POW diaries - Captain Percival Lowe, item 161
Transcription
Transcription history
-
74.
proportions & being a different colour to the ground we
knew would give us away if a German should investigate
far-But the distance he must go would certainly dirty
...inserted in a different coloured ink (a casual glance would convey nothing.)
his trousers. The digging was very hard being shale mostly.
Nearly all crowbar work. We went right under the path
& always dreaded that the Russian General ^ would one
...inserted ^an enormous man of about 18 stone
day come through & bury the then navvy - We used
the bed boards provided by Government for boarding up.
But we met with one great difficulty, water. After heavy
rain & there was a lot ^ the water from the ditch flooded
...inserted this autumn,
our works & no bailing was any use. It was a case
of waiting till the tide fell. We however knew to be
caught meant 2 yrs imprisonment. We had an elaborate
spy system. 40 feet of work was required. It was almost
finished when another flood came. It was now 20th Sept.
Too late to carry out our scheme. This being so, various
members elected to make a dash another way. Use the
trap door cut the fence infront & out. The fence was
cut by day as everyone but the Germans knew. There was
however bad staff management. The first man getting through
the fence found a German with his rifle pointed 2 yards
away. He did the only thing possible bolted. The Sentry fired and
missed. Then Hindenburg & the rest of the pack were set
on the trail - but they ran in any direction but the right
one. And severe kicking would not enlighten them as to
the role they ought to play.
Our tunnel now missed fire - & the Germans found it out
we knew the exact day. Whether is was by searching how
the officer had got out of his room, or whether as
Wederen said they were told by a spy & never would
-
74.
proportions +being a different colour to the ground we
knew would give us away if a German should investigate
far-But the distance he must go would certainly dirty
...inserted in a different coloured ink (a casual glance would convey nothing.)
his trousers. The digging was very hard being shale mostly.
Nearly all crowbar work. We went right under the path
+ always dreaded that the Russian General ^ would one
...inserted ^an enormous man of about 18 stone
day come through + bury them navvy-We and
the bed boards
Government for boarding up.But we met with one great difficulty, water. After heavy
rain +there was a lot ^ the water from the ditch flooded
...inserted this autumn,
our work + no bailing was any use. It was a case
of waiting till the tide fell. We however knew to be
caught meant 2 yrs imprisonment. We had an elaborate
spy system. 40 feet of work was required. It was about
finished when another flood came. It was now 29th Sept
Too late to carry our our scheme. This being so, various
numbers elected to make a dash another way. On the
trap door cut the few infront + out. The fence was
cut by day as everyone but the Germans knew. There was
however bad staff management. The first man getting through
the fence found a German with his rifle pointed 2 yards
away. He did the only thing possible bolted. The Sentry fired and
missed. Then Hindenburg + the rest of the pack were set
on the trail-but they ran in any direction but the right
one. And severe kicking would not enlighten them as to
the role they ought to play.
Our tunnel now missed fire-+ the Germans found it out
we knew the exact day. Whether is was by searching how
the officer had got out of his room, or whether as
Wederen said they were told by a spy + never would
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- ID
- 3963 / 243470
- Contributor
- Toby Backhouse
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