British World War II hero Clarence Adams will share his story at Smiley Library
Patrons interested in history will want to be at the Smiley Library/Contemporary Club on Friday August 3 at 10 AM to hear Clarence Adams be interviewed by Smiley Library Director Don McCue. Mr. Adams was born in Wakefield, England, in 1918 and was drafted into the British military in 1939 and sent to France. Overrun by the Nazi blitzkrieg in June 1940, most of the British Army was miraculously saved by the Dunkirk evacuation.
Mr. Adams unfortunately was one of 40,000 British military personnel who were left behind in France and captured by German troops under the command of Gen. Erwin Rommel. Mr. Adams spent five long years in Nazi Germany as a prisoner of war and experienced many deprivations, including meager rations, grueling labor and finally a 100 mile forced march in the dead of winter. With his strength nearly at an end, he was liberated by General George Patton’s Third Army on April 29, 1945.
The A.K. Smiley Public Library is located at 125 W. Vine St. in Redlands. The library’s Contemporary Club meeting hall is located immediately south of the library behind the Lincoln Memorial Shrine. Admission to the event is free.