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Guards, Goons and Ferrets
Germans were universally known as "Goons", a
nickname which puzzled them. (When asked, a captured officer said that it stood for
"German officer or Non-Com".) The tall sentry watch platforms which mounted
searchlights and machine-guns were therefore "Goon Towers", and annoying the
guards was "Goon Baiting". Whilst the guards were not the cream of the
Luftwaffe, they unhesitatingly shot first and asked questions afterwards if any prisoner
was rash enough to stray over the knee-high warning wire and then fail to surrender if
challenged. Some were undoubtedly trigger-happy and records at Kew hold correspondence
from the SBO to the Kommandant reporting cases of unnecessary use of firearms.
The German guards specialising in escape detection were
known as 'Ferrets' and could enter the compound at any time and search any hut
without warning. Equipped with metal probes, they searched for the bright yellow sand
indicating that a tunnel was in progress, or an English-speaking ferret would lie
concealed under a hut listening for careless talk. Their most active, unpredictable and
generally dangerous member, Gefreiter (Corporal) Greise, was known as
'Rubberneck'.
There is evidence to suggest that when a tunnel was
detected by the guards or ferrets, it was allowed to continue without intervention until
it appeared to be near completion. Then, the ferrets would pounce, driving heavy trucks
around the compound to collapse the tunnels and galleries.
Internal security was put into the capable hands of F/L
George R Harsh (102 Sqdn, shot down 5/6-Oct-42, Halifax II W7824) an American serving
with the RCAF. A rota of officers logged every guard or ferret entering the compound using
what was called the "Duty Pilot" system, and Germans were tailed everywhere
until they were logged out. An elaborate system of inconspicuous signals was put in place,
warning those PoWs engaged on nefarious activities, and giving them time to either mask
their activities with innocent-looking hobbies or completely conceal their illicit work.
Unable to effectively combat the "Duty Pilot" system, the Germans allowed it to
continue, and on one occasion used the log to bring charges against two of their own men
who had slunk off duty some hours before they should have done.
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