Raf Pow Archive Halifax Jd205 77 Sqn Elvington Krefeld Ruhr Stalag Luft 6 & 357 For Sale

---

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

Offered here is a rare original family archive of telegrams, prisoner of war postcards, letters, press cuttings and official documents which belonged to the parents of Sgt Sydney H. A. Nicholson (1213238) of 77 Squadron RAF. Sgt Nicholson was a member of a seven man crew of Halifax bomber JD205 which took off from RAF Elvington on a bombing mission to Krefeld, Germany on the evening of 21st/22nd June 1943 during the Battle of the Ruhr. That night JD205 was shot down by the German nightfighter ace Hptm Hans-Dieter Frank of 1/Nachtjagdgeshwader 1 and crashed at Hal near Boxtel, Netherlands. Both gunners, WOII Rolph Henry King and Sgt Alfred Ross Currie of the RCAF, were killed in the crash and Sgt Nicholson and the Air Bomber P/O Alfred Hagan were captured. Hagan escaped shortly afterwards and returned to the UK but Nicholson remained in captivity for the remainder of the war first at Dulag Luft in Germany then Stalag Luft 6 in East Prussia (now Lithuania). In 1944, as the Russians approached, the Germans evacuated Stalag Luft 6 and Nicholson was taken to M Stammlager 357 in Poland.

The archive begins with a telegram from Nicholson's wife's parents to his parents dated 23rd June 1943 with the ominous wording: 'SYD REPORTED MISSING. EILEEN BROKEN HEARTED. LETTER TO FOLLOW.' There follows various letters from family and friends expressing sympathy and support and a letter from Nicholsons CO confirming he is missing and providing the names and addresses of the next of kin of the other crew members. There are two further telegrams confirming Nicholson is a prisoner of war and the return to the UK of P/O Hagan, a letter from the Air Ministry confirming his capture and three letters from the Red Cross on how to send letters and parcels. There is a very poignant letter from Sgt Currie's parents and a card and photo from the parents of WO King. Then begins a series of 27 prisoner of war postcards from Nicholson to his mother spanning the period from 8th July 1943 to 15th February 1945. In one dated 25th July 1944 he simply says: 'Sorry I haven't written lately but we have been moving again' grossly understating the true horror of what must have been his experience as related HERE by an American airman. Also included are his 'Welcome Home' poster, his father's Home Guard service certificate, receipts for his mother's donations to the Red Cross prisoner of war relief fund and a receipt for the removal of the iron railings from outside the family home.

Some of the items are pasted or pinned to pages removed from a scrap book while others are loose.

Nice original condition as per the photos (below) and offered here with a low start price and .