Did Anyone Travel From Sheffield Victoria Station ?

[glennpickard]

Zakes:

 

re the story of the German POW.

I have a book that describes a prison break of German POWs south of Carlisle in either 1942 or 3. A German prisoner was caught at Victoria station just by the Police Box that used to stand there on the pavement. He apparently made the mistake of asking a policeman who had just left the Police Box how could he get to Liverpool ?

He was arrested immediately and returned to the POW camp. I believe 4 or 5 prisoners got out in total and all were recaptured fairly quickly.

 

This may be confused with the Hillsborough to Snig Hill escapade.

 

I also believe there was another story about a German POW being apprehended by the conductor on a Doncaster-Sheffield bus !

[stpetre]

Zakes:

 

re the story of the German POW.

I have a book that describes a prison break of German POWs south of Carlisle in either 1942 or 3. A German prisoner was caught at Victoria station just by the Police Box that used to stand there on the pavement. He apparently made the mistake of asking a policeman who had just left the Police Box how could he get to Liverpool ?

He was arrested immediately and returned to the POW camp. I believe 4 or 5 prisoners got out in total and all were recaptured fairly quickly.

 

This may be confused with the Hillsborough to Snig Hill escapade.

 

I also believe there was another story about a German POW being apprehended by the conductor on a Doncaster-Sheffield bus !

 

Yes Mr.G, another 'story' I heard was tho' not a POW but a 'Secret Agent' who was on a tram from the Wicker to Tinsley and had difficulty working out the fare from the change he produced, The astute tram conductor thinking something was 'not right' summoned a policeman who was standing where the tram stopped at the Attercliffe Road/Staniforth Road junction who collared the bloke.

 

---------- Post added 21-03-2017 at 21:09 ----------

 

Zakes:

 

re the story of the German POW.

I have a book that describes a prison break of German POWs south of Carlisle in either 1942 or 3. A German prisoner was caught at Victoria station just by the Police Box that used to stand there on the pavement. He apparently made the mistake of asking a policeman who had just left the Police Box how could he get to Liverpool ?

He was arrested immediately and returned to the POW camp. I believe 4 or 5 prisoners got out in total and all were recaptured fairly quickly.

 

This may be confused with the Hillsborough to Snig Hill escapade.

 

I also believe there was another story about a German POW being apprehended by the conductor on a Doncaster-Sheffield bus !

 

Yes Mr.G. One of those escapees-perhaps the most famous- from the Carlisle area- was Franz von Werra .The 1957 film 'The One That got Away' starring Hardy Kruger as von Werra is good story.

Edited March 21, 2017 by stpetre
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[TORONTONY]

Yes Mr.G, another 'story' I heard was tho' not a POW but a 'Secret Agent' who was on a tram from the Wicker to Tinsley and had difficulty working out the fare from the change he produced, The astute tram conductor thinking something was 'not right' summoned a policeman who was standing where the tram stopped at the Attercliffe Road/Staniforth Road junction who collared the bloke.

 

---------- Post added 21-03-2017 at 21:09 ----------

 

 

Yes Mr.G. One of those escapees-perhaps the most famous- from the Carlisle area- was Franz von Werra .The 1957 film 'The One That got Away' starring Hardy Kruger as von Werra is good story.

Remember that film as a kid, mainly because it showed the guy getting of a train at Clay Cross station, which was between Sheffield and Ilkeston on the LMS line from Midland Station. We used that route a lot, as we had relatives in Ilkeston. Funny enough he made it all the way to Canada. As you say it was a good film, a little different from the usual war films of the time.

[stpetre]

Remember that film as a kid, mainly because it showed the guy getting of a train at Clay Cross station, which was between Sheffield and Ilkeston on the LMS line from Midland Station. We used that route a lot, as we had relatives in Ilkeston. Funny enough he made it all the way to Canada. As you say it was a good film, a little different from the usual war films of the time.

 

Yes Mr.T. Franz von Werra was the only German POW to escape captivity while under Allied control, in his case via Canada and USA. After all that, I believe that on making his escape back to Germany and the Luftwaffe, he was later killed in action.

Edited March 21, 2017 by stpetre
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[glennpickard]

one of the books I have states that Von Werra was killed over Germany by an allied fighter. When Von W. escaped he was on a train from eastern Canada to the west for a POW camp.

He crossed the Detroit River on ice (November 1941 time) and got to the German consulate in NY. The US and Germany were not at war yet.

 

They managed to smuggle him into Mexico and then he made his own way to Brazil where he caught a Lufthansa flying boat across to Portugal and then on into Germany.

He was the only one to escape allied clutches I know of.

On the other hand I believe 2500+ allied POWs escaped from Germany between June 1940 and April 1945, but there may have been 1 or 2 German POWs escaped from the 8th army in North Africa

[thecliffe]

used to get the 6am train to saxilby at the weekend to go fishing but used to climb those stairs with fishing gear to save money rather than use the lift from the wicker entrance to the station.