War Claims compensation for Cecil Brown who was captured at Campbasso, Italy on 6 October 1943. He suffered severely in numerous German POW camps until the end of the war. K67378 • Cpl. BROWN,C.L. MiD 13.Aug.43 - 6.0ct.43 W.6.0ct.43; POW.6.0ct.43; SAFE IN U.K.IS.May.45 BROWN, Cecil Leonard, Corporal (K.67578) - Mention in Despatches - Infantry (Seaforth Highlanders of Canada) - awarded as per Canada Gazette dated 19 January 1946 and CARO/6330 dated 21 January 1946. Number might be K.67378. Citation found in Volume 6 of Canadian Army file 54-27-94-52, "Honours and Awards, Northwest Europe". [Corporal] Brown was captured in Italy on 5 October 1943 after being wounded in the right foot. In August 1944 while at a forestry working Commando in Frasdorf, [Corporal] Brown stole the keys to their quarters, unlocked the back door of the sleeping hut and returned the keys before the theft could be discovered. That night he and two others left the camp and walked in the direction of Innsbruck. On 2 September [1944] near the village of Kundl they were apprehended by a German policeman and returned to Stalag VIIIC at Markt Pongau. On 5 October 1944, [Corporal] Brown and an American Sergeant escaped from a mine near Mitterberghitten by walking out during the lunch hour. They intended to go to Italy but on 6 October 1944, Brown's foot began to swell and after spending the night in a barn they were awakened by a forester who handed them over to the police. On arrival at Stalag XVIIIC, [Corporal] Brown hid in the roof of the sleeping quarters instead of going to the detention barracks and although a search was carried out he evaded the sentries. The same evening (7 October 1944) he went into the French compound and with the assistance of a French POW who acted as lookout, cut the barbed wire and climbed down the bank to the river. At Mitterberghitten he stole a bicycle and travelled to Bischofshofen and from there by train to Schawarsach. On 10 October 1944, [Corporal] Brown reached the Bockstein Stelle on foot and was arrested by a policeman as he walked through the town. On 9 March 1945, [Corporal] Brown escaped again, this time from a working commando at Loifarn near Lend. He and others were working on the railroad bridge at Angertal and [Corporal] Brown slipped away and caught a train from Bockstein Stelle to Mallnitz and thence to Spittal. From Spittal he made his way to Klagenfurt and then to Bolkarnart. Here he obtained food from a French POW and a lift in a truck for about 30 kilometres in the direction of the Yugoslav border. He walked to Unter Dauberg and was just leaving the town when he was stopped by a German workman and handed over to the Gestapo. After 14 days in the Gestapo prison at Klafenfurt, [Corporal] Brown was sent to Stalag XVIIIA (Wolfsberg) and thence to Stalag XVIIIC, Markt Pongau from The orignal paperwork is to be returned to the donor.