One of Tain’s wartime prisoners had a remarkable story.
Alexander “Alex” Ross, born in Tain on 14 August 1917, joined the Army as a regular soldier and served as a bandsman and medical orderly with the Seaforth Highlanders.
During the fighting in France in 1940, Ross was wounded in the ankle near St Valery-en-Caux and captured on 11 June, shortly before the surrender of the 51st Highland Division.
After almost two years as a prisoner, Ross was transferred in 1942 to Stalag VIIIB at Lamsdorf, where he became medical orderly to the famous RAF fighter pilot Douglas Bader, who had lost both legs before the war. Ross subsequently volunteered to accompany Bader when he was transferred to Colditz Castle, the high-security prisoner-of-war camp used by the Germans for persistent escapees.
Ross looked after Bader at Colditz, helping him with the practical difficulties caused by his artificial legs. His duties included carrying Bader down a spiral staircase to a salt-water bath used to treat an infection and helping him back upstairs afterwards.
Then, in the autumn of 1943, Ross was given an extraordinary opportunity. A German officer informed him that, as a non-combatant medical orderly, he was to be repatriated to Britain.
Ross went to Bader and announced: “I’m going home!”
Bader replied: “No, you’re bloody not. You came here as my skivvy and that’s what you’ll stay.”
And remarkably, Ross stayed until the camp was liberated by American forces on 16 April 1945.
After returning to Britain, Ross returned home to Tain. While there, he was summoned to Tain Post Office to take a long-distance telephone call from Douglas Bader.
Bader wanted to know what had happened to his artificial legs. Ross explained that the returning prisoners had not been allowed to bring their baggage home and maintained that there had been no spare pair of legs to collect.
Bader was less than pleased. He swore at Ross and hung up.
After everything Ross had done for him — including giving up the opportunity to be repatriated in 1943 — it was the last time the two men ever spoke.