While carrying out flying operations over Italy, Bill Taylor was shot down just outside Milan while carrying out his 34th mission. The Germans insisted on taking prisoners-of-war back to Germany, Bill was no exception.

What follows is Bill’s own words:

"On becoming a POW you quickly realise that whatever your possessions at home, they mean very little in a POW camp. All arrive with very little, and quickly realise that cigarettes are the only real currency of the camps. When a guard was found who could be bribed to smuggle in verboten (German for forbidden) articles, he was paid in cigarettes. StalagLuft 7, Bankau, was a new camp, was still under construction and living conditions were primitive. However, I was surprised to witness how soon the entrepreneurs flourished. It began with two Kreigies (prisoners) who spread a blanket outside their hut, and called themselves 'The Camp Exchange.' They exchanged articles and charged a commission in cigarettes. Soon others followed. Two friends started a Crown & Anchor Board, others organised Housey-Housey, while yet others operated various other games for personal profit. The entrepreneurs all seemed to be doing rather well. Discussing what we could do to generate some income, one of our group mentioned that his mother had taught him how to crochet. It was decided that he would teach us to crochet a blanket, which we would then raffle, as a means of accumulating some camp currency - cigarettes!