Albert Rickman was a Private in the 2/7th Field Ambulance. He saw action in Greece and Crete. At the fall of Crete he was taken prisoner and sent to Stalag VIIIB in Poland. The deprivation suffered by Albert and his fellow soldiers was beyond that which anyone should endure.
It was over the period of his incarceration that he obtained a small black covered diary and set about collecting autographs from fellow internees. The diary is in the safe hands of Albert’s son Graeme who resides in Baldivis in Western Australia.It is Graeme’s express wish to share the contents of this book with all, especially those who may recognize relations who suffered under the Nazi Regime.
The names of the fellow prisoners and the autographs they wrote is presented in this website for all to share. It shows the wry humour and the life that these men lived in a Lost World. Their comments reflect the different historical context and the need to stay strong for each other. Their social fibre had been broken and the future bleak as they waited for word from their love ones and vice versus.
The front page and inside cover is stamped by the Stalag VIIIB commandant.
The inside cover is signed by Bert and shows his Prisoner of War number 24204.
The note at the top of the inside cover is self explanatory:
Autographs collected while a Prisoner of War in Lamsdorf, Germany from fellow prisoners
Warning: Some of the material in this book contains sexual references and adult themes considered acceptable at the time but today some may find offensive.
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The following heart-felt poem was penned by Graeme during moments of reflection about his father and the life he lived.
I slowly opened the pages of the book that I held in my hand
It belonged to my now dead father whilst a war prisoner in a foreign land.
But although the book was small, battered and looked very ordinary
The details within were something else and really quite extraordinary.
The book held the names, ranks, addresses and thoughts of the men
imprisoned in Stalag VIIIB and unsure if they would see their families again.
Their thoughts were simple but obviously meant so much to them
that I began to see a different side of how imprisonment can affect men.
Having said this I can’t imagine how these men could have felt
Or understand their depth of despair at the hand they had been dealt.
My dad was one of these men captured on the island of Crete
He never really told us about these times in fact kept his thoughts discreet.
The way he treated me through the years really got up my goat.
You could say we fought about everything, always at each other’s throat.
People have said we were so much alike in most ways of life.
I had trouble understanding this inability to avoid such strife.
I thought of these men that were captured and put in prison
Maybe there was part of my father’s approach that could be forgiven.
I have always felt sorry that we could not have shared so much
And as we got older seemed to drift further apart and so out of touch.
My thoughts go out to these men and how those times affected their life.
Did they go home with similar thoughts that may have led to family strife?
Did they have problems relating to family members especially a son?
Was it a normal situation or was it during imprisonment that it had begun?
The words of this book helped me to look at their problems and stress.
Life is far too short and perhaps I should think of understanding and forgiveness.
By Graeme Rickman
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Repatriation of Prisoners: Albert Rickman’s Diary was being used as an autograph Book. From mid August there is little action because Albert was going through the process of repatriation (as explained below). Albert was sent home to Western Australia via Barcelona, Alexandria and Perth due to rheumatism of the right shoulder in November, 1943.
From 1941 a repatriation commission visited prisoner-of-war camps regularly for the purpose of deciding who among the sick and wounded should be returned to their homelands. The Commission was set up by international agreement and worked through a number of teams. The composition of each team was usually two neutral doctors (Swiss) plus a doctor from the detaining power. The criteria for repatriation were
- improbability of the prisoner of war again serving his country
- the inability of the detaining power to provide the requisite treatment. These cases came under 4 categories: categories:
- Obvious – the limbless, the blind, those with tuberculosis, cavities;
- Less obvious, which were subjected before presentation to much investigation.
- Doubtful – those insisted upon by British medical officers without agreement by the Germans
- those who were allowed to present themselves.
Following the first visit of the repatriation commission in 1941, many prisoners of war and some orderlies and officers were taken to Rouen for exchange. The exchange took place on 3 November 1943 and the first group of invalids to be repatriated from Germany reached Cairo via Barcelona, Spain.
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Toc H (TH) is an international Christian movement. The TH is for Talbot House, “Toc” the letter T in the signals used by the British Army in World War I. A soldiers’ rest and recreation centre named Talbot House was founded in December 1915 at Poperinghe, Belgi um. It wanted to promote Christianity in memory of Gilbert Talbot. Talbot House was to be “Every Man’s Club”, where all soldiers were welcome, regardless of rank. It was alternative for the ‘debauched’ recreational life of the town. Toc H members seek to ease the burdens of others through acts of service, promote reconciliation and work to bring disparate sections of society together. The spirit of friendship fostered at Toc H aims at the Four Points of the Toc H Compass:
1. Friendship (“To love widely”)
2. Service (“To build bravely”)
3. Fairmindedness (“To think fairly”)
4. The Kingdom of God (“To witness humbly”)
During his time in Stalag VIIIB Albert Rickman joined the camp’s TocH group and became a practising member of its philosophy.
Q. What is this?
A. The light of Toc H
Q. What first lit it
A. Unselfish sacrifice
Q. What done will maintain it
A. Unselfish Service
Q. What is service . The rent we pay for our room on earth