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Fo Sgàil A' Swastika = Under the Shadow of the Swastika
The gripping story of one man's experiences of WWII after being forced to surrender to the Germans at St Valery-en-Caux. Festures 2 CDs of the late author reading the entire text in vivid South Uist Gaelic.
- GenresHistory
191 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2000
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About the author
Dòmhnall Iain MacDhòmhnaill
7 books3 followersDòmhnall Iain MacDhòmhnaill (Donald John Macdonald) (1919 - 1986) was a Scottish Gaelic poet. His father was the famous seanchaidh Duncan MacDonald, some of whose long heroic tales were published by K.C. Craig in 1944.
Dòmhnall Iain's experiences as a soldier in the Second World War, and particularly the privations he endured as a prisoner of war from 1940 to 1945, are described in his book Fo Sgàil a’ Swastika (‘Under the Shadow of the Swastika’).
He, won the Bardic Crown at the National Mod in 1948 and was awarded the Ailsa Trophy. His first book of poems, Sguaban Eorna (‘Sheaves of Barley’), appeared in 1973. Bill Innes, a friend and neighbour, brought up beside the poet, brought together the collected poems, first published under the title Chì Mi ('I See') in 1998.
Dòmhnall Iain's experiences as a soldier in the Second World War, and particularly the privations he endured as a prisoner of war from 1940 to 1945, are described in his book Fo Sgàil a’ Swastika (‘Under the Shadow of the Swastika’).
He, won the Bardic Crown at the National Mod in 1948 and was awarded the Ailsa Trophy. His first book of poems, Sguaban Eorna (‘Sheaves of Barley’), appeared in 1973. Bill Innes, a friend and neighbour, brought up beside the poet, brought together the collected poems, first published under the title Chì Mi ('I See') in 1998.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 16, 2018
Quite apart from the Gaelic element of this work – I do not speak Gaelic - this is great memoir about the Second World War. It somehow managed to give me far more insights than I might have imagined. It’s written by a soldier who was part of the 51st Highland Division which was captured at the start of World War Two at St Valery in France two weeks after Dunkirk in June 1940. Some 8000 men, finding themselves prisoners, are force-marched away from freedom and into occupied Europe and Germany, some (many?) dying en route. From when he was captured in 1940 until liberation in 1945 MacDonald was to remain a POW in different camps and as a forced labourer in a quarry and salt mine. He made several escape attempts.
As far as style is concerned, if you want detailed descriptions of military events – or even of personal ones – then this is not really for you. Donald John MacDonald was a famous bard, story teller and song writer from the Western Isles of Scotland and this account (I think) is certainly influenced by that style of story-telling which, if I understand it, was/is more about isolated stories rather than definitive and tidy accounts. Not that this isn’t chronological or structured – more that it might be deemed somewhat sparse by some. But that’s the miracle – you actually learn a lot.
The thing I most liked about this account were the small but significant truths MacDonald gives us which leaves you the feeling that you may have glimpsed a more honest account of war and men in war than from many of the more ‘authoritative’ or weighty accounts. For instance it had never occurred to me how useless a soldier might feel when he is relieved of his rifle (nor indeed how instantly powerful he would feel again on liberation and had a gun in his hands again!). And take, for instance, the looting by British prisoners, desperate for food, of shops and potato fields as they were marched away through France and Belgium or the unholy scrum should a villager throw a loaf into their ranks; no sense of the more correct British approach to things here. Or the author’s observation that it was immediately evident that the people of Belgium were more friendly to them and hated the Germans more than the French did.
During the time he was a prisoner and in his interaction with guards and ordinary Germans he found a country ruled by fear with people talking to prisoners about things rather than to each other for fear of being informed upon. On the other hand, after an allied bomber raid on a nearby town and railyards, he and other prisoners are formed into working parties to clear up the destruction – including an air raid shelter which had taken a direct hit. ‘There was not one complete human being to be seen’, he recalls, ‘There were only fragments.’ When the townsfolk saw them they went berserk and rushed at them. ‘We had need of our two guards that day’ he says.
MacDonald and other prisoners tried to escape several times as a way of insisting to themselves and their captors they were free men: after one failed attempt he describes well why the deprivations of solitary confinement are so awful. It was also after one escape attempt that he came in contact with members of the SS and Gestapo and he illustrates the chilling difference between their brutality and other German soldiers.
