Smith, James H.: my Air Force recollections (November 9, 2006)

ABSTRACT: Jim Smith Bomber Navigator, 6th Group Bomber Command 1:14 description of war involvement in the 6th bomber group with trips to the Ruhr Valley and Hamburg. 1:40 description of being shot down. Only one of the group not killed, parachuted out. Picked up by German civilians 4:20 Treatment upon capture, interrogation and initial good treatment. 8:06 taken to interrogation prison for three weeks. 12:22 time in first POW camp 13:07 command structure of the camp. Run by Luftwaffe. Speaks of food and lack there of. 15:08 Structure of authority inside the camp. General election to decide camp leader. Later, higher officers came and tried to take command and were rebuffed by the POW veterans. Had leader of the best ability, not highest ranking. 19:33 lack of ceremony, no saluting. 19:50 German propaganda. Didn't work because the POWs had radios which they bribed the guards for. 21:20 very small group helped the Germans. 22:20 Were housed near Russian prisoners who were treated poorly. POW's gathered together some rations to send to the Russians. 23:45 describing daily routine. Roll call and trying to confuse and obstruct authority. 26:30 Describing food allotments. 29:15 Didn't turn to faith to get through ordeal. 30:10 Bartering for goods with the guards. 31:00 Entertainment in the camps. Bridge and watching performances. 31:50 Escape attempts didn't really happen. Some tunneling. 33:25 fear in the camp. Were actually more secure than while in active service. Had daily news from BBC so knew the war was going to end favourably. 34:45 Returning home from camps. Through England to a hospital. Plenty of food. 37:21 contact with fellow prisoners after release.

Interviewee: Smith, James H.

An interview/narrative of Jim Smith's experiences as a prisoner of war during World War II. Smith was a bomber navigator with 6th Group Bomber Command. Interview took place on November 9, 2006.

Interviewer: Ker, Lucas

In Collection:

• Canadian Military Oral Histories

Contributor

• Ker, Lucas
• Smith, James H.

Subject

• Military history
• Personal narratives--Canadian
• World War (1914-1918)
• World War (1939-1945)

Language

• eng

Date created

• November 9, 2006

Relation

• Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews.
• Title of paper: "For You, The War Is Over".

Resource type

• Sound

Rights statement

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Extent

• 1 sound recording (MP3)

Geographic coverage

• England

Coordinates

• 52.16045, -0.70312

Additional physical characteristics

• Original recording (DVF) on compact disc (CD) in Special Collections.

Physical repository

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Collection

• Canadian Military Oral History Collection

Provider

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Genre

• oral histories (literary genre)
• sound recordings
• reminiscences
• interviews

Archival item identifier

• SJH_488

Fonds title

• Military oral history collection

Fonds identifier

• SC141

Is referenced by

• Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection

Date digitized

• January 23, 2013

Technical note

• Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 22 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2013. Migration metadata by KD and MT.

Rights

• This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca

DOI

•  https://doi.org/10.58066/z384-8p53

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