Private Stanley Priest
Private Stanley Priest was a member of the Royal Army Service Corps who later gave this description of the massacre.
"About 120 of the Royal Norfolks decided to surrender, so the Sergeant Major put a towel on the end of his Lee Enfield, and he waved it at the door - but at that precise moment, someone fired from one of the windows further down the barn. This rather angered the Germans who thought that the British were up to wicked tricks. Bill O'Callaghan, a signaller attached to the battalion, thought it was purely because the whole thing hadn't been co-ordinated. He doesn't think there was anything sinister about it.
Eventually, they got out. They were taken to a field beside the barn, they were stripped to the waist and one fellow got a rifle butt in his face and his teeth were knocked out. Then they were marched 400 or 500 yards down a country lane into a meadow. Bill noticed that as they filed into the meadow, there was an officer standing by the gate, and he saw that two machine guns had been set up pointing towards a little barn. They were taken to this barn, and made to stand outside it. Bill says he remembers seeing Major Ryder leaning against the wall of the barn, in a bad way. He could see he was dying. And then the machine guns opened up. One boy said "I'm not going to die like this!" and he started to run but the machine guns cut him down in no time. Luckily Bill - and a man named Bert Pooley - were standing near a little dip in the ground. They dived into the dip and the bodies of their comrades covered them. That's what saved their lives, although Bill got a bullet through his arm and Bert's right leg was shattered. They both lay there not daring to breathe. The Germans finished off anybody who was moving or groaning with revolvers. They came along and shot them. Bill lay next to somebody whose brains had been blown out, and his own face was covered with this fellow's brains.
The massacre took place at half past six, and Bill lay there 'till it got dark. He thinks he must have fallen asleep, because when he woke up he heard somebody snoring. It was Bert Pooley. When it was dark, Bill saw that there were still some SS around in the meadows, but he decided he couldn't stop there, so he carried Pooley across fields until they came to a farm. They found shelter in a woodpile, but that didn't seem secure enough. Bert's leg was turning a horrible green colour, so Bill decided they needed a more secure place. They scouted around and found that the best place was a pig sty with two pigs that had been burnt during the attack two hours before. They crawled in with the pigs.
A day later, Bill was searching for food; he'd found a few eggs, when the owner of the house came back. She saw Bill in one of the doorways. From that moment, things started to move. They got some kind of dressing for Bert's wounds - but the villagers didn't really want the farm owner to keep the two Tommies because of the danger of reprisals from the SS. But she decided she would do what she could for them, and after several days, Bert's leg became so bad that they had to seek medical help. The mayor went to Bethume about six miles away and he brought back a doctor who said they must go to the hospital. And so the German authorities were informed, and they finished up in the local hospital. From there, Bert was sent to a hospital at Saint Omer and Bill joined the great line of prisoners from the Calais and Boulogne battles on the long march into Germany. And he spent the rest of the war in Poland - but he dared not breathe a word of the massacre because, had he done so, it would have reached the ears of the German authorities and he would have disappeared.
In the meantime, Bert was repatriated after several operations in 1943. All returned POWs had to be debriefed. He told his two debriefers about the massacre and they told him it was a cock and bull story. The Germans, they said, wouldn't do that! Bert suffered a great deal. Mainly from the pain of the wound. But when Bill O'Callaghan was sent home in 1945, they got together and they went back to Le Paradis. They dug some bullets out of the wall, and got an affidavit from the French authorities in Le Paradis about the massacre, and the case was re-opened. Bill had noticed an officer standing by the gate before the massacre, and he said he'd never forget his face, and when they went round the refugee camps after the war, they came across this chap. It was only about five or six years later, and he was brought to trial and hanged.
"About 120 of the Royal Norfolks decided to surrender, so the Sergeant Major put a towel on the end of his Lee Enfield, and he waved it at the door - but at that precise moment, someone fired from one of the windows further down the barn. This rather angered the Germans who thought that the British were up to wicked tricks. Bill O'Callaghan, a signaller attached to the battalion, thought it was purely because the whole thing hadn't been co-ordinated. He doesn't think there was anything sinister about it.
Eventually, they got out. They were taken to a field beside the barn, they were stripped to the waist and one fellow got a rifle butt in his face and his teeth were knocked out. Then they were marched 400 or 500 yards down a country lane into a meadow. Bill noticed that as they filed into the meadow, there was an officer standing by the gate, and he saw that two machine guns had been set up pointing towards a little barn. They were taken to this barn, and made to stand outside it. Bill says he remembers seeing Major Ryder leaning against the wall of the barn, in a bad way. He could see he was dying. And then the machine guns opened up. One boy said "I'm not going to die like this!" and he started to run but the machine guns cut him down in no time. Luckily Bill - and a man named Bert Pooley - were standing near a little dip in the ground. They dived into the dip and the bodies of their comrades covered them. That's what saved their lives, although Bill got a bullet through his arm and Bert's right leg was shattered. They both lay there not daring to breathe. The Germans finished off anybody who was moving or groaning with revolvers. They came along and shot them. Bill lay next to somebody whose brains had been blown out, and his own face was covered with this fellow's brains.
The massacre took place at half past six, and Bill lay there 'till it got dark. He thinks he must have fallen asleep, because when he woke up he heard somebody snoring. It was Bert Pooley. When it was dark, Bill saw that there were still some SS around in the meadows, but he decided he couldn't stop there, so he carried Pooley across fields until they came to a farm. They found shelter in a woodpile, but that didn't seem secure enough. Bert's leg was turning a horrible green colour, so Bill decided they needed a more secure place. They scouted around and found that the best place was a pig sty with two pigs that had been burnt during the attack two hours before. They crawled in with the pigs.
A day later, Bill was searching for food; he'd found a few eggs, when the owner of the house came back. She saw Bill in one of the doorways. From that moment, things started to move. They got some kind of dressing for Bert's wounds - but the villagers didn't really want the farm owner to keep the two Tommies because of the danger of reprisals from the SS. But she decided she would do what she could for them, and after several days, Bert's leg became so bad that they had to seek medical help. The mayor went to Bethume about six miles away and he brought back a doctor who said they must go to the hospital. And so the German authorities were informed, and they finished up in the local hospital. From there, Bert was sent to a hospital at Saint Omer and Bill joined the great line of prisoners from the Calais and Boulogne battles on the long march into Germany. And he spent the rest of the war in Poland - but he dared not breathe a word of the massacre because, had he done so, it would have reached the ears of the German authorities and he would have disappeared.
In the meantime, Bert was repatriated after several operations in 1943. All returned POWs had to be debriefed. He told his two debriefers about the massacre and they told him it was a cock and bull story. The Germans, they said, wouldn't do that! Bert suffered a great deal. Mainly from the pain of the wound. But when Bill O'Callaghan was sent home in 1945, they got together and they went back to Le Paradis. They dug some bullets out of the wall, and got an affidavit from the French authorities in Le Paradis about the massacre, and the case was re-opened. Bill had noticed an officer standing by the gate before the massacre, and he said he'd never forget his face, and when they went round the refugee camps after the war, they came across this chap. It was only about five or six years later, and he was brought to trial and hanged.