Sunderland Waitress a Refugee

German P.O.W's visitng a Sunderland cafe are surprised when a 34 year old blonde girl greets them in their own language as she serves their meals. She was Mrs Greta Anderson of Azalea Terrace North, a former Danzig refugee who met her Sunderland born husband in a picturesque village near Kiel canal when he was serving as a lorry driver in the RAF. She became a waitress becasue she wanted to improve her English. Three months previous a P.O.W from East Boldon camp walked into the cafe and Mrs Anderson spoke to him in German. Other German P.O.W's have followed and she is now so popular that two of them had Christmas dinner at her home. They decorated a Christmas tree in German fashion in appreciation of her kindness. "The Germans are always glad when someone can tell them about conditions to-day in Germany" she told a Sunderland Echo reporter. "I only joined my husband a year ago (1946) and i know something of the sorrow and suffering through which Germany is passing".

Paper:Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette
Date:29/12/1947
News ArticleWhat is interesting about this article is it talks about German P.O.W.'s from East Boldon, rumours that the Anti Air craft site may have also housed prisoners of war have ciruclated for a while. This would have been unusual since it was the main ammunition depot for Sunderland. However after the war there was a big push for it to be reused due to shortages, Housing etc. At various times after the war it had different/mutiple uses. One piece of evidence talks about a bomb disposal unit based there clearing up unexploded bombs in the area after the war, another mentions its use as a medical facility. The other interesting thing to note regarding the article is the date, which was December 29th 1947, just a few days short of 1948 nearly 3 years after the war had ended and yet there were still prisoners who had not been repatriated. It would be interesting to find out if the Prisoners were housed there during the war or had be billited there after the war until they were allowed to go home.



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