27048: John M Macdonald
John M Macdonald (1919-2012) was a son of John M Macdonald and Marion Macaskill, 19a Laxay. He married Joan Macdonald, 9 Habost. They had two children. During their marriage, they lived at 2 Park View Terrace Balallan and 39a Balallan. John served five years in a Prisoner of War camp, mainly in Poland.
On VE Day, John recalls “after 5 years as POWs, we were freed on 1st May but were told it would be some time before transport home could be arranged so we looked for our own transport. I cannot remember the name of the town but the Burgomaster had a car and we “took” it. He was not happy; he had a big Alsation but I had a rifle. He called us English swine and we told him we were neither English, nor swine. We set off in the direction of the border and it was snowing heavily. Donald Ferguson, Laxay was driving and I had my arm out of the window, keeping the wipers going. We kept going for three days until we came to an American checkpoint and they refused to believe that we were not spies and so put us in prison. We were there for three days until an officer came along who believed us. We finally got back to England on a bomber”.
Details
- Record Type:
- Person
- Date Of Birth:
- 1919
- Date of Death:
- 2012
- Gender:
- Male
- Brothers Keeper Reference:
- CECL 4523
- Record Maintained by:
- CECL
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