the three weeks trial by a U.S. military court of the 40 beasts responsible for the running of the camp. Thirty six of the 40 were condemned to death for their crimes.
Sergt. Edwards was taken prisoner by the Italians in Libya in February 1942 and while travelling by train, escaped near Cremona on September 1943. Making his way to join up with the American troops he was arrested by Gestapo on October 10, after being given away by an Italian.
He was handcuffed and taken to German High Command where he was put through the third degree. When the Germans told him "We love our Fuhrer" he replied "If we catch him we will show him a another kind of love," for which he was severly beaten.
He was taken with 80 civilian internees and two British sailors to a train and was handcuffed to a post in such a position that he could not sit down and the fellow passengers had to kneel and lift his feet up to take the strain off his wrists. The train arrived at Dachau on October 18 and the handcuffs had to be sawn off.
On arrival the prisoners were made to stand naked for three hours in the drizzling rain. In groups of five they were taken to shower baths where they stood under ice cold water after the skin had been scalded off their shoulders by boiling hot shower. Twenty of the men died of pneumonia.
A red triangle was sewn onto the Sergant's clothing ----- badge of a polictical prisoner. Daily he made applications to see the Camp Commandant, and was eventually sent for an interviewwith Criminal Investigator Kik. He told Kik that he was a British soldier, and was immediately called a liar. Kik did everthing to get him to deny that he was British.
"I knew no more," the Sergent told the Echo reporter, "until I came to the next morning at 7:30 outside the camp hospital with my teeth knocked out and gashes on my head and over the left eye. My wounds were stiched with an ordinary needle and thread."
Altogether, Sergt. Edwards spent nearly eight months in Dachau. When he entered his weight was 11 stone on leaving it was 5 stone 4 1/2lbs.
Newspaper clipping date unknown
It will be a very different Christmas for him from that of 1943 when, held as a political prisoner in the notorious German concentration camp at Dachau, he risked torture to steel a cabbage stump to supplement his daily ration of watery soup.
Sergt. Edwards arrived home in Cardiff towards the end of last week after being the only Briton to give evidence in the three weeks trial by a U.S. military court of the 40 beasts responsible for the running of the camp. Thirty six of the 40 were condemned to death for their crimes.
Sergt. Edwards was taken prisoner by the Italians in Libya in February 1942 and while travelling by train, escaped near Cremona on September 1943. Making his way to join up with the American troops he was arrested by Gestapo on October 10, after being given away by an Italian.
He was handcuffed and taken to German High Command where he was put through the third degree. When the Germans told him "We love our Fuhrer" he replied "If we catch him we will show him a another kind of love," for which he was severly beaten.
He was taken with 80 civilian internees and two British sailors to a train and was handcuffed to a post in such a position that he could not sit down and the fellow passengers had to kneel and lift his feet up to take the strain off his wrists. The train arrived at Dachau on October 18 and the handcuffs had to be sawn off.
On arrival the prisoners were made to stand naked for three hours in the drizzling rain. In groups of five they were taken to shower baths where they stood under ice cold water after the skin had been scalded off their shoulders by boiling hot shower. Twenty of the men died of pneumonia.
A red triangle was sewn onto the Sergant's clothing ----- badge of a polictical prisoner. Daily he made applications to see the Camp Commandant, and was eventually sent for an interviewwith Criminal Investigator Kik. He told Kik that he was a British soldier, and was immediately called a liar. Kik did everthing to get him to deny that he was British.
"I knew no more," the Sergent told the Echo reporter, "until I came to the next morning at 7:30 outside the camp hospital with my teeth knocked out and gashes on my head and over the left eye. My wounds were stiched with an ordinary needle and thread."
Altogether, Sergt. Edwards spent nearly eight months in Dachau. When he entered his weight was 11 stone on leaving it was 5 stone 4 1/2lbs.
Newspaper clipping date unknown
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