John Richardson

Pop's P.O.W. Stories John Richardson

I am very moved by these stories, and not only because they are my father's. They are evidence of the human spirit that refuses to be overcome by circumstances, even though the circumstances may be horrific. In the overview of the facts of his life, you see him heading off to war full of energy and focus, albeit in his case volunteering to undertake any exceptionally dangerous mission as he was unattached and had recently lost both his father and his beautiful home. Like everyone heading off to war, he was completely unaware of what horrors lay in store for him. He was involved in two major evacuations of troops in Greece in the early part of the war when the Allied troops were not doing very well. He suffered the loss of many of his men, which he obviously felt very keenly. A German army unit captured him as a consequence of a demeaning order from his superior. This capture resulted in severe injuries and the loss of his memory. He then spent nearly two years in POW hospitals and camps until he was repatriated and sent back to New Zealand in 1943. Despite all this he was contacted by the resistance while in the prison camps and obviously became active within the network. H Force was the name of this Intelligence Unit, and it covered underground operations in Italy, Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia and Crete. He refused to talk directly about any of this, but there were enough hints to intrigue. In our ever-present quest to define what it is to be "human," I believe these stories of my father make a humble contribution.