Blog

I met Second World War veteran Gerald James (ret. Sergeant) at a Memory Project event at the Okanagan Military Museum in Kelowna, BC.  During his interview, Mr. James discussed many “stories of great coincidence” that occurred during and since the war. Being in reconnaissance, he moved out in front of the troops, exposing himself to confrontations with the enemy.   He recounted the time he was taken Prisoner of War in Germany.  His support squadron ran past a German anti-aircraft battery, which fired at them, blowing their vehicles off the road.
   
“Some of us were rounded up, and that was it,” explained Mr. James, “They hauled us away, marched for a couple of weeks until the Americans caught up to us and released us.” He described how puzzled he was to hear one of the young German guards speaking perfect English with an American accent. Though he eventually was returned to his unit, the incident stuck in his mind.  Some years after the war, a friend of his received a letter from a German man, Mr. Walter Schroder, who was writing his memoirs, and wanted to talk to those Canadian soldiers who were taken prisoner by his unit.
 
Mr. James got in touch with Mr. Schroder and realized he was the same young soldier who spoke English with an American accent.  Forty-five years after the war, Mr. James went to the home of his former German guard and shared a meal and conversation with Mr. Schroder.
 
“This is the strange thing about war,” said Mr. James, “People on the other side are the same as yourself.”  Mr. Schroder wrote a book of his time in the Germany army called Stars & Swastikas: The Boy Who Wore Two Uniforms.




Mr. Gerald James (on left) with his former German guard, Mr. Walter Schroder (on right).