FEATURE - The Bombardier and Cabbage Beer

David Geritz had no idea his grandfather, former Maleny-ite Guy Cuthbertson, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during WWII, such was the secrecy that often bound returning war veterans.

by Judy Fredriksen

For many years, Guy had led Maleny’s ANZAC Day parade, so based on some intel passed on from the Maleny RSL, I was curious to learn more about this war hero. I arranged to meet up with David and his sister, Michelle Esler, who came up from Brisbane especially for the interview.

“We had no idea about the DFC,” says David, when he saw the notation on the RSL Honour Roll. “He never spoke about his experiences during the war.”

“He was a very closed book,” agrees Michelle.

A pastry chef by trade, Guy Cuthbertson came to Maleny in 1928 to work in his uncle’s (Andy McLean’s) bakery which burnt down in 1951. He married Clarice Porter in 1934 and had three children before enlisting in WWII.

“He wanted to be a pilot but wasn’t good enough and ended up as navigator/bombardier,” explains David.

On 23 January 1942, Guy’s squadron flew out of Burg-al-Arab, Egypt and was shadowing a convoy headed for Malta.

“He flew Mark IV Blenheims (bombers) in the Mediterranean. He did 52 missions and was shot down on the 52nd mission by a German two-engine fighter bomber. They crashed into the sea. He went through the nose of the aircraft, which was all perspex and broke his back. The Italian Navy picked him up. They put him back together.”

According to David, there were five German bombers stalking his grandfather’s aircraft the day he was shot down.

Guy was severely injured and, initially, was taken to a Prisoner of War (POW) hospital in Tripoli. A few weeks later, on 17 February, he was moved to Italy where he spent time in POW camp hospitals at Naples, Parma and Sulmona. In October 1943, he was transferred to Germany to be rehabilitated and to learn to walk again.

“He went through quite a few different stalags and then the final one was Stalag Luft 3 on the border of Germany and Poland,” says Michelle.

While imprisoned in the stalag, Guy and his mates passed the time playing cards with the guards and making beer out of cabbages.

“They cheated … and he was a very good cheat at cards,” says David. “He said that was the only way they could get the extra bits and pieces – food and stuff – to play cards, gamble and win.”

Later in life, cabbage was banned in the house, says Michelle.

As part of a military strategy to detract and confuse the enemy as much as possible, it was the given duty of all POWs to try to escape by whatever means they could. In that respect, Guy was very compliant it seems, attempting to escape over 70 times. 

“I will only say that he was pretty prolific at escaping. He did say to me once that Hitler’s birthday was always ‘escape day’.”

When David asked his grandfather what he did to escape he was told, ‘went to the post office and bought stamps’.

Apparently stamps were the best currency during the war because they never lost their value and at the time of Guy’s death, his stamp collection was of considerable worth.

Despite all of Guy’s escape attempts, he never succeeded, explaining his failures to his grandson: ‘Where could you go in Germany? We didn’t know the language except the swear words’.

In early 1945, as word spread of the approaching Russian army, the Germans became skittish and began moving POWs.

With only one hour’s notice on 27 January 1945 – the height of the German winter – Guy and his fellow prisoners were marched to Camp Marlag (about 40km north-east of Bremen). The journey took them 10 days. They stayed there for about two months before being marched through many small towns, to Trenthorst where they were finally released.

After arriving back in Sydney in September 1945, Guy underwent numerous medical checks and was formally discharged on 22 February 1946.

Finally, he returned to Maleny but, unsurprisingly, the man who returned was very different to the man who had left for war years earlier.

David and Michelle’s mother told her children that before the war, Guy had been a ton of fun. He was always playful with the children, taking them to the park, chasing them about or swimming with them. But when he returned, he had become a very hard man – honest – but hard and serious. Nightmares haunted him. 

Despite Guy’s hidden war demons, both David and Michelle remember a loving grandfather who was always there, ready to listen. He was “the rock behind the family”, says Michelle. 

Upon returning from war, Guy briefly joined his wife in running a general store which sold fruit and veggies – but never cabbages!

He then decided to add another skill to his repertoire. While his wife continued to run the business, he went to Porter & Co Auctioneers (his wife’s relatives) and learned to become an auctioneer. Success quickly followed as his strong voice regularly commanded the attention of buyers at cattle and stock sales.

From 1947, and for 44 years straight, Guy led Maleny’s ANZAC Day parade. He passed away in 1995. 

This ANZAC Day, we remember all those who have served. Lest we forget.