Dunbar, Robert

Date of birth:: June 10th, 1919 (Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom)
Date of death:: November 21st, 1984 (Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom)
Service number:: 2879107
Nationality:: British

Biography

Despite the award of his Distinguished Conduct Medal, his own personal good conduct was certainly lacking, being sentenced by Field Genereal Court Martial several times during the war for several offences.
Dunbar transferred to the Army Reserve on 8th November 1946, being finally discharged on 21st July 1951.
Dunbar later worked as a plater’s helper, and lived in Aberdeen.

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Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Private
Unit:: 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders
Awarded on:: February 12th, 1942

Dunbar was once of those men taken prisoner of war by the German’s at Saint-Valery-en-Caux on 12th June 1940, and was confirmed reported as a prisoner of war on 10th September 1940.
On 20th June 1940 however he escaped together with a Private A. Harper and a Private S. Westland, from the column of prisoners which were being marched into captivity near Bethune.
‘We fell out on the road and hit behind some houses until the column was past. Then inmates then gave us civilian clothes, and we walked back eight miles to Auchel. We all separated at Auchel, but I often used to see Harper and Westland until I was recaptured.’
‘I spent three months at Auchel as the guest of a cafe proprietor, but a Polish girl, whose name I do not know, told a German officer that I was English. I was arrested about 20th September, and taken to Lille where I was tried for attempted sabotage. I was acquitted on this charge, but was sentenced to undergo four months solitary confinement for having escaped. I was taken to Stuttgart in a cattle-truck and driven to a camp a few miles outside the city. I never knew its name. I was in solitary confinement until the end of January 1941 and had no chance to escape. When my sentence expired I found that the camp was full of French prisoners and that the only other Englishman was Private R. Herring, Royal Signals, who had made a recorded escape from Front Stalag 190. He had a French wife, a school-teacher, living near Lille and she had been arrested by the Germans.’
‘The camp was so well guarded by wire and machine gun posts that we planned to escape while we were working outside it. We made a dash for it on 14th February, during the afternoon, while we were shovelling coal in a railway siding and ran along a short curving tunnel to avoid the fire of our guards. We were fired at, but, at the far end of the tunnel, we hid in an air raid shelter till dark. We boarded a goods train, having no idea where it was going, and hid in a truck. In the morning we slipped off and found ourselves in Holland. I cannot remember where we left the train, but we spent some weeks wandering across Holland and Belgium. We reached Lille on 12th April and Herring left me to look for his wife.’
‘I went on alone to Auchel where I found that my host and hostess of the previous year had been sentenced to 7 years imprisonment each for harbouring me. I returned to Bethune where another cafe proprietress, who knew about this, nevertheless gave me shelter and clothes and procured false identity papers for me. I stayed with her for some days. On 20th April I left by train for Paris assisted by a French guide. I do not know his name. I stayed 12 days in Paris and then went down to Dompierre, where I crossed the demarcation line on 2nd May with the aid of a butcher’s assistant. After crossing the line I was directed to Montlucon, where I was arrested and sent to St Hippolyte.’
‘I escaped from St Hippolyte on 7th May but was recaptured three days later and given 14 days imprisonment. Early in June I escaped again and got as far as Narbonne, where I was recaptured at the beginning of July. This time I was given 30 days imprisonment.’
‘On 17th August I escaped with Gunner A.V. Badman, by sawing through the bars of a room near the dining hall. We were directed to Nines, Perpignan, and Banyuls. From Banyuls we crossed the Pyrenees in a party of seven, not including a Spanish guide. It took three days and two nights to cross because the guide missed the way twice. The others who were guided across were, Lance Corporal H.J. Warnett, Driver J. Dulan, Corporal H. Monaghan, Driver D. Ower, Private W. Winslade, and Gunner A.V. Badman.’
‘On 27th August we were arrested at Figures and sent to a concentration camp at Miranda. I was released on 14th October and taken to Gibraltar.’