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Friends say farewell to farmer who was PoW
A DALES community has been
remembering with pride one of
its sons who survived five years
as a prisoner of war in Nazi-held
Poland.
It was only two days from the
end of the Second World War that
John Nattrass, a farmer's son
from Weardale, made the tortuous
long march to freedom.
He had been called up by the
Army on his 21st birthday and
was captured by the Germans
two weeks after the Allied landings
in Dunkirk in May, 1940.
Mr Nattrass' service with the
Durham Light Infantry was remembered
at his funeral in the
village church in Eastgate,
Weardale, at the weekend.
He had died after a long illness.
He was 89 and leaves a widow,
Minnie.
They had farmed at Long Lea,
Eastgate, from 1949 to 1964, when
the Blue Circle cement company
bought part of their land to open
its works.
They then moved to East Lea,
Daddry Shield.
Away from farming, Mr Nattrass
was a magistrate and a
Freemason. He was also a director
of the St John's Chapel auction
mart.
Mr Nattrass, one of three
brothers who farmed and ran a
meat business in Weardale inherited
from their father, Ralph,
was reluctant to talk about the
time he spent as a prisoner of
war.
It was only in recent years that
he revealed the full hardship he
had suffered in Poland. His
nephew, Malcolm Nattrass, described
how he had been sent to
work by the Germans on farms in
Poland.
"He was always good with
horses, and that helped," said Mr
Nattrass.
It also saved his life. Mr Nattrass
made three attempts to escape
his captors, but he was
caught and he expected to be
shot.
It was only the fact that he had
proved useful on the farms that
saved him.
He was eventually sent to a
labour camp, where he often
slept in the snow.
Two days before the end of the
war, in May, 1945, Mr Nattrass
was freed by the Germans and he
made what turned out to be a
long and tortuous journey to
freedom.
Angus Ward, a close friend,
who had farmed next door to Mr
Nattrass, at Eastgate, for many
years, said: "John was always reluctant
to talk about the war.
"But to survive what he did,
when so many of his pals died,
made him a man of steel.
"Above all, he was an unselfish
man who rarely complained
about anything.
"He liked nothing better than
a good chat.
"I was proud to call him my
friend."
11:39am Monday 4th February 2008
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