Love Letter appeaL for ScotS poW
Museum in Poland tries to trace kin
HISTORIANS are trying to solve the mystery of what happened to a Scottish prisoner of war after uncovering a letter his wife wrote him eight decades ago.
The note, sent to Private John Ross by his wife Agnes in Glasgow during World War II, was handed to a military museum in Poland.
Posted to the Stalag XXB PoW camp in northern Poland from the family home in Glasgow’s Bridgeton in 1941, Agnes’s letter says: “I hope you’re keeping well.
“I haven’t had any word from you in a while. It is worrying when the letters are long in coming but I know darling you’re not forgetting me.
“They must be held up as you haven’t been getting mine either.
“Well, Jock, your wee boys are keeping cheery and well and always thinking of their daddy.
“I am still working, Jock, but I only wish this was all over to get you back home to me. I’m missing you terrible.”
The letter was sent from Bridgeton’s Mackeith Street, where older homes have since been replaced by flats.
Agnes also tells John she is getting up at 5am every morning as she waits for him to come home and has run into his younger brother Walter, saying: “He is asking for you.”
She also tells him she has sent a parcel of “nice warm clothes”.
The letter, found in the documents of a former president of the Union of Poland Veterans who has since died, is featured in an exhibit detailing the history of Stalag XXB at the
Foundation of the Historical and Military Museum in Torun.
The museum said: “Could any of our friends in the UK be able to help determine the fate of John Ross?”
Stalag XXB was near the town of Malbork, then called Marienburg.
Prisoners were put to work on farms, bridges and mines during the war. Historians believe John – PoW 14714 – may have worked near Lipno.
A BEAUTY worker whose ovarian cancer was initially diagnosed as a urine infection is hoping to get her big break on the next series of The Voice.
Shannon Lamb is determined to make the most of her “second chance at life” following debilitating surgery by pursing her love of music.
The 26-year-old from Dundee has applied for the ITV singing show and is working on her own single called Under Raindrops.
It’s the next step in a life plan that was completely upended after she developed “flu-like” symptoms last October when she was floored with a fever, body aches, headaches and a shooting pain in her bladder. She was sent by NHS 24 to Kings Cross Hospital in Dundee, where she says her symptoms were thought to be a urinary tract infection needing only medication. But after no improvement weeks later, she said she knew “something wasn’t right”. As the pain continued to get worse, Shannon visited her local health centre in Broughty Ferry on November 17, where her GP ordered tests.
Within weeks, Shannon was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
She said: “After scans at Ninewells Hospital the doctor got the cancer specialist team and they said they were 99 per cent sure it was a very rare form of ovarian cancer.
“I broke down – it was like the world collapsed around me. I was holding my aunt’s hand and just crying and crying.”
On the same day, Shannon had a CT scan and was later told to urgently come back to hospital.
Specialists had found enlarged lymph nodes near her neck and one large paraaortic node.
She was told her cancer could be stage three or four which would probably need chemotherapy that could leave her unable to have children.
Reeling, Shannon began to plan her own funeral in her head and wondered how she would say goodbye to her mum.
She added: “I felt like death was around the corner. I looked death in the eye and thought, ‘I’m not ready to die.’”
On December 22, surgeons at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary removed Shannon’s left ovary and doctors discovered she had a rare germ cell tumour.
She said: “I woke and felt like horses had trampled all over my body – the pain was horrific. I was drifting in and out of consciousness. I thought I’d die.”
And after spending Christmas in hospital in terrible pain, Shannon was recovering at home when doctors phoned to tell her the cancer was stage 1A and had not progressed.
Shannon said: “Always trust your body and if something doesn’t feel right then urgently get help.”
A spokesman for NHS Tayside said: “Due to patient confidentiality, we are unable to comment on matters relating to individual patients.
“We would invite Ms Lamb to contact our complaints and feedback team if she wishes to discuss her concerns.”
A THUG has been jailed for repeatedly attacking his pregnant girlfriend while high on blue plague pills.
Sean Little, 28, began taking Etizolam – street valium – on top of his prescription medication during the first lockdown.
He then subjected Lisa Marie Elliot to a reign of terror in their Paisley flat from February 1 to September 7 last year, a court heard. The brute kept her bank card and money and stopped her from seeing her family.
And he lost the plot with her after her dad gave them a pram for their thenunborn son. The thug – who was hooked on drink and drugs from the age of 13 – threw her against a wall, leaving her bruised.
On another occasion, he flung her on to a bed and kneed her in the face, with her begging him to stop as she was pregnant.
Little also told police he hoped he was infecting them with coronavirus as they arrested him following the abuse.
He even phoned Lisa Marie’s dad pretending to be a cop in a bid to find her after he’d appeared in court and been bailed.
After he was finally remanded in custody, he hounded her with letters.
But on Tuesday, he was jailed for 38 months at Paisley Sheriff Court.
He was also banned from contact with Lisa Marie for seven years.
Jailing Little, Sheriff Colin Pettigrew blasted the “emotional and psychological damage” he had caused. He said his behaviour had been “fuelled” by his “abuse of illicit drugs on top of prescription medication”.
MARK Wright is known for his peak-fitness body – but the former TOWIE star has stressed that staying in shape should never make you depressed and unhappy.
But the 34-year-old, who is married to stunning actress Michelle Keegan, has become a professional footballer for Crawley Town and seems to be doing some kind of fitness work most days.
But after a bad experience, he knows when he’s pumping iron too much.
He said: “I remember getting fit for a shoot and I went all out with my diet and training. Looking back, I was stressed, I was hungry, and I was really unhappy for six weeks.
“I didn’t have the energy I needed, and I wasn’t taking care of myself in terms of nutrition. That was definitely a mistake.
“I now know that it’s about being happy in life.
“Don’t push yourself to the point where you’re getting upset and depressed with it. That’s my biggest tip.” Mark swears by high-intensity interval training (HIIT) – and he’s so passionate about the method, he’s been sharing his no-equipment workouts with his 1.8million Instagram fans every weekday morning throughout lockdown.
Along with his brother Josh, he’s just launched a new fitness app, Train Wright, which features various programmes to help people looking to lose weight, build muscle and burn fat.
He’s already got Michelle involved in the training sessions, although Mark admitted the pair, who married in 2015, don’t usually train together.
He said: “Michelle does my HIIT and when I’m doing a live (social media broadcast), she’ll often do it in the other room. “But when it comes to exercise, she likes to do a lot of pilates and yoga, while I’ll do weights, so we don’t ever really train together.” While last down lockdown had many of us enjoying keep fit, this latest one is different – we are fed-up and hitting the snacks. Mark said: “I’m someone who loves to keep fit and I usually find it easy to stay motivated but last lockdown I found myself just laying on the sofa. “It got to the point where I hadn’t trained for two or three weeks, even though I had loads of time on my hands. “I booked a live class on my Instagram, which meant I had to commit to it. I found that it gave me a bit of structure, which is why I kept doing it for five days a week with my audience.”
His weekly workout routine is slightly different now he has match days but he does football training three or four days a week, then weight training when he gets home.
Even on his days off from training, he does a 5k run in the morning, a 20k bike ride, a HIIT on Instagram and a weights session.
And while he’s committed to keeping on top of his exercise routine during lockdown, Mark’s drinking habits have also become healthier.
He said: “I’ve always been a binge-drinker.
“Every weekend, I’d go out with the boys. Now I’ll have two beers on a Saturday night and that’s about it.
“I’ve taught myself a European way of drinking, and moved away from the British mentality of just getting smashed.”
The Train Wright App is on the App Store and Google Play.