Orders, Decorations and Medals

A D.C.M. group of four awarded for escaping after the fall of France to Private J. Waller, Green Howards

DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL, G.VI.R. (4388769 Pte., Green Howards); 1939-45 STAR, DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS, thefirst with edge bruising and co ntact wear, therefore good fine or better (4)

D.C.M., London Gazette, 4 April, 1941; the following information was extracted from official sources and comprises Private Waller's own account of his escape given to British authorities upon his repatriation: 'I was captured on 22 May 40, South of Arras. I was searched and my paybook taken from me. I was taken to Cambrai and then by train, arriving at Thorn on 9 June 40, where I was put in Fort 11. I was not interrogated and personal property was not taken away. From Thorn I was sent to Konitz on 15 July, a working camp. I had one letter. There was one Red Cross parcel between 20 men, containing food but no cigarettes, although 'cigarettes' was written on the parcel. Letters were censored. At Fort 17 there was an R.S.M. called Davidson who was very friendly with the Germans. He made N.C.O’s salute an English private because he could speak German. We were punished if we stole raw materials, he reported us to the Germans and we got 7 days in the cells with no blankets. At Thorn there was also a P/W who acted as interpreter. He spoke German perfectly and used to go out with the Commandant and could go in and out of the camp without being stopped. Once a German General and a high Air Force officer came and questioned a Welsh P/W about the chances of landing paratroops in Wales. The Welshman said that the only way to get there is to swim. They said he ought to be ashamed of wearing English uniform. The Camp Leader at Konitz was Sgt. Nursery appointed by seniority. I escaped on the night of 21 Sept. by forcing a window. Other Privates were with me. We then forced the barbed wire with an axe. The sentries were partly drunk, it being Saturday night. They were mostly elderly men. We travelled South by night for seven days to Tuchel and were nearly caught in a haystack. A German spotted us in a wood and called the Police, who surrounded us, but we got away. We then split into two parties of 3, and have not heard of the other 3 since then. We got civilian clothes and a compass from an American Pole at Schwetz, who also got us a boat to cross the Vistula. We journeyed through Wabreszno to Rypin, where we came in contact with an organisation with Headquarters at Biezun. We lived at different houses and the Poles gave us food, clothing and collected 200 Marks for us. We subsequently had to get off on our own and ran into the organisation again later on. We went through Mlawa and Makow and crossed the frontier near Ostrow on 24 Feb 41 at night.We were captured by about 20 Russian guards, with dogs and night flares, when we were 200 yards across the frontier. They thought we were Poles and treated us very badly. We were in prison at Lomza for a month, five weeks at Minsk and were then taken to the internment camp where we met the rest of the party and our subsequent story is the same as theirs, being released on 8 Jul.'