The Fernhurst Society
Tales from the Archives - 48
Joe's Christmas Dinner
Some of our older residents may remember Joe Ball, our village postmaster in the 1980s, who was also the possessor of a fine singing voice.
Potatoes cooked in their jackets always brought back memories for Joe, but not particularly pleasant ones. When he was a prisoner of war in 1944 cold cooked potato skins were the main course, in fact the only course of Christmas dinner. The insides had been his entire dinner on two previous occasions that week, with the skins saved because Christmas fell on a 'non-potato' day. He and his fellow prisoners, about 100 of them, sat around the bitterly cold hut wrapped in blankets and sang carols.
Joe, a sergeant in the Royal Signals, had been captured by the Germans in the Battle of Arnhem on 23 Sept 1944. For eight days he had been holed up in a warehouse in the town with only enough food for two days. There were five other soldiers with him, and they fought off the Germans until their ammunition ran out and they were captured. By that time three of the men were dead and two wounded, only Joe was unhurt.
He was taken to Frankfurt and interrogated for five days before being sent to in a cattle truck to Stalag 8C, Sagan, a prisoner of war camp in Silesia.
Joe and his friend make a daring bid for freedom - what happened next? Find out in the February issue of Fernhurst News!
If you would like to know more about this story, or research other local topics, the Archive is open on Tuesdays, 2.30-5pm in the Village Hall. Other times by arrangement.
Christine Maynard
Fernhurst ArchiveOne of a series of short articles bringing you some of the incidents from our rich village history. Collated by Christine Maynard, based on documents preserved at the Fernhurst Archives, these originally were published in the monthly Fernhurst News.
The Fernhurst Archives
Fernhurst History
