A Yorkshire war crime

He was never to reach his destination, however. The soldiers left New York by ship, but the journey was taken over by the British when they docked at Antwerp.

Instead of going to Germany, the soldiers were taken to London's Tilbury Docks and on to a camp at Sherburn-in-Elmet. "The men were, as before in the USA, forced labour," Mr Kamp writes in his memoir. "The repatriation to Germany had come to an absolute stop, another offence against humanity and the Hague Convention."

It was an unwelcome diversion that ultimately changed the rest of his life. Forced to stay in England at the end of the war, Mr Kamp later chose to settle here. He married, raised a family and pursued a successful career as a bridge engineer.

Now 80, retired and living in Strensall, he has written his memoir. It gives a rare insight into the life of a soldier conscripted into the German army who was later to become an Allied prisoner of war.

More than 50 years after it happened, he vividly remembers his anger at the way he was brought to Yorkshire.

"I can't describe it," said Mr Kamp. "It was devious, absolutely devious. We came from America, thought we were going home, and were taken to a British prisoner camp. We were actually forced labour.

"The Americans had illegally handed us over to the British in Belgium. Neither gave any thought to the psychological ills that were caused to these men and their families.

"Counselling them was probably deliberately avoided. It took me more than 45 years, the death of my wife and my writing down as to what happened in 1946, to come to terms with those events."

His first impression of the camp was favourable. "The first and most important thing was that there was no barbed wire," he said. "The guards existed, but only just - you had to look for them."

He was stuck in camp II at Sherburn-in-Elmet, the nearest to the village. "It was pretty rough. You might have 50 people in a hut."

He was employed on various duties, including the back-breaking work of pea-picking.

Later he was assigned to work for Ken and Freda Chippendale at Nook Farm, Whinmoor, off the A64 towards Leeds.

Soon he got to know all the farms along this stretch of road. A bus would pick the prisoners up, take them to the farms and then bring them back to the camp each evening.

"I was again deemed to speak perfect English," Mr Kamp writes. "I knew that our bus driver was a decent bloke and occasionally, contrary to orders, he would give one of his mates a lift along the route.

"Then one of the prisoners of war asked me what the driver and his mate were talking about. I was asked because I usually sat near the driver and of course I spoke 'perfect' English.

"Far from it, and secondly, I eventually discovered that the driver and his mate were speaking 'perfect' Yorkshire."

It was during one of these bus runs that he met Patricia Goodhall. As time went by, restrictions on the prisoners' movements became somewhat relaxed, and Frank attended dances with some of his friends, including Pat.

In the autumn of 1947, the Germans were offered the chance to be released from prisoner status and become one of the civilian European Voluntary Workers (EVW). Or they could be repatriated for good.

After long deliberation, Mr Kamp accepted EVW status. So he remained at the restyled Sherburn EVW camp. He later learned that Pat's father had learned of his association with his daughter and tried, unsuccessfully, to have him moved to another part of the country.

Mr Kamp and Pat's love for one another grew and they married in secret. That ensured he could stay in England.

It was a happy end to a dreadful war for Mr Kamp. Never a sympathiser with the Nazi regime, he was initially called up to the German Labour Corps. Its first task was to maintain a coastal airfield on the English Channel immediately after the Allied evacuation of Dunkirk.

In spring 1941, he was conscripted into the German army, being sent that summer to the Russian front line. "The first winter in Russia 1941-42 is a disaster for man and horse," he wrote.

He would have to survive two more winters on the Russian front. Later he was sent to southern France to face the invading American army. It was here he was taken prisoner and transported to the US, starting the train of events that would see him settling in Yorkshire.

Mr Kamp emerged from the war in a new country without qualifications. He went to night school to study engineering and eventually rose to lead a team that maintained and constructed bridges for Durham County Council. That in itself is a remarkable achievement.

Mr and Mrs Kamp had five children, including Andrew who is mentally handicapped. "The most important experience of my life is Andrew," he said.

Mrs Kamp died in 1992. She encouraged her husband to write his autobiography.

He has titled it Perpetrators And Victims? "I am not saying anywhere who the perpetrator and who the victim is," he said. "I leave the reader to make their own judgement.

"People like me have had 50 years where if you were German it has followed you were a Nazi, you were a perpetrator."

Mr Kamp, whose home town by coincidence is Mnster, York's twin town, says he has never experienced any problems as a German in England.

But he feels he, too, was a victim of the war. And the perpetrators at one time were the British Army who hijacked his homeward journey and imprisoned him at Sherburn.

In more recent times he has met British prisoners of war at Eden Camp near Malton. "We exchanged some niceties, as one does," he said. "There's a mutual interest and respect."

Mr Kamp is looking for a publisher for Perpetrators Or Victims? He can be contacted c/o Chris Titley on (01904) 653051 ext 337.