In 1943, thirty-two captured Irish merchant sailors refused a Gestapo request to work for Germany. They were sent to a labour education camp, where they were starved, beaten and forced to dig the foundations for an immense U-boat factory, Bunker Valentin.
Among them was Harry Callan, a Catholic boy from Derry, who went to sea at sixteen as a British Merchant Navy seaman. As a terrified teenager, Harry witnessed the atrocities of the Nazi war machine. Thousands of the camp’s prisoners perished, including five of the Irishmen. The surviving Irish POWs were saved only by the goodwill of decent Germans, who risked their own lives to show kindness. Harry was unable to speak about the brutality of
the camp for decades after he was liberated.
In his eighties, Harry revisited the site of his incarceration. He found that evidence of the Irish prisoners had disappeared from official records. Determined to give his comrades the place in history they deserved, he worked tirelessly to preserve their memory.
This is the gripping story of Harry Callan’s capture, resistance and liberation. But above all, it is the final chapter in his quest to honour the forgotten heroes of Bunker Valentin.
