Audio file 150-1

Wonga asks Ernest about his transfer back to St Denis but Ernest wants to draw his conclusion on Drancy, struggling to gather his thoughts, whilst Wonga interrupts; eventually, Ernest states that because of his letter of complaint to the Commandant he was returned to St Denis

Ernest first suggested the theory of assistance from Drancy camp commandant in file 91-1.

On his return to St Denis, Ernest recalls his friends welcoming him back in pleasant surprise; Wonga speculates they may also have been relieved for themselves too - he refers to Milosz being transferred to Royallieu-Compiègne

Ernest recalls that when they heard of Germany's defeat at Stalingrad, some of the prisoners sang "L'Internationale", the Communist anthem; Wonga asks if the prisoners heard about other Nazi defeats and Ernest is unclear; Ernest recalls the camp's windows being blown out by bombings close by but does not know the actual targets

Ernest noticed the German soldiers leaving the camp and that the British soldiers freed them; Wonga speaks of war history, Eisenhower and Leclerc freeing Paris and the power vacuum following German evacuation

Ernest recalls that prisoners were warned to remain in the camp for their safety, that one who left returned wounded whilst another was killed; so they waited until the camp was secured days later - Ernest corrects that it was the French (not British) who rescued them

On Wonga asking if any British authority came to the camp, Ernest recalls that a fellow prisoner, Thomas [no further identification given], a lawyer, advised Ernest to get an English passport rather than keep his South African papers

in audio file 73-2, they discuss Ernest's nationalities

Wonga asks about official release papers

see database for Ernest's St Denis internment papers

Wonga wants to know if Sonja met Ernest at his liberation and Ernest provides the details; Wonga asks about the trucks that took the prisoners home and the prisoners' goodbyes but Ernest cannot recall

Wonga asks about the journal that Ernest kept in prison and asks how it became lost

there are 2 notebooks dating from World War II in the family archive; it is not known how many notebooks Ernest kept during his internment

a few days afterwards, Ernest went to the British Embassy as Thomas advised

Two names pop into Wonga's head - Joe, an American soldier at Marseille and Most (?) [no further identification] whom Ernest cannot recall

[tape ends]