Private Conrad Trundel
National Archives catalogue reference - WO 208/3328
Name: D.61867 Pte. Trundel, Conrad.
Unit: Fusiliers Mont Royal, 2nd Canadian Division.
Captured: Dieppe, 19th August 1942.
Liberated: Schmorade, 29tht January 1945.
Left: Odessa, 7th March 1945.
Arrived: U.K., 29th March 1945.
Date of Birth: 30th April 1921.
Date of Enlistment: 13th March 1940.
Peacetime Profession: Soldiering.
Private Address: [Hard to read, 1950 St. Nolan Street, Montrealm E., P.Q., Canada?]
1. CAPTURE.
I was captured during the raid on DIEPPE 19 Aug 42.
2. CAMPS IN WHICH IMPRISONED.
STALAG IX C (BAD SULZA) - 25 Aug 42 - Jan 43.
STALAG IV A (HOHNSTEIN) - Jun 43 - Jun 44.
STALAG XXI D (POSEN) - Jun 44 (3 days).
STALAG IV A (HOHNSTEIN) - Feb 44 (3½ weeks).
STALAG IV B (MUHLBERG) - Mar 44 - Apr 44.
STALAG II D (STARGARD) - Apr 44 - Jan 45.
3. ATTEMPTED ESCAPES.
(a) Whilst in the Working Commando in HEIDENAU (GERMAN, 1:250,000, Sheet O.53, W 92) attached to Stalag IV A, I decided to escape. I was working in a radio factory with approximately 40 English and 70 Canadian P/W.
At the beginning of Jul 43 I and Pte. [ICHOCK?] of the Scottish Highlanders Regt., decided to make an escape. We had collected a certain amount of Red Cross food and had the opportunity to study a map of GERMANY.
We escaped at approximately 2045 hrs from the third floor of our sleeping quarters in HEIDENAU by tying blankets together. There was no fence or wall around the building.
We left the town at once and slept in a wood that night and all next day. Our intention was to go from CZECHOSLOVAKIA and HUNGARY into ITALY.
We marched for three nights, landed at a small place about 27 kms. inside CZECHOSLOVAKIA, and decided to walk during day time in the mountains as we were afraid of getting lost.
On the evening of the third day, while asleep on one of the hills, we were surprised by members of the Hitler Jugend organisation. These boys called a policeman who arrested us and tied us together with a dog chain and a padlock.
We were then taken to the civilian jail in a small village (name unknown), after walking about seven kms. From there we were returned to STALAG IV A.
We received seven days solitary confinement, after which time we were returned to the Working Commando in HEIDENAU.
(b) In Sep 43, I and four others decided to make another attempt to escape. The names of two of my companions were Pte. FISHER, Scottish Highlanders and Pte. MARTIN, Scottish Highlanders. The names of the other two I have forgotten.
We left during the night through a window of our sleeping quarters with the help of a scaffold which had been erected several days earlier. We again decided to go through CZECHOSLOVAKIA. There were no maps of compasses available to us and we had only a little food, but kept alive by stealing potatoes from the fields.
We walked for five nights and got somewhere in the neighbourhood of GRAUPEN (Sheet N.51, F 34). By mistake we walked through an anti-aircraft position where we were stopped by German soldiers. We were taken to their H.Q. from where we were returned again to STALAG IV A and received ten days solitary confinement.
(c) In Dec 43 I was working in RADEBEUL (Sheet N.52, F 19), near DRESDEN in a shoe factory. All the P/W were sleeping on the fourth floor of the factory.
All four of us, Pte. COBURN of the Scottish Highlanders, Pte. E. BRIDGE from LONDON, myself, and a British soldier known as GEORGE, made an escape.
We constructed a ladder made of paper strings and wood. During the night of 7 Jan 44, with the help of this ladder, we made our way through the window of the fourth floor in the factory. I was the last one to go down and, due to strain on the ladder by the previous boys, it broke and I fell 15 feet, spraining my ankle.
Our intention was to make our way to DANZIG. We were equipped with a compass, a map and a considerable amount of food. The first night we walked from approximately 2030 hrs until 0630 hrs when we reached a small town (name unknown) where we boarded a goods train by breaking open the seal of a goods car. We arrived at FRANKFURT on the ODER at approx. 0300 hrs of the next day.
In FRANKFURT we boarded another train going to MINSK (Sheet R.53, L 38) in POLAND, taking supplies to the German Army fighting in RUSSIA. We remained on this train for four days until we arrived over the Polish frontier in a small town (name unknown).
We left the train and asked a French worker for directions to POSEN (Sheet P.53, X 26). We marched approximately two nights, arriving on the outskirts of POSEN. While trying to get into a seemingly empty house we were surprised to find that several German soldiers were billeted there who took us prisoner.
We were taken to STALAG XXI D where we remained three days, after which we were returned to STALAG IV A where we received 13 days of solitary confinement.