Hi, I am currently researching my late grandfathers war history. His name is Kenneth BROOKES. He was from Sheffield, England and was part of the 2901 RAF Regiment Squadron as a gunner. He was captured on the island of Cos on the 3rd October, 1943 and remained a POW till the 20th February, 1946. As far as I can gather he spent time in Stalag Luft III, Sagan, and then Stalag VIIA, Moosburg. Ken was a quiet man, who never told his family anything about his war history. My mother remembers that as a child, one of her favourite memories was secretly reading an book that her father kept hidden in the top of his wardrobe. She remembers the book being full of wonderful hand drawn pictures, poetry and accounts of camp life - sadly, his treasured book, along with other heirlooms was stolen from him during his emmigration to Australia. We have also been unable to find much information on the action on Cos during which he was captured. We are trying to find the story behind his capture, his life while incarcerated in Poland, and experiences during the "Death March". Accounts which may have been told in Kens own words once. Any help, or guidance would be very much appreciated.
Simple question to start - have you looked it up on Wiki ? Battle of Kos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia At first light on 15 September, a standing patrol of two Spitfires of No. 7 SAAF Squadron was maintained over Kos to give cover to the transport aircraft and ships bringing stores and reinforcements. Among these were the first troops of the RAF Regiment who flew from the British Mandate of Palestine with nine Hispano-Suiza HS.404 guns for anti-aircraft defence, followed two days later by a second detachment, which brought up to strength one of the first of the Regiment's Squadrons to be transported to the battlefield by air with all its weapons. On the ground, the Allied force consisted of the 1st Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, 120 men from A Company, 11th Parachute Battalion, a number of men from the Special Boat Service (SBS) and Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel under the command of Lt. Col. L.R.F. Kenyon. The force totalled ca. 1,600 British (although only 1,115 were combatants, 880 army and 235 from the RAF Regiment) and about 3,500 Italian servicemen from the original garrison. The Messerschmitt 109s and Junkers 88s involved, met at first with varying success, for the RAF gunners on the ground and the South African Spitfires in the air gave a good account of themselves. (Oh, and I hope he still wasn't a POW in February 1946 - this is probably when he was released from the army following getting out of his POW camp and getting back to the UK and helped back to full health etc)
