WARTIME GUIDES

That was amazing trip. Phill with his wife visited Poland inspiring by book of his father who was PoW in Torun. Again we could travelled in time, sightseeing forts and old paths from WWII. Below we put some memories of Phill and pictures. My father, Ralph Johnson, was a member of the 2/5th Australian General Hospital. He was captured on his 21st birthday in Greece on the 28th April 1941. In December 1941 my father, along with many others, were loaded into cattle trucks for the nine day journey to Torun where he spent the next three and a half years in various POW camps with the majority of time spent in Fort 15, Torun. Dad did not speak about his experiences for 30 years after his return and is was only in the later years of his life that he shared his experiences in a book he wrote for his family. We are extremely grateful that he did this as without his recollections we would have little knowledge of his experiences. So it was with mixed feelings that my wife and I d

Austen Deans was a soldier of New Zeland forces. He was sent to defent country far away from New Zeland...firstly North Africa and secondly Europe. When German won capampaing in Crete Austen and rest of soldiers as a POW were transported to Stalag XXA in Torun. After four days of trip to Poland soldiers were located in old prussian forts. Austen was imprisoned in Fort XV. Below we present short part of his fascinating biography.... One of Austen Deans painting shows Fort XV In the first few months at Stalag XX-A Austen also worked as a temporary tailor, repairing old British army greatcoats for the Russian POWs. As they were not party to the Geneva Convention they had no access to supplies and provisions through the Red Cross, and would have frozen to death had the Germans not provided the coats. The three friends were able to continue painting. Austen carried on with his portraits of other POWs and as many landscapes as he could produce from within the confines of the camp.

It was pleasure for us to be guests one of the famous Torun's radio. Pawel had interview about history of Stalag XXA and modern "sentimental" tourism. That was a great opportunity to show unknown stories about POW's and expalin how this heritage it is worthy for unique groups like families, friends etc. who prepare to this trip sometime about one year and the are able to come here even from New Zeland. During the interview

One of the most famouse priests Jan Twardowski told that:  Let us hurry to love people they depart so quickly” Jan Twardowski. We met Jack by Skype and that was fantastic to spoke with man who remember true facts about war time in Torun. Thank you for whole knwoledge... Below we would like to show you the eulogy J ack Morgan Walker was born to Sarah & Sydney Walker on the 4th Oct 1922 at Cheetham Hill Manchester England. They immigrated to Australia in 1926, Dad was 4. They rented a house in Bronte where his younger brother Ralph was born in 1928. Dad attended Clovelly Infants School, Woollahra Opportunity School & Randwick Boys High. After gaining his Intermediate Certificate his first job was with Anthony Hordens in the city selling sox, ties and handkerchiefs. He then worked 2½ years as a window dresser at David Jones Store in the city. When he was 16 the family moved to Oatley. He was always mad on motor bikes so when he was old enough he bought a 1926 AJS

Last days of june were a great adventure. Jason Cook (who arrived to Torun by motorbike) saw Stalag XXA remains. His father was captured in Norway. Below memories from his trip...  My name is Jason Cook and I have been doing some research on my father who served during WW2. He was Private 4859218 John George Cook of 1/5 Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment. He was captured in Norway on the 23rd of April 1940, at a place called Tretten. He was taken to Torun, Poland and incarcerated at Stalag XXA. On footprints of history As part of my research I have photo-copies of my fathers army papers, battalion war diaries, red-cross reports and more but to finalise it all I wanted to visit the places where he was captured and imprisoned and take photographs. These would then complete a binder I have been compiling on my fathers experiences. To that end I visited Tretten in March this year and have only recently got back from a 2420 mile motorbike ride to Torun! Stalag Time s

We would like to inform that our local press published article dedictaded to people aroud the world who are travleing on the routes of POW's. Thank's that Torun wasn't destroyed in WWII  sightseeing of fortification is possible and in some objects are still visible oryginal Stalag XXA remains. Passionates form Torun and relatives from countries where POW's came from are probably last people who is remember about this heritage. Click here to see the article.

Last weekend of may we were guides for Evelyn and Wighton Clark. It was pleasure to show them places connected with Stalag XXA. Below we are showing a resume from trip of footprints of gunner Hugh C Bone. The day after the BBC’s television coverage commerating  the 70th anniversary of the evacuation of the BEF at Dunkirk, there was a programme shown relating to those soldiers who were left behind in Normandy, in the main the 51st Highland Division, a Division who along with the French helped hold back Rommel’s Panzers  in order to allow the evacuation to take place. Their understanding was that they would be evacuated too. During that t.v. programme, I listened to POWs recount their experience of battle and incarceration in Stallag XXA in Poland and for the first time I had an insight into what my father had been through from 1940 to 1945. From then on I wanted to find out as much as I could.  This was extremely difficult, as like the majority of POWs my dad never spoke to

This video was created to show Fort XV, one of the forts which was a part of Stalag XXA in Torun. Old pictures mainly show Australians soldiers during daily routines and entertainment. We compare it to show how Fort XV looks today. Special thanks for all people who were involved in this project. www.wartimeguides.blogspot.com

Last long weekend, Paweł was asked by international radio RMF FM to give a talk about heritage and tourism of Stalag XX A. Talk was concrentrated on fort XI where you can see wartime pictures commemorating soldiers, prayers, political slogans etc.. Fort XV which is known for its interesting story. During the times of Stalag XXA, 1939-1945 there were imprisoned poeple of diffrent nationaliteis like Australians and Italians who refused to work for the enemy. Therefore, they had time to organize sport or theatre events. Learn more about fort XI and fort XV in the links.

I'm happy to say that Paweł's work has been described by The Guardian! The story tells about Peter Walker's visit in Toruń last year. He came to Toruń to find his grandfather's keys which he hid during his stay in Stalag XXA. And thanks to Paweł's research he managed to do so! after 70 years. This story is very motivating for us and shows us that our work is needed. Here is the link to the article

Dear Ex-Prisoners, if you would like to share your story about your stay in  Stalag XXA, we will be happy to publish it. Please contact us (wartimeguides@blogspot.com), if you are interested in this project.

Winter is good for us and our readers. This time, my article about Stalag XXA history and culture was published in Toruń's year-book ! It's a pleasure to be a part of this publication.  ps. thank you Paweł for your support

I'm happy to say that my article about Stalag XXA was published in a Ex-Prisoner of War Association newsletter! If you interested in it please write to us.