A Waterford man who escaped a German prisoner-of-war camp during the second World War will be honoured today.

Tom McGrath’s son Tom will receive three military medals at the British Ambassador’s residence in Dublin.

The Irish Times reports that until two years ago Tom McGrath had no idea that his father served in the British Army.

Neither did he know that Tom Senior was captured at Dunkirk in 1940 and was sent to a P-O-W camp in northern Poland.

However, in March 1942 Tom Senior found a gap in the wire and walked out of the camp. He was sheltered by locals and over the course of several months made a journey across Europe crossing the Pyrenees in the middle of winter before being captured by Spanish authorities.

He was repatriated to Britain in April 1943 before returning home to Portlaw in County Waterford.

Around that time the London Gazette announced that Tom McGrath had been awarded the Military Medal for his bravery in escaping from the camp however he never got to receive it. He died in 1968.

Tom McGrath Junior wrote to the British army to request the medals but he was told that his father had forfeited his right to them by not returning to active duty after leave. Mr McGrath won on appeal.

He will finally receive the medals that his father won at a ceremony at the British ambassador’s residence in Dublin today.

Photo from the Irish Times – Stalag XXA: Cpl Tom McGrath’s German prisoner-of-war card. Photograph courtesy family collection