Recorded memoir of Alfred Jenner, entitled 'An English Tribute to American Airmen' (MC 376/515/1)
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Recorded memoir of Alfred Jenner, entitled 'An English Tribute to American Airmen'

1


MC 376/515/1


1 compact cassette

nd [25 Apr 1997]


2nd Air Division Memorial Library/Sound recordings collected by the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library


Alfred Jenner

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Description
Relates to his experiences of being prisoner of war in Germany during the Second World War. Describes his time and living conditions in German prisoner of war camps, with specific reference to impressions of and interactions with American servicemen. Includes descriptions of the appearance of the American personnel; story of a gifted pianist; inter-camp sporting events; listening to secret radios and educational classes encouraged by German camp guards. Includes story about shorthand lessons devised by Jenner and sent to the American camp based on radio news bulletins. Describes watching American B-24 Liberators in action near Stalag 357. Description of shortages with story of Americans sharing cigarette rations. Also describes return home to find his father had been looking after some Americans. When the recording was made, Alfred Jenner was, at 80 years old, the oldest and longest serving governor of the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library Trust. During the Second World War he served as an RAF wireless operator and gunner. Jenner was held at Stalag Luft II, which was shared with the Americans at first, but as war intensified the Germans moved officers, including Jenner, to Stalag Luft III where they were separated from the Americans who were held in a different camp. In September 1944, the Germans moved their prisoners again, this time to Stalag 357. Recorded on side A only. For a transcript, see MC 376/515/4.