The German Airman
Brian Lee has contacted us to share a story or two about his family. This one relates to the time his father Bob Lee, who was in the Home Guard in the Second World War, captured a German Airman he found hanging from a tree by his parachute near Adderley
Dad and Mum told me of the time he was on ‘Patrol’ late one night and heard a shouting and discovered a German Airman hanging in his parachute from a tree. The man did not appear to speak English. Dad disentangled him and, pointing his gun, indicated he was to go with him. He didn’t know what to do with him but the man seemed very quiet and acquiescent so he took him back to his farm and sat him in a chair in the kitchen by the large open fire.
I was a youngster and had problems with my ears at the time and was very tearful and unsettled. Whilst Mum was getting the late evening meal and Dad was bedding the animals down the Airman looked after me, sitting me on his knee, keeping me amused, and feeding me. They shared their meal with the Airman and went to bed and the Airman slept in the armchair with me in his lap. In the morning Dad took the Airman, at gunpoint, down to the local guardroom where he handed him over to the Officer in charge. Apparently, when Dad was leaving, the Airman, after shaking hands with him, said, in perfect English, words to the effect ‘Thank you very much sir and perhaps, in future, you should remove the safety catch from your rifle’.