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Episode 02: “Walking A Mile In Harry’s Shoes”
In Episode 02 Megan visits the crumbling, 75-year-old ruins of two of the four stalags (prison camps) her grandfather Corporal Harry Spencer – Prisoner No. 91985 – was held in, in Germany, between 1941-1945.
The first, Stalag VII-A, is in Moosburg in Germany’s south. The other, Stalag XI-B/357 in Fallingbostel, is in the north. They were two of Germany’s biggest prisoner of war (POW) camps during the war, each housing thousands of prisoners from all over the world.
With the help of locals, family members, military historians and narration from Harry’s handwritten memoirs, Megan dives deep into her grandfather’s POW experience, re-imagining it ‘in situ’ and ‘on site’. It is a highly emotional journey – one that, as she finds out, is only just beginning…
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Full episode credits
Episode 02 released 25 February, 2019. Duration: 58:08
‘From A Whisper To A Bang!’ is written, produced and presented by Megan Spencer for the Australian War Memorial.
Film:
Sons of the Anzac (1939-1943).
AWM Accession Number: F00188
Sound:
Joseph Benedict Chifley, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia announces the end of the Second World War in the Pacific with the surrender of Japan, August 1945.
AWM Accession Number: S00106
Speakers:
- Dr. Lachlan Grant, Senior Historian in the Military History Section of the Australian War Memorial
- Oliver Budack
- Günther Strehle, Stalag Moosburg Association, guide for Stalag VII-A
- Christine Fössmeier, journalist, guide for Stalag VII-A
- Bernhard Kerscher, curator of the local history museum
- Professor Christina Twomey, author of ‘The Battle Within: POWs in Post-War Australia’
- Delma Calcagno
Actors:
Heath Bigg and Corwyn Berry
Music:
Additional Music:
Additional Sound:
Jeremy Conlon
Mastering:
Acknowledgements:
Red Cross Cinema Advertisement audio: “The Prisoner of War Adoption Scheme”, 1941, courtesy of the NFSA. Watch it
Thank you:
- Stalag Moosburg Association
- Kevin Greenhalgh (Fallingbostel Military Museum)
- Dr. Wolfgang Brandes (City Archives, Bad Fallingbostel)
- Gaga Music and Xylouris White
- The Australian War Memorial: Amanda Dennett, Andy Heaney, the DEX team; the Military History team; Daniel Eisenberg.
- Siobhan Dee
- Nicky Kasnaxis and the Spencer family
- Everyone who contributed to this episode.
View:
A collection of Harry’s photos taken in Stalag VII-A, Moosburg in 1941, on the AWM website.
Listen:
To Prime Minister Ben Chifley announcing the end of the Second World War in 1945 on the AWM website.
Visit:
- Moosburg Online: POW camp Stalag VII-A
- Local History Museum Moosburg website
- Fallingbostel Military Museum website
- Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf Prisoners of War Facebook Group
Watch:
From A Whisper To A Bang! trailer
Read:
- The story behind the podcast on the AWM website
- ‘The Battle Within: POWs in postwar Australia’ by Christina Twomey
Or click here for full episode credits and additional information.