George Churcher (3 Cdo), Pete Honey (2 Cdo), Bill Hughes (2 Cdo) and others at Stalag VIIIb

Prisoners of war after Operation Chariot. Stalag V111b was located at Lamsdorf in Poland. In 1943 the numbers were changed to 344. Post war Lamsdorf was renamed Lambinowice.

Back row: 1. Fred Wilkes (No.2 Cdo 5 troop); 2. George Churcher (No.3 Cdo 5 troop); 3. n/k; 4. Don Randall (No.2 Cdo 5 troop, later awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his gallantry on the raid) ; 5. Bill Hughes (No.2 Cdo 5 troop)

Front Row; 1. Pete Honey (No.2 Cdo 5 troop, later awarded the Military Medal for his gallantry on the raid); 2-5. n/k

Photo courtesy of Elisabeth Churcher, daughter of George Churcher. Elisabeth adds "This was sent as a postcard to my father's aunt. My father was in StalagVIII B. My father would have been between the ages of 22 and 25 ish while he was a prisoner. He is in the top row, second man from the left. He was making a silly gesture or playing with the man's hair in front of him, likely his way of showing the people at home that he was still his usual self and slighting the Germans by not being serious in the picture. In February before the war ended he escaped with two others while they were being marched by their captors away from the front. I understand when the rest of his group were liberated they were put on a train where some of them were killed in a train wreck- not sure of the details of that. My father joined up with the Americans who gave him a new uniform everyday for several days, burning the one he had been wearing because he was full of lice. He ate corn flakes for breakfast and was amazed by the food. My father who has been dead since the mid 1990 emigrated to Canada after the war, had three children, after 20 years moved on to Singaore, Australia and then back to Vancouver Island where my mother (90 years) old still lives. Not sure he every fully recovered from the war and his many losses."