The wounded Fareham paratrooper shown compassion by the Nazis

Think of the Second World War in Europe and the first thing that usually comes to mind is the fascist party, the Nazis.
King Willem III Barracks, Apeldoorn, Holland. Picture: William Carter collection.King Willem III Barracks, Apeldoorn, Holland. Picture: William Carter collection.
King Willem III Barracks, Apeldoorn, Holland. Picture: William Carter collection.

From the concentration camps found at the war’s end you might think that everyone connected to the Nazi Party was evil beyond belief.

But I am glad to say that was not always the case and Karen Wilding has sent me the reminiscences of her grandfather, 95-year old William Carter, from Fareham.

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Barracks in the Netherlands were constantly used by the German Army both during and after the Battle of Arnhem.

William parachuted into Arnhem on September 17, 1944, as part of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment in support of Operation Market Garden.

At this time an airborne hospital was set up by the Germans in one of the blocks of King Willem III Barracks in Apeldoorn for men wounded in the battle.

In the early hours of September 26, William and his pals were defending a perimeter near the Rhine when they were attacked and William was shot and captured by the Germans. They picked him up and carried him to a German trench for his own protection.

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Later, an airborne doctor used a wheelbarrow with a board laid across the top for William to lie on and he was wheeled to a lorry. Along with other prisoners, he was taken to the airborne hospital at Apeldoorn and the following night he had his first operation.

Two days later William and other injured soldiers were taken to a German Red Cross train at Apeldoorn railway station.

William remembers being held there for a while as the train offloaded German tanks and troops. Finally, all of the wounded, including William, were taken to the prisoner of war camp Stalag XI-B where they all remained until liberated.

Many history books tell that German soldiers would have shot wounded men out of hand such as happened at Dunkirk but, as William can testify, not all were of the same cruel mentality.

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• In my article about the boys having a kickabout on a bomb site in Norfolk Street, Southsea, I referred to the adjacent plumbing business as Southcott’s when in fact the correct spelling was Sothcott’s.

Diana Nesbit tells me that Alfred Sothcott was her father.

The long-established family firm run by her father had offices at 11-15 Great Southsea Street where they always remained.

Diana remembers being told that after one particularly bad air raid most of the area around King’s Road was in flames and her father helped pull down a property to create a fire break.

After the war, in addition to the premises at 12-14 Chichester Road, North End, the firm also had branches in Purbrook, Waterlooville, Portchester and Fareham.

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• Patricia Allen got in touch about the pictures of the Thatched House pub and the cottages at the end of Locksway Road, Milton, sent in by Alan Cunningham.

She tells me her grandparents Bob and Lizzie Masters owned two of the wooden cottages next to the pub. They were called Sunbeam and The Brown Mouse.

Pat says: ‘I had many a happy holiday there during and after the war. They were very pretty with colourful gardens and decorated houseboats.

‘The land was owned by the brewers and it was a very sad time when they decided to clear the land. I still don’t know the reason.’

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Pat’s grandparents lived in and managed the Havelock Tavern, Crasswell Street, Landport, before, during and after the war with Pat being born there in 1938.

There was much devastation around Crasswell Street during the blitz of the Second World War and the Havelock and Dial Tavern were apparently the only undamaged properties in the road.

• The photograph of prefabs and wooden huts on Portsdown Hill was seen by Ann Goddard, of Portchester, who tells me she was born in one of the huts. She then moved into a prefab when she was one. Her mother lived with her parents as her husband was away fighting during the war.

Ann says the huts had a fitted kitchen with a fridge, electric oven, and a washer/boiler with a mangle. All the fitments were made of metal. There was a sitting room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

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In the prefabs the arrangements were a little different, yet they were very spacious with a walk-in larder.

There was a kitchen, living room and three bedrooms. There was no electricity and all lighting was by gas mantles. Ann thinks the prefabs were demolished in the 1950s when the family was moved to Cranborne Road, just down the hill off Widley Road.

• Thanks to everyone who has asked about my latest book, The Portsdown & Horndean Light Railway Then and Now.

As I mentioned some months ago, it is being held in a container in Southampton docks until it can be delivered to my publisher. They in turn cannot deliver to bookshops until they reopen. Another coronavirus knock-on I’m afraid.

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