PoW is tough as old boots
Wartime tale behind Repair Shop project
MALCOLM Britton remembers his father wearing his old leather and felt boots as they trudged through snow together when he was a boy.
The snowfall was too deep for Malcolm but his dad Jack had suffered much worse in those boots as a prisoner of war from 1940 to 1945.
John William Britton, known as Jack, was captured by the Nazis at the start of the Second World War in Norway.
Wearing those sturdy boots, he was forced to march for miles through Germany and Poland.
This is the reason Malcolm, who lives in Melton Mowbray, Leics, appears on tonight’s episode of BBC1’s The Repair Shop.
He asks the experts to mend the German-made boots, which were given to his dad during captivity. Malcolm explains what the footwear means: “It’s not only memories of the war but memories of my childhood as well, and honouring what he had gone through.”
Malcolm, 77, a former lecturer at an agricultural college, is brought to tears as he reveals to cobbler Dean Westmoreland and host Jay Blades some of his father’s diary entries.
His dad wrote: “Never expected after five years in prison to again experience such a terrible time. My toes are still frozen after five months.”
But shoe expert Dean restores the boots to their former glory, and Malcolm says: “They are a tangible reminder of Dad, who died many years ago now, but also remembering what he went through in the war.”
And the boots are now being enjoyed by Jack’s six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Malcolm adds: “They try them on, take photographs, go through the diary and have a greater understanding of their heritage.”
The Repair Shop, BBC1 tonight, 8pm.
They are a tangible reminder of Dad, what he went through
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