After liberation, advancing US troops would ask prisoners if they had been maltreated in any way; those Germans who mistreated POWs were summarily hung. (I don’t think that’s in many of the history books.)
As I say, this is not like many histories or memoirs of World War Two but many of the images painted here by Donald John MacDonald will remain with me much longer. Perhaps that is the power of this kind of traditional story-telling after all.
The book is a parallel Gaelic and English translation.
As far as style is concerned, if you want detailed descriptions of military events – or even of personal ones – then this is not really for you. Donald John MacDonald was a famous bard, story teller and song writer from the Western Isles of Scotland and this account (I think) is certainly influenced by that style of story-telling which, if I understand it, was/is more about isolated stories rather than definitive and tidy accounts. Not that this isn’t chronological or structured – more that it might be deemed somewhat sparse by some. But that’s the miracle – you actually learn a lot.
The thing I most liked about this account were the small but significant truths MacDonald gives us which leaves you the feeling that you may have glimpsed a more honest account of war and men in war than from many of the more ‘authoritative’ or weighty accounts. For instance it had never occurred to me how useless a soldier might feel when he is relieved of his rifle (nor indeed how instantly powerful he would feel again on liberation and had a gun in his hands again!). And take, for instance, the looting by British prisoners, desperate for food, of shops and potato fields as they were marched away through France and Belgium or the unholy scrum should a villager throw a loaf into their ranks; no sense of the more correct British approach to things here. Or the author’s observation that it was immediately evident that the people of Belgium were more friendly to them and hated the Germans more than the French did.
During the time he was a prisoner and in his interaction with guards and ordinary Germans he found a country ruled by fear with people talking to prisoners about things rather than to each other for fear of being informed upon. On the other hand, after an allied bomber raid on a nearby town and railyards, he and other prisoners are formed into working parties to clear up the destruction – including an air raid shelter which had taken a direct hit. ‘There was not one complete human being to be seen’, he recalls, ‘There were only fragments.’ When the townsfolk saw them they went berserk and rushed at them. ‘We had need of our two guards that day’ he says.
MacDonald and other prisoners tried to escape several times as a way of insisting to themselves and their captors they were free men: after one failed attempt he describes well why the deprivations of solitary confinement are so awful. It was also after one escape attempt that he came in contact with members of the SS and Gestapo and he illustrates the chilling difference between their brutality and other German soldiers.
After liberation, advancing US troops would ask prisoners if they had been maltreated in any way; those Germans who mistreated POWs were summarily hung. (I don’t think that’s in many of the history books.)
As I say, this is not like many histories or memoirs of World War Two but many of the images painted here by Donald John MacDonald will remain with me much longer. Perhaps that is the power of this kind of traditional story-telling after all.
The book is a parallel Gaelic and English translation.
June 13, 2020
Chuir mi crìoch air an leabhar seo air ceann-bliadhna an tachartais a thòisich an sgeulachd - Saint-Valery-en-Caux. Bha Dòmhnall Iain MacDhòmhnaill air aon de na 8000 ball den 51mh Roinn Gàidhealach a ghlac na Gearmailtich aig St. Valery. Chuir e seachad an còrr den chogadh ann an diofar champaichean prìosanach cogaidh, agus theich e iomadh uair, dìreach airson a bhith air a ghlacadh às deidh gach oidhirp.
Tha an leabhar seo dà-chànanach, sgrìobhte anns a' Ghàidhlig agus anns a' Bheurla.
***
I finished this book on the anniversary of the event that started the story - Saint-Valery-en-Caux. Donald John MacDonald was one of the 8000 members of the 51st Highland Division captured by the Germans at St. Valery. He spent the rest of the war in various prisoner of war camps, and escaped many times, only to be captured after each attempt.
This book is bilingual, written in Gaelic and English.
Tha an leabhar seo dà-chànanach, sgrìobhte anns a' Ghàidhlig agus anns a' Bheurla.
***
I finished this book on the anniversary of the event that started the story - Saint-Valery-en-Caux. Donald John MacDonald was one of the 8000 members of the 51st Highland Division captured by the Germans at St. Valery. He spent the rest of the war in various prisoner of war camps, and escaped many times, only to be captured after each attempt.
This book is bilingual, written in Gaelic and English.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews