Lambeth to Lamsdorf : Doug Hawkins' war
Green, Robin2015
Book
This is the story of an ordinary young man, who enlisted at 18 in 1942 and became an infantryman specialising as a machine gunner with the Middlesex Regiment and later with the Cheshire Regiment.After his regiment was transferred to reinforce Operation Shingle at Anzio, Doug Hawkins was captured during the Break Out from the Anzio Beachhead in June 1944 aged just 20. Three months in cattle trucks with short stops at transit camps at Fruili and Moosberg opened his young eyes to the meaning of war. Finally arriving in Lamsdorf, Stalag 344 in August 1944, he spent five months as a POW until, in January 1945, Lamsdorf was evacuated as the Russians advanced from the east. The Long March followed, privation heaped upon privation during the coldest continental winter of the 20th Century as thousands trudged westwards through Poland and Southern Germany until by April 1945, abandoned by their guards, they washed up close to the Americans advanced positions.
Main title:
Lambeth to Lamsdorf : Doug Hawkins' war / Robin Green.
Author:
Imprint:
Melrose Books, 2015.
ISBN:
9781910792148
Dewey class:
940.547243 HAW
Local class:
940.547243 HAW
Language:
English
BRN:
2430372