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Escapes, Submarines and Friendship Steve Hunt , 10 Region Secretary.

Veteran Region 10 member Len Terry, has had a longstanding interest in WW11 events, and over the years has been to many interesting locations. His visits have included: Colditz Castle, the Nuremburg Court and many other key WWII places.

L en and his wife Val toured all these sites with their son Chris , who is an officer with Stena Line. Last year they visited the infamous Sagan Camp, which is now in Poland and known better to us as Stalag Luft III. This was the allied POW camp, where the many escape attempts inspired the film, The Great Escape. Most of the escapees were rounded up by the Nazis, who had grown tired of the escape attempts and executed 50 of them. There were 20 British soldiers among the 50 who were shot. Len laid a wreath at the camp to commemorate the murdered soldiers. This same tour included a visit to Laboe, which is on the Baltic coast, where they went on board the U995; a 1940s German U-boat submarine. They also visited the nearby Kriegsmarine (German Navy) memorial. U995 had an unusual end to its service life. At the end of the war, on 8 May 1945, U-995 was stricken near Trondheim, in Norway. She was surrendered to British forces, and then transferred to Norwegian ownership in October 1948. In December 1952, U-995 was re- badged as the Norwegian submarine Kaura. However, in 1965 she ceased service with the Royal Norwegian Navy, and was offered to the West German government for the ceremonial price of one Deutsche Mark. Their offer was refused; but, the submarine was saved by the German Navy League, and U-995 became a museum ship at Laboe Naval Memorial site in October 1971. Len’s first visit with the IPA was to Bavaria in 1967, where he and Val were guests of the Bundesgrenshutz. Len said that he, “had an unforgettable time”. The Bundesgrenzschutz was the first federal Police organization in West Germany after World War II.

Len said, “we kept in contact with a Bundesgrenshutz Captain over many years, and he came over with his family and stayed at Horndon-on-the-Hill. With them we visited Essex Police HQ, took a trip on the Essex Police launch, attended the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London, and managed to get seats in the dress rehearsal of the Trooping of the Colour at Buckingham Palace! We gave them a great time; this is what the IPA is all about.” Len went on to say; “we have visited most places of interest to us in Germany over the years and really love the country. We have met many interesting people and have lots and lots of great memories.” Len reaches the grand age of 81 this year, but intends to fly the IPA flag for many years to come.

POLICE WORLD Vol 65 No.3, 2020

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