17751 William Dudley Henry Charles FORBES, MiD, Coldstream Guards

The Falkirk Herald Saturday 2nd June 1945


17751 Lt.Col, William Dudley Henry Charles FORBES Coldstream Guards
9th July 1902 Callandar House, Falkirk - 13th August 1977
Captured Tobruk 20th June 1942

HOME FROM GERMANY
Lieut.-Col. Wm. Forbes Visits Falkirk
PRISON CAMP EXPERIENCES

Lieut.-Colonel William Forbes of Callandar, Falkirk. Coldstream Guards, son of Mr and Mrs C.W. Forbes of Callandar, visited Callandar Estate on Wednesday on his return to this country after his liberation from a prisoner of war camp in Brunswick, Germany. Lieut.-Colonel Forbes was a prisoner for almost three years, first in Italian hands and later with the Germans.

Educated at Eton and at Sandhurst, he was commissioned in the Coldstream Guards in 1922, and served in Turkey during the last year the Army of Occupation was in that country under the peace settlement with Turkey at the end of the Great War 1914-18. Between the two wars he served in many countries and previous to the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, was for two years in Palestine and Egypt. He served under General Lord Wavell in the Middle East operations from 1940 onwards, taking part in all Wavell’s campaigns. He was captured at Tobruk when that town fell on 20th June 1942, to the combined Italian and German Forces.

His twin brothers Captain St. John Oliver Alan William Forbes, Coldstream Guards and Colonel David Walter Arthur William Forbes, M.C. Coldstream Guards, were both killed in action. Captain St. John lost his life in an air attack on the beaches at Dunkirk during the evacuation there in May 1940. Colonel David died three days after having been seriously wounded during the fighting in Italy in November 1943.

WRITING ON THE WALL

In conversation with a representative of the “Falkirk Herald” Lieut.-Colonel Forbes said he was captured by the German Afrika Korps, and the first part of his captivity was spent in Italy. He remained there up to the time Italy went out of the war. He then escaped and became a free man for just over a fortnight whe he was recaptured and taken to Germany where he arrived early in October 1943. In regard to the reactions of the Germans to the progress of the war from 1943 onwards, Lieut.-Colonel Forbes said that after El Alamein and Stalingrad, the great bulk of the German people, apart from the fanatics, began to see the writing on the wall. From then on, there was a very marked change in the attitude of the Germans towards their prisoners. They began to modify their behaviour, and it was generally recognized that Germany was on the decline.

HUMILIATING EXPERIENCE

The worst humiliation Lieut.-Colonel Forbes experienced was on a train journey from a prisoners’ cap near the Czech frontier to a camp at Hanover. His boots were removed and his hands put in manacles. Fortunately that did not last long. Although liberated by the Americans at Brunswick in April, Lieut.-Colonel Forbes stayed behind in the camp for three weeks during which period he was able to some useful and appreciated work for the welfare of the prisoners who were continually coming into the camp from long marches, and after experiencing a very bad time. He paid tribute to the arrangements made by British Empire Forces and the American Army for the caring for the liberated prisoners and getting them home as speedily as possible. He said the efficiency, organisation and equipment both in Germany and in the reception areas at home impressed him tremendously. Everyone displayed remarkable kindness and courtesy. Nothing was too much trouble for them, and the arrangements were absolutely first class.

FUTURE ACTIVITIES

Regarding his future activities, Lieut.-Colonel Forbes said he did not yet know what was in store for him. At the moment however, he was looking forward to being once again with his wife and two boys. When war broke out they were with him in Egypt, and the authorities at once sent all the British mothers and children there to South Africa. Single women and others with no home ties in Egypt were permitted to remain in the country and to take part in war work. He did not know when his wife and family would arrive in this country.