[T. Mack Smith, British military internee in Vichy France.] Autograph Letter Signed ('South') to 'Monty', describing his escape, 'in real cinema fashion', from 'the Gerries', on the eve of the Battle of Dunkirk.

2pp., 4to. In good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. He begins by thanking him for his letter 'from Cambridge Hospital' and sympathising with his illness. 'I hoped to be able to come & see you before this but I am afraid now I am here for the duration. This is a pleasant spot, 1/2 a KM from a town of 5,000 inhabitants & 4 KM from the Mediterranean. I have my bike, & am fed & clothed & am allowed anywhere in the district of Agde at any hour. Our only obligation is to be present at roll call at 8 AM & 6 P.M.' He had, he states, 'a most interesting time right the way through after we left Belgium on May 12th.', and could keep him 'amused for a couple of hours one day with the adventures of my sergeant & myself in my van'. He blames himself for being wounded, 'because I volunteered for a job & just managed to pick up enough so I did not have to walk in a gang of prisoners. And after I was taken prisoner I got marvellous treatment, & have had from everyone ever since. - I was 5 weeks in a French hospital, mainly being an interpreter & afterwards 5 weeks in a barracks in the same town with French & English prisoners & only managed to leave my hosts when I got to Tornai on the way to Germany. This I did, in real cinema fashion, with another fellow in broad daylight, by brushing slowly with a couple of brooms through a square with Germans loading up lorries & then climbing & dropping over the 20 ft wall of the barracks. I dropped clumsily, being afraid of my knee where I'd had a few scratches, & hurt my heel so I could not walk much.' He continues with a description of his experiences before capture. 'The occupied zone was not too happy for me with so many houses empty at that time & troops on the road all the time. In one week I had two meals & green apples only. The troops were too friendly. Twice I was given lifts in lorries when I had no wind in my tyre & often was given cigarettes & drinks if I went into a cafe. My French is of the public school type which produces such an extraordinary accent that I can pass a[s] a Pole with a German who does not know much French!' His 'journey across France was a great experience', and he is now 'more comfortable than if I had remained with the Gerries'. He asks for news of the 1st Divsion, 'as my sergt. & I were separated from them on May 20th. Did most of them get away or were they badly cut up near Dunkerque?' He ends by speculating whether 'this is censurable [sic] or not at this date'.