Thursday 9 August

Wischer to Gartow

From here I am in difficulties, as my diary stops on the previous day, Wednesday 8 August. All I am able to do is guess where we went, exept that it was probably on this day that Liz rejoined us, having had a few days with our friends in Braunschweig.

It may have been on this day that we were resting in a village square, having bought some bottled water, that an elderly chap came over and started talking to me in German. It was all I could do to nod pleasantly from time to time and let him chatter on. In due course we said goodbye and later Simon told me that he had been talking about his time during WWII when he had been a river pilot taking damaged u-boats down the Elbe into the heart of Germany to be repaired. I wish I had been able to understand him and talked about his remarkable memories.