Forgotten Hero of Bunker Valentin
eBook - ePub

Forgotten Hero of Bunker Valentin

The Harry Callan Story

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Forgotten Hero of Bunker Valentin

The Harry Callan Story

About this book

In 1943, thirty-two Irish POWs refused a Gestapo request to work for Germany. They were sent to a labour camp, where they were starved, beaten and forced to dig the foundations for a Nazi super-structure codenamed Bunker Valentin - an immense U-boat factory. Thousands of the camp's prisoners perished, including five of the Irishmen; bodies fell into the foundations and were never recovered. The surviving Irishmen were saved by the goodwill of decent Germans.Among them was Harry Callan, a Catholic boy from Derry who went to sea at sixteen as a British Merchant Navy seaman. His ship had been captured by a German raider two years before he ended up at the labour camp. Harry was unable to speak about the brutality he experienced for decades after he was liberated. When he finally began to tell his story, his family were shocked by what they heard.In his eighties, Harry agreed to revisit the site of his incarceration. He found local historians had no evidence of the Irish prisoners: they had disappeared from official records. Determined to give his comrades recognition, he began working to preserve their memory. This is the gripping story of Harry's capture, resistance and liberation.But above all, it is the final chapter in his quest to honour the forgotten heroes of Bunker Valentin.

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Yes, you can access Forgotten Hero of Bunker Valentin by Michèle Callan in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Military Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. About the author
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Foreword
  8. 1 Early Days in Derry
  9. 2 Training for My New Job
  10. 3 My Life at Sea
  11. 4 SS Afric Star
  12. 5 Taken Prisoner
  13. 6 Prisoner at Sea
  14. 7 Prisoner on Land
  15. 8 Prisoner-of-War Camp
  16. 9 Enticements to Work
  17. 10 Bremen-Farge Marine Camp
  18. 11 Bremen-Farge Labour Education Camp
  19. 12 Bunker Valentin and a Letter to the Irish Consulate
  20. 13 Second Letter to the Irish Consulate
  21. 14 Punishment and Typhus
  22. 15 Working Outside the Camp
  23. 16 ‘Irländer’ and a Typhus Epidemic
  24. 17 The Heidbreder Family
  25. 18 Hell Camp, Bremen-Farge
  26. 19 Return to Westertimke and Liberation
  27. 20 Going Home
  28. 21 Dealing with the Changes in Derry
  29. 22 Nightmares and the War at Home
  30. 23 Christmas 1945 and Going Back to Sea
  31. 24 Life Moves On
  32. 25 Compensation and Germany Revisited
  33. 26 New Friends and Old Friends
  34. 27 War Crimes Trial Findings
  35. 28 Keeping the Memories Alive
  36. 29 The Irishmen Remembered
  37. Acknowledgements
  38. Further Reading
  39. Photograph Credits
  40. Imprint Page
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