31019 - A Frank Account

"The stretcher was placed on the floor and people gathered around me...Finally a doctor straightened up and addressed me in his best English. 'I ask your permission to take your leg off, or you will die.'" Many books have been written of daring escapes from POW camps. "31019 - A Frank Account" is very different - it is the true story of someone who literally could not make a run for it. Frank Cheney, a keen amateur runner, enlisted in the Royal Engineers and received a number of shrapnel wounds following an attack by a German Stuka dive-bomber. As a result, his left leg was amputated. Captured by the enemy, he ended up at Stalag VIIIb in Upper Silesia with over 10,000 other POW's, 1,000 of which were severely injured. Showing true bravery and determination, Frank and his new friends made the most of their dire situation. Teaming up with other amputees and calling themselves the 'Bits and Pieces', the inmates kept their sense of humour. When a Swiss team asked where they wanted to be repatriated, one group said Australia, just for a change. This is a side to the war that very little is known about, and Frank Cheney describes it all with warmth, modesty and wit.