Layne, Wally – Grantham draper had an incredible war

Wally Layne (1916-1995)

WALTER Henry Layne (Wally to his friends) was born in Brigg.

He attended Brigg Grammar School.  Prior to the outbreak of war he worked with his brother-in-law Walter Forth and his sister Isabel at Hill & Co in Grantham’s Market Place.

The day after the outbreak of the Second World War was announced, he volunteered for the RAF as aircrew.

The following year, was requested to attend a two day assessment at RAF Cardington, Bedfordshire, who recommended him for training as a wireless operator / air gunner. This course, of approximately eight months duration, was the most time-consuming of all aircrew trades.

Having sworn his allegiance to King and Country, he was formally enlisted for the duration of the war with a rate of pay of 4/- (20p) a day during training, rising to 6/6 (32.5p) when qualified.

On completion of training, he flew mainly from RAF Swinderby  and RAF Skellingthorpe. He completed more than 60 raids, in France, German, Italy and the Low Countries.  He also took part on a raid at Peenemunde, to destroy the V1 and V2 missiles.

Walter Layne took a week’s leave to marry his fiance Joan Maunders, of Harlaxton Road, at St John’s Church in February 1942.

Taking advantage of a training exercise three 50 Squadron Hampdens, crewed by Wally’s friends buzzed the church just as the bride was about to enter the vestibule.  She was so excited she threw her bouquet into the air.

But in September that year, Wally’s Lancaster JA 708 was shot down over,  and crashed into the Palatinate Forest, Germany’s largest forest. It was his 64th mission.

He landed in an area of the German forest that consisted of an uninhabited, heavily wooded mountainous terrain.  Travelling westward it was four days before Wally emerged.

He was forced to live off the land eating blackberries, turnips and other root crops he found.  During the day he rested, sleeping in barns or trees.

After evading capture for 10 days, a hungry, exhausted and unkempt Wally was eventually stopped by an armed German soldier just East of Nancy France. He had covered about 110 miles in his westward trek.

Imprisoned overnight in a Wehrmacht jail a German guard repeatedly asked Wally “Essen?”  to which Wally replied “No!”  The guard was of course asking him if he wanted to eat, and Wally in his ignorance of the German language thought he was referring to the bombing of the town of Essen!

The following morning Wally was transferred to Dulug Luft Prisoner Of War Camp at Oberursel near Frankfurt where he officially became a “Kriegsgefangener” or kriegie.

Due to his uncooperative nature and his refusal to divulge anything but name, rank and serial number, coupled with the fact that when captured he was wearing civilian clothing that he had acquired when he was evading, Wally was threatened  with being handed over to the Gestapo as a suspected saboteur .  Wally was told “You are to be shot!”

Wally and the newly captured airman were  marched to the station at Oberursel and  loaded into boxcars to be transported 1,000 miles by rail across Germany, Poland and East Prussia to their permanent  camp, Stalag Luft VI, Heydekrug (present day Lithuania)

A few days later he was he taken in an ordinary passenger train 650 miles to Stalag Luft III at Sagan, a camp for officers. After just two weeks his captors returned him, again by passenger train to Heydekrug.

With the advance of the Russians from the east the Germans began evacuating Heydekrug in mid July 1944 to prevent POWs from falling into Allied hands.

The arduous journey in the boxcars packed with up to 86 men was made in such unbearable heat that the guards permitted the door of the boxcars to remain open.  With no room to sit the prisoners were forced to stand in a mass of bodies.

After a two day journey covering 400 miles they arrived at Thorn (Torun) in Poland where they “marched” the three miles to P.O.W. camp Stalag 357 a British Army Prisoner Of War camp that already held 7,000 prisoners.

The prisoners stay at Thorn was short-lived.  The Russian juggernaut was continuing its westward drive and on 7th August 1944 the prisoners were again loaded into cattle trucks.  This time the Germans had managed to find enough rolling stock to enable the prisoners to travel with 40 men in each boxcar.   The journey took them 500 miles due west and into Germany via Bromberg and Stettin and finally arriving at Fallingbostel two days later.

Leaving Fallingbostel in January 1945 Wally reached Stalag Luft III two days later. He travelled in the company of 4 Canadians and on arrival was assigned to the East Compound.

Then, due to the Allied advance, they were force marched but the British Army overtook them.

After a two days Wally’s group of repatriated prisoners were trucked in convoy to Baghurst near Rheine, Belgium.  From there they were flown to Cosford.

On his return to Grantham, he again took up his position at Hill & Co.

He left in the mid-1960s to take up the position of Postmaster at Barkston, until he retired.

 

To read the full story of Wally’s War, go to: http://wallyswar.wordpress.com/

Compiled with the assistance of David Layne