At the age of 94, Colin Murray certainly remembers his fellow prisoners of war and his own harrowing experiences.
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Colin reflects on his time as a German prisoner of war with a distant look in his eyes and a telling wariness.
His recollections are a little fractured, but he can be forgiven for that.
Age aside, he has suffered three heart attacks, apart from the battle scars from his time in Stalag VII A, just north of the town of Moosburg in southern Bavaria, Germany and Dachau, 20km north west of Munich.
He joined the Australian militia in 1936 at the of age 21 and later joined the Australian Infantry Forces.
A gunner in the 6th Division Artillery, he recalls what led up to his capture.
In late May, 1941, more than 9000 Anzacs and thousands of Greeks were left behind on Crete to defend the remaining territory as best they could. They fought
on until they were surrounded.
Trying to get out of harms way, Colin escaped over the
mountains but was captured.
He was marched from Poland, through Czekoslovakia, Hungary and on to Moosburg. The camp covered an area of 35ha.
In the main camp, more than 40,000 POWs were crowded into a space designed for 10,000.
It was his home for four years during which time he suffered broken ribs and a busted tailbone,
apart from other humiliations.
Douglas Bader was a fellow inmate.
He was later moved to Dachau, 12 miles northwest of Munich from where he was freed by US troops along with thousands of other skeletal prisoners on the last Sunday of April, 1945.
On his repatriation to Australia he worked at Sterns camping equipment store in Circular Quay.
He met Ruby, the lady who was to become his wife, while walking home from work one day.
After raising four children in Sydney the couple moved to Port Macquarie 10 years ago. Sadly, Colin lost his beloved Ruby two years ago.
Now he relies on Pedro, a feisty 10-year-old chihuahua to keep him company and they are well matched.