Name/Title
RAF/PW: Balson, letter 43-08-22Entry/Object ID
2023.1211Description
Peter Balson, wireless operator, Lane crew, 35 Squadron. RAAF.Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
DigitalContext
Letter dated 22 August 1943, in which Pete Balson writes of his broken right ankle, shattered from a heavy parachute landing after his aircraft was shot down on 22 June 1943. He says that he is receiving the best medical attention, and that the rest of the crew are all alive and uninjured.
Pete Balson was treated at the Luftwaffe Lazarette, Amsterdam. Once recovered, he lived in three different camps:
Stalag Luft 9, Mulhausen
Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug
Stalag Luft 357, Fallingbostel
He did not see his crew again until after the war as they were at different camps.
Information and photograph courtesy of John Balson.Collection
35 Squadron, RAF Dominion Air Forces, colonial aircrew, Allied aircrew, RAF Prisoners of War, YY: RPA DIGITAL ITEMS