Charles Frederick Colebrook was known by his family as Charlie but was 'Dixie' to his fellow POWs. He was born on 3 Sep 1919 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, the only child of Fred and Lily Colebrook. Fred, a bricklayer, served in France in the Great War. He was shot three times and gassed yet survived. Although maimed for life by his injuries, Fred could count himself among the luckiest of soldiers. 28 years on, his son Charlie could do likewise.
After leaving school in Grimsby, Charlie became a butcher’s assistant, though not for long. In 1935, he joined the army aged 16 although his enlistment papers will show 18. Charlie took his discharge in early 1939 after serving for three years and completing a tour in Egypt.
In 1939, on Charlie’s 20th birthday, Britain declared war on Germany. By 1940, Charlie was back in uniform serving with the British Expeditionary Force in France. His unit was near Arras when the order to withdraw came through. Charlie made the 100 km trip to Dunkirk safely but only after a serious confrontation with a Panzer (see postscript below).
Private Colebrook was among the fortunate. He was taken off Dunkirk by a British fishing trawler. Ironically, the vessel’s home port was Grimsby. Just weeks after arriving home, Charlie married Marjorie Jones. He was then posted to the Middle East as ‘one of Wavell’s thirty thousand’ he would say.
Charlie, by then a driver with the Royal Army Service Corps, soon found himself in Greece. He was captured at Crete on 29 Apr 1941. Charlie’s diary shows he arrived at Corinth on 6 May, at Salonika on 13 June, at Wolfsberg on 2 July, and at Klagenfurt on 25 July.
After his discharge in 1946, Charlie joined the British Transport Police as a dog handler. He spent 30 years as a PC before retiring in 1976. He then joined the local police force as a civilian driver, ferrying prisoners around to prisons and courts. Sadly, Charley never got to enjoy a well-earned retirement. He died suddenly, of a heart attack, in 1982 aged 61.
Charley and Madge, as Marjorie was known, had one child, a daughter Susan. Her son Peter Rose crafted this story and offered it to me for posting on my Klagenfurt POWs website.
Post Scripts
When en route to Dunkirk riding in the back of an army truck, a Panzer tank appeared out of cover and Charlie’s truck stopped suddenly, with everyone jumping out quickly. That is, all except Charlie. He was carrying the squad's Bren Gun and its barrel became caught in the camouflage netting. While trying to release it, the German tank got closer. The hatch popped up, and the tank commander stared straight at him, observing Charlie’s plight. Charlie gave him a stifled grin as he freed the gun. They both nodded at each other. With his weapon now disentangled, Charlie jumped off the truck and ran for cover. At that point, Charlie could hear and see the tank’s machine gun following his flight with a trail of bullets. The tank commander was laughing as he did it. A story of compassion for an enemy, I think.
Late in the war, while on a work detail near Klagenfurt, Charlie was riding on the back a truck. A fighter aircraft flew low to strafe the truck. The vehicle braked so suddenly that Charlie was thrown over the top and landed on his face, taking part of his nose and some of his ear off. Taken to hospital, the doctors performed plastic surgery to repair his face.
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| Charlie Colebrook, with Madge and daughter, Susan, 1947 |
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| PC Colebrook |
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