A woman born and raised in Armagh is preparing to share her father’s extraordinary wartime story with the public through a new novel about captivity, escape and a friendship that lasted for decades.
Lynda Pollock is set to release The Promise Keeper on November 14. The book follows the life of her father, Eric Armstrong, whose experiences as a soldier and prisoner of war were passed down through family stories and handwritten notes.
From Milford to the front line
Eric spent his youth living in Milford, at a time when work was difficult to find. After taking several short-term jobs, he joined the supplementary reserves, which operated in a similar way to the modern Army Reserves.
When the Second World War began in 1939, Eric was called up to serve with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He completed training in England before travelling to France, where he became involved in the Battle of Dunkirk and, according to Lynda, saw most of his main fighting.
Eric was later captured by Nazi German forces and became a prisoner of war. With large numbers of Allied servicemen in captivity, many prisoners were sent to camps in occupied Poland, known as Stalags. Eric was held in Northern Poland for five years.
‘The long walk’ and a chance to escape
As Russian forces advanced and German troops withdrew, prisoners were moved westwards into Germany. Eric and 32 other men were somehow left behind when prisoners were moved from Stalag XXA and its outposts, meaning special arrangements had to be made to relocate them.
The men were then moved across vast areas during a harsh Polish winter. When Eric learned that the Schutzstaffel, or SS, would be involved in escorting the journey, he believed their chances of returning home would be extremely limited.
During his time in Poland, Eric had been taken under the wing of the Sprengel family, who owned a farm. Lynda said the family treated him with great kindness, and that the relationship developed into a lifelong friendship.
Before Eric was due to be moved from Poland to Germany, he approached farmer Konrad Sprengel and told him he intended to escape. He asked whether he could return one day to see the family if he succeeded. Konrad agreed, and they set a date in 1979.
That date was not merely a hopeful promise. Almost 40 years after his capture, Eric returned to the Sprengel family in the year he had said he would.
A family story becomes a book
Eric had always hoped to write about his life as a soldier and prisoner of war, but he died before completing the project. He had recorded his experiences in brief, “shopping list” style notes, while Lynda and her siblings had also grown up hearing the stories.
After his death, Lynda assembled a small book for her immediate family, bringing together everything she could remember and the material her father had written. She had not intended to publish it.
That changed after one of Eric’s stories was broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster’s Thought for the Day by Baptist pastor Lindsay Allen. The programme’s presenters wanted to know where the story came from and invited a member of the family to explain. Lynda’s brother Stephen took part in the interview and revealed that Lynda had written a book, prompting a wave of enquiries.
Lynda then contacted Maurice Wylie Media, a publisher whose books included a similar story. She said she expected to be told she was not a writer, but instead was encouraged to complete the project because she belonged to the last generation able to write about the events while still knowing the person at their centre.
With the publisher’s help, Lynda developed her father’s story into The Promise Keeper. The narrative is written in Eric’s voice until his death, after which Lynda takes over. It explores separation, fear, hunger and longing, while also focusing on humanity and friendship.
The launch will take place at the Temple Lundy Room in First Armagh Presbyterian Church, on the corner of Russel Street. Tea and coffee will be available from 11.30 onwards, and copies of the book will be on sale.