One Man's War

by FRANK STROOBANT

Having kept brief notes from 1939 to 1945 with the intention of writing a book, it was not until 1957 that I found the time or inclination for the task.

With an erroneous idea of fame and fortune, I presented the finished article to publishers. After ten rejections the eleventh attempt received an offer to publish, provided any loss incurred was guaranteed by me. I decided to keep the work in cold storage.

Now it is 1967. It is now or never; possibly prompted by egoism, a decision "to go it alone" is made.

Without doubt the story cannot expect wide appeal but I hope that the post-war generations of CHannel Islanders may be interested and that there will be a visitor appeal. To my readers I say thank you. If you like it please tell your friends; f you don't enjoy it please keep quiet.

F.S.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II

174 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1967

Reviews

[Bev Walkling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having recently read a book on conditions in Jersey during the second world war, I was very interested to read one that would tell of the experiences of those on Guernsey during the same period. The author does that in this book up until 1942 when as a man born on English soil (rather than in the Channel Islands) he was one of many men, women and children of all ages deported by the Germans to Germany where they were interned for the duration - the men at Laufen.

The early part of the book describes conditions that the author personally experienced after the arrival of the Germans on Guernsey. Written with a sense of humour, the author who ran a cafe, tells of how when he was forced to admit Germans, he searched out cans of ham which had been declared unfit for human consumption and served them to the Germans hoping their stomachs would pay the price. Apparently their stomachs were made of strong stuff and nothing came back to haunt the author.

On arrival at Laufen, the author became the "senior man" who was in contact with the German administration on behalf of the prisoners. Their camp had two sections, one of which was occupied by Americans who had their own senior man. The men in this camp no doubt fared better than the Channel Islanders who were left behind to suffer near starvation conditions as the war progressed. These men received Red Cross parcels, sports equipment from the YMCA and boredom and lack of any real "News" where there biggest concerns after separation from family and friends.

In 1943, the author was asked to provide two volunteers who would be taken to Russia to view the rave site of Katyn Massacre. (I had not heard of this massacre before). After discussion with other senior prisoners, the author and one other reluctantly volunteered to go as they feared if they did not agree the Germans would find willing volunteers who would be used as propaganda vehicles for the German viewpoint. In the end, only the author went from Laufen, but other P.O.W.'s from different areas were also in attendance. He personally felt unsure after the horror of seeing it as to whether the Nazi's were responsible for the massacre of the Polish officers or the Russians. On googling I found out that in 1990 the Russians admitted responsability.

Shortly after his return from this, Stroobant resigned his position as senior officer and spent much of the rest of the war assisting with the building and running of a radio so they could have news from British sources.

I personally really enjoyed this man's story and would recommend at quite a unique story of how one man spent his war.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seem to be reading a lot of books set during the Second World War lately and I was very interested to pick this up and read about the true life experiences of the author and others on Guernsey during that time. I hadn’t actually known the Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans and that they were the only British territory that the had captured. The author tells what that was like on Guernsey right up until 1942 when he was one of many islanders deported to Germany as a prisoner of war and where Frank remained for the rest of the duration of the fighting. Despite the dark days the book describes, throughout the author manages to preserve a sense of humour and tenacity to still find ways to fight back against the German soldiers in any way he could, such as finding ways of feeding them rancid meat in efforts to give the Germans food poisoning. Frank held an important role as “senior man” in the prison camp when deported to Germany so his accounts there are also insightful and thought provoking. I don’t want to give any more away but overall I really enjoyed this man’s account and recommend it as quite a unique autobiography of life in the war years.

[Heather Craven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this amongst my parents possessions long after their passing. They had visited Guernsey in the late 70s and I presume they picked it up there. I remembered it having just finished The Guernsey Potato Pie Literary Club and my interest was piqued. An interesting memoir on a subject I had known little about or seen little mention of in all these years. A short read and worthy of your time if you would like to fill in a knowledge gap like I did.

[Ian MacIntyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been to Guernsey, this was an interesting story. Relating the story to areas visited added a dimension of reality for me. I didn't know the Nazi Germany had occupied English territory in Europe.