Prisoners of war but at least they were still alive
In September 1941, families of soldiers missing in action received a ray of hope. Malcolm Goode reports on the letters some families received.
AFTER months of uncertainty, some of our local families received good news in September 1941 that relieved the anxiety of not knowing the fate of their loved ones.
Six servicemen from the Burton area had been reported missing since May/june, and it was only this month that those at home heard from their sons.
Mr A Green of 86, Gordon Street, received a card from their son, sapper Harry Green of the Royal Engineers. Formerly a porter working at Burton Town Hall, he was first reported missing in the Middle East on June 9.
Mrs Jacks of 96, Spring Terrace Road, Stapenhill, had just received the news that her son, signaller Ernest Jacks of the Royal Signals, was a prisoner of war in Germany.
Mrs K Smalley of 39, Wood Street, Burton, received a letter from her son, flight sergeant Gordon Smalley. He had been reported missing from an air raid over Germany and was a prisoner of war in Germany and otherwise OK. He was the grandson of Councillor G.E. Rider, the mayor elect.
Mrs Litherland of Barton received a letter from her son, lance corporal S. Litherland, that he was now a prisoner of war in Germany, having being captured in Crete on June 2. He was an old boy of Burton Grammar School.
Mr and Mrs J. J. Topliss of 36, Belvedere Road, Burton, received news that their son, lance corporal C. S. Topliss was a prisoner of war in Germany, having been captured on the Island of Crete on June 1.
The parents of driver G. H. Redfern of the Royal Army Service Corps, who lived at Hall Street, Church Gresley, had finally received news of their son who had also been captured on the Island of Crete and was now a prisoner of war in Germany.
After weeks of anxiously waiting for news, Mr and Mrs Fairbrother of 7, Belvedere Road, Woodville, received news from their eldest son, sapper Stanley Fairbrother of the Royal Engineers, that he was a prisoner of war in Germany.
Sapper Fairbrother was captured on the Island of Crete.
One can only imagine the pain and the heartbreak of those and other families who received that dreaded telegram informing them that their loved one had been reported as missing in action.
It was obviously bad enough for those families who were informed that their loved one had died as a result of military action, but at least they knew. To have to wait for months to find out whether their relative was either dead or prisoner of war must have been terrible.