Marshall Gordon Slater from Carlisle enlisted into the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers on 3 May 1934. Volunteered for the Commandos in WW2. Troop Sergeant Major Slater was reported missing 26/27 February 1943 in North Africa (Battle of Steamroller Farm at El Arousa, Tunisia), later found to be a prisoner of war [1][1a]][2][3].

After his capture at El Arousa, North Africa, on 27 February 1943, Slater was imprisoned in various camps in Italy and Germany. On 3 May 1944 he escaped from the working site and reached Prague on 10 May, but was reported by civilians and recaptured. In June of the same year he made another escape from the same working party. This time he escaped through a window at night, but was recaptured five days later in a wood near Pirna. Slater made three more attempts from the same working party but in each case was recaptured within a few days. He was liberated by Allied forces in May 1945 [1][5].