Can you identify this POW camp?

[Doug Johnson]

Not Hammelburg unles the trees are very fast growing. Mrs P-H says "...on a large treeless plain..." and on the pictures I have looked at there is only one scrawny tree visible over a very large area.

Doug

[midgemeg]

Hi Pals. I wonder if anyone can identify this German (?) POW camp. There is no clue on the back of the card as it is blank.

I hope the picture appears as I've spent all afternoon trying to sort it out!

Many thanks

Jim

Hi ,

I,m afraid I have only just seen this card. I have one in my collection and on the back is written 'This is Munster Camp where Harry was'. Does this help

Andrew

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Andrew,

Munster helps a lot but is not positive. There are four camps with Munster in the name though three are called Münster and the other usually referred to as Munsterlager. I doubt however that the writer would be aware of the differences. My guess now would be Münster I though is not impossible for it to be Münster II. Münster III was generally masonary so probably not that one. All three Münster camps had British in quantity so it would have been economic to produce such a card in any ot these camps. The Fourth camp at Munsterlager is less likely. There is the possibility of it being a working camp attached to one of the Münster camps but it looks too big for that. Münster II is the racecourse and none of the photographs I have of that camp look anything like this one though they do tend to be taken inside the racecourse and not outside it. I have not seen many photographs of Münster I so I can't really comment on it.

Doug

[midgemeg]

Hi Andrew,

Munster helps a lot but is not positive. There are four camps with Munster in the name though three are called Münster and the other usually referred to as Munsterlager. I doubt however that the writer would be aware of the differences. My guess now would be Münster I though is not impossible for it to be Münster II. Münster III was generally masonary so probably not that one. All three Münster camps had British in quantity so it would have been economic to produce such a card in any ot these camps. The Fourth camp at Munsterlager is less likely. There is the possibility of it being a working camp attached to one of the Münster camps but it looks too big for that. Münster II is the racecourse and none of the photographs I have of that camp look anything like this one though they do tend to be taken inside the racecourse and not outside it. I have not seen many photographs of Münster I so I can't really comment on it.

Doug

[midgemeg]

Hi everybody,

I had a search through my cards for Munster and have come up with one or two worth mentioning but I'm afraid will not solve the original query!

First of all I collect for postal history and therefore the image side is usually face down so I've had to unmount any likely Munster cards to look at the front.

1. A card of Rennbahn Camp Munster 11. Sent by a british soldier. An excellent shot of some of the barracks and shows well over 100 men outside between the huts. This real photo type has men sitting and resting on their beds and others washing and shaking blankets. Were they sleeping outside or were they just giving the barracks a good cleanout? The card is dated 21/7/16 so it could be either. It has a Munster civil pmk and a cachet for Munster 11 plus Rennbahn Camp Munster I/W.

2. Another R.P. of 'Les Roubaisiens a Munster 11' Sent to Roubaix (husband to wife) Nice cachet of Munster 11

3.Postcard of 'A Serbian' Sent by 1910 Sergt. P Bramwell 8DLI Lager 11 munster. It has a nice boxed cachet ' Gepruft 7 Kr. Gef. L11 Munster I/W

4. Card of cemetery . 'Truppen - Uebungsplatz Munster (Lager). This is a simple view of the cemetery and does not show anything else.

I also a few cards sent by non-British soldiers from Munsterlager- but no views.

Has there been any attempt as a group to identify the main camps by general views? I do not have many but could manage at least a dozen.

Andrew

[Doug Johnson]

According to a photograph in "Prisoners of the Kaiser", p80, the photograph is of Münster III. The confusing thing is that the one posted here looks like the camp is in open countryside whereas the the other one taken from a different angle shows it surrounded by large buildings. Clearly though it is of the same long low range of buildings with the boardwalk outside. Still no indication of what the building is though.

Doug

[Drover]

Pals

Many thanks for all your help in identifying this camp as Munster III.

I'd overlooked 'Prisoners of the Kaiser' which surely enough shows 'our' building on page 80, and again from a different angle on 100/101. They show how deceptive the original angle was. The book also mentions that the original barracks/POW buildings have recently been converted into rather nice looking flats!

I will now hazard a guess that the low temporary building shown in my first post might be either the hospital (hence the sprinkling of white uniforms) or the parcel store.

Thanks again.

Drover

[Doug Johnson]

A group photograph from Munster III has appeared on the back page of the NEXPOWA Winter 2008 newsletter and can be seen Here