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Remembered Today:

What did POW's wear?


henryf

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I have a picture post card from Schneidemuhl POW camp, Germany. The date written on it is November 1918. The picture is said to be of my husband's grandfather Wm Shields. Was it / is it usual for POW's to have their pictures taken and made into postcards?

A family member says that the clothes Wm. is wearing in the photo indicate that he has been wounded - could this be correct and did all POW's wear a uniform provided by their captors?

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Photographs were taken by the bucketfull. To repeat an earlier post over 10 000 photographs were taken between 1915 and the end of the war in Gustrow alone (all are postcards). As for clothes, nothing was provided by the Germans in terms of uniform but there are some records of them providing working clothes to some prisoners. There was no uniform provided in the camps that would indicate a wounded man. Such uniforms did exist but used for the wounded in British hospitals. These can be distiguished by the light coloured contrasting collars. If the uniform is one of these then it may be that the photograph was taken after he was repatriated. PoW uniforms can sometimes be identified by a light stripe down the trousers, a dark band on the sleeve, a numbered patch on the breast, sleeve or hat and even a light coloured triangle on the right breast. Different camps had different requirements at different times. Special PoW uniforms were issued by the British. These are blue and were originally produced for recruits as an emergency measure due to the shortage of Khaki. Photographs however show troops in all sorts of 'uniform' some of which may not even belong to the person in question as bits were borrowed or exchanged between prisoners, even of different nations.

If you can post the photograph we may be able to tell you more about it.

Doug

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Photographs were taken by the bucketfull. To repeat an earlier post over 10 000 photographs were taken between 1915 and the end of the war in Gustrow alone (all are postcards). As for clothes, nothing was provided by the Germans in terms of uniform but there are some records of them providing working clothes to some prisoners. There was no uniform provided in the camps that would indicate a wounded man. Such uniforms did exist but used for the wounded in British hospitals. These can be distiguished by the light coloured contrasting collars. If the uniform is one of these then it may be that the photograph was taken after he was repatriated. PoW uniforms can sometimes be identified by a light stripe down the trousers, a dark band on the sleeve, a numbered patch on the breast, sleeve or hat and even a light coloured triangle on the right breast. Different camps had different requirements at different times. Special PoW uniforms were issued by the British. These are blue and were originally produced for recruits as an emergency measure due to the shortage of Khaki. Photographs however show troops in all sorts of 'uniform' some of which may not even belong to the person in question as bits were borrowed or exchanged between prisoners, even of different nations.

If you can post the photograph we may be able to tell you more about it.

Doug

Thank you for the two posts, Doug. It eliminates some possibilities which in itself can be quite useful. I have no facilities for posting photographs at the moment. The uniform in the photograph appears to be black or dark blue but that doesn't fit in with a German POW.

Thanks for your help.

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Crossen POW Camp Inmates

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One of my Grandfather's comrades from the London Scotttish at Gustrow, Pte R L Anderson. Not exactly London Scottish gear. Notice the arm band which is reported from other camps as being brown. In order to avoid these being removed the sleeve was cut and a section removed where the arm band was sewn in.

post-7895-1161808624.jpg

Doug

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  • 1 year later...

Photographs were taken by the bucketfull. To repeat an earlier post over 10 000 photographs were taken between 1915 and the end of the war in Gustrow alone (all are postcards).

Do you know where I may be able to get a copy of some of the photo's?

I am typing the diary of Charles Green POW WW1 Schneidemuhl.

He did mention a photo was taken towards the end of the war.

I would like to add a photo of the camp or a similar camp to give readers an idea of what the camps were like.

The diary is for family members only it will not be sold.

Throughout the diary Charles mentions parcels arriving. From time to time they would receive boots, but he didn't mention much about clothing.

The only time he mentioned clothing was when they arrived Nov. 2nd. 1914. he mentions the following.

Arriving inside the barbed wire and not withstanding the bitterly cold weather, they made us stand there for three hours. We felt it all the more, because we had received no food and hot drinks, besides only wearing the regimental Khaki

For anyone interested I will post a new thread with the first days of arrival at the camp to give you an idea of how they were treated when they arrived.

If anyone does have a photo of the camp or a simalar camp they are willing to share I would be most grateful.

Sue Greene

New Zealand.

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Sue,

Die Kriegsgefangenen in Deutschland by Prof Backhaus has some pictures of Schneidemuhl in it. It was published in 1915 but copies are fairly common, usually fetching less than £10.

There are three published reports that I know of in the Parliamentary Command Papers as follows;

Miscellaneous No 16 (1916) Further Correspondence with the United States Ambassador respecting the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians in Germany; Cd 8235

Miscellaneous No 19 (1915) Further Correspondence with the United States Ambassador respecting the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians in Germany; Cd 8108

Miscellaneous No 26 (1916) Further Correspondence with the United States Ambassador respecting the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians in Germany; Cd 8297

The pictures of the camp in the Backhaus book are obviously early pictures and I can't make my mind up whether one shows odd shaped huts or tents. I certainly have no postcards from this camp and they do not seem to come up for sale very often. Nothing that I have for other camps look anything like this camp.

There are some pictures in this part of the forum of other camps which are as good as any other but if you are desperate then e-mail me with an e-mail address I will send a selection for you.

Doug

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I've seen one account of British POWs on 11/11/18 being treated to an extensive bathing process and thorough de lousing of themselves and their uniforms (but not told that Germany had signed an Armistice). The point however was that it was their British uniforms that were deloused and cleaned so that some British POWs must have been wearing their own uniforms for some time.

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Hi Doug,

Sue,

Die Kriegsgefangenen in Deutschland by Prof Backhaus has some pictures of Schneidemuhl in it.

Many thanks for the reply and info.

I will search the photo's online.

I also joined up with a German forum in the hope someone on there may be able to help.

I did see one photo but never made a note of it now can't find it again.

If I don't have any luck I will get back to you.

Many thanks

Sue

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Cpl William Henry Moody of the KOSB (a Northumberland policeman in peacetime) was taken prisoner, and was in camps at Doeber and Kriegsfangenen Lager, Dyroty, Post Wustermark, Germany. He sent a letter to a fellow colleague stationed at Blyth where he had been stationed before the war mentioning the cold weather and poor uniform he had. I don't know how he did it but he forwarded an old police uniform, and Moody received it, had a photograph taken of him wearing it at a camp, and sent it to the Chief Constable of Northumberland. The photograph is still in the officers police file as he rejoined after the war.

John

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