Published: Thursday, 31st July, 2008 08:05
POWs at Gosford
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THE years slipped away for German war veteran Alfred Weiss on his poignant return to the former prisoner-of-war camp at the county’s Gosford Estate last Wednesday.
Alfred, 85, was captured in Germany on the Rhine and taken to Belgium before being transported to East Lothian in 1945, where he would spend the next two years.
His visit to Gosford, where 3,000 POWs were held during the conflict, was organised by Longniddry and District Rotary Club, following an approach by his daughter Margit.
Alfred was joined by fellow German and ex-POW Rudi Franzel, who has lived in Haddington for the past 60 years.
After touring the site, with local historians David Haire and Jack Tully-Jackson, Alfred said: “It was very good. It made me feel like a young man again.”
Stopping off for a look at Gosford House also conjured up memories for Alfred, who was accompanied by Margit and wife Lucie.
“That was where the officers had their casino – I peeled their potatoes,” he said.
Amazingly, the visit was also Rudi’s first time back at the camp, despite living in the county for the past six decades.
The 83-year-old was taken prisoner in Germany just one week before the war ended, arriving in Gosford in 1946 after being held in Belgium.
He settled in Haddington after being released from the camps and married local girl Elizabeth Young.
Rotarians Kenny Thomson, Alan Burton and past president David Paton also joined the POWs on their trip down memory lane.
Mr Thomson, club secretary, told the Courier: “It went very well. The Weiss family seemed to appreciate everything that had been done for them.”
Gosford was one of three POW camps in the county – the others being at Garvald and Amisfield in Haddington.
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