Photos of Prisoners at Minden POW Camp

[hywelroberts]

Photos of Prisoners in WW1 Minden POW camp

My grandfather’s brother, Thomas Williams, from Penmachno in north Wales was a tailor with H R Davies, Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay, when he enlisted in December 1915 with the Liverpool Scottish Regiment. He arrived in France in April 1916 but was injured in August 1916 and sent back for hospital treatment. He returned to France in 1917 only to be shot and captured on 30 November 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai. He was taken to a POW camp in Minden. His records show that he was initially sent to Minden and was also released from Minden in December 1918. However one postcard indicates that he spent some time in the Friedrichsfeld camp which seems to have been quite a long way from Minden. Tom was shot in the left thigh. Would there have been hospital facilities at the Minden POW camp?

I have a number of photos taken within the POW camp. These include a number of named British soldiers with addresses in London, Glasgow and Sheffield. There are photos of prisoners from different nationalities, French and Russians mainly.

The most remarkable photo is that of 23 prisoners with the caption “Some jolly boys of Wales”. This postcard was sent to my mother, aged 9 at the time, on 18 May 1918. I assume that this card was also sent to at least 22 other families in Wales. This and the other photos can be seen by visiting my blog on http://blogs.caernarfonherald.co.uk/hywelroberts/ where you can see postcards sent from France also read more about Thomas Williams in the Great War.

On reading the Terms and Conditions I’m not sure whether or not I’m allowed to refer to this website. The blog is not commercial as I get no financial reward whatsoever from it. I hope that it can be seen as I would be very interested to know whether anybody can recognise any of the men in the photos. I would also be interested in learning more about the POW camps.

Does anyone else have a copy of the “Jolly Boys” postcard? Does anyone recognise a relative in this or any of the other photos?

Hywel Roberts

[hywelroberts]

I notice that the link to my blog did not appear in full because I, being new, didn't follow the instructions properly. The link is My link Hywel Roberts

[clive_hughes]

Croeso i'r fforwm Hywel!

I can't say that I recognise anyone in the picture of the "Jolly Welsh", but there's a fascinating variety of cap badges on display. There are a couple of Monmouthshire Regt. men and a South Wales Borderer, and perhaps several Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

The rest seem to be Dorset Regt., Royal Berkshire Regt., Middlesex Regt., Coldstream (& possibly Grenadier) Guards, and one or two whose outline is unfamiliar. But then Welshmen got into a wide range of units, as I can testify from my own project below. And who was the decidedly un-Welsh-looking soldier in the back row, with a foreign uniform and cap!?

Thank you for posting a link to your blog - fascinating stuff. Without initiating a full-scale discussion on POW conditions, there were indeed places where they may have been better off than in WW2, and unfortunately others where the reverse was true.

Nice to see you are involved with Segontium too - I helped excavate there in the 1970s and there's another Forum member who did likewise! small world!

hwyl,

LST_164

[deano]

Hi Stuart, would appreciate very much any images you have of Sheffield related soldiers. I have tried to PM you but you have not made enough post's yet. Will get back to you when i can PM you.

regards

Dean.

[hywelroberts]

Diolch am y croeso! Diddorol clywed am y cysylltiad gyda Segontium.

Thank you for the informative reply regading the caps and badges. Tom certainly didn't have his own cap. One of the first thinks that the Curator of the Liverpool Scottish Museum told me when I showed him this photo was "He's certainly not wearing one of our caps". There is nothing to indicate whether the photo was an idea by the Welsh prisoners or whether it was a propoganda idea by the German authorities. It seems that whoever did not have his own cap borrowed one from other prisoners.

Dean 1 asks about the Sheffield connection. I've tried to attach a photo of three soldiers but I found that it failed as it was too big to upload. The photo had the following name on the back "F W Rhodes, 168 Brunswick Road, Petsmoor Road (I'm not sure the the "Pets" is the correct interpretation of the handwritting), Sheffield. Do you recognise the name? I shall be putting the photo up on my blog within a few weeks so you can then see whether you recognise any of the faces. There is no clue as to whether all three men come from Sheffield. I'm sorry that I can't show the photo immediately but you will be able to see it on My link in a few weeks.

Hywel Roberts

[clive_hughes]

Hywel,

if you can resize your photo to not more than 100 kb size it should load.

As dean1 says, a few more postings will enable you to access the PM system where members can communicate directly with each other, so feel free to make some more comments!

LST_164

[ARMAGH]

Hywel

Looking forward to you posting your Photos of Minden POW Camp,was stationed there in the mid 60s and still go back as I have family there.

Joe

[Phil996]

Hi Hywel

I was interested in your post because my grandfather was also captured at Cambrai on 30th November. According to the Red Cross he was at Minden-in-Weser (not sure if this is the same as Minden)according to a list dated 26 Jan 1918, and then in Friedrichsfeld from 11 April 1918. He was 22071 Pte Alfred George Waller of the 7th East Surreys. From other posts on this forum I understand that some camps such as Friedrichsfeld were main camps for admin, post, etc but the POWs could actually be at subsidiary camps round about.

I know it's a very, very long shot but if Alfred Waller is among your named prisoners - he was from South London - I'd be really pleased to know about it and see the pic.

Best wishes

Phil

[P.Rhodes]

Hywel

You will probably find that it is Pitsmoor, I live in Sheffield and Brunswick Road is in that area

Peter

Diolch am y croeso! Diddorol clywed am y cysylltiad gyda Segontium.

Thank you for the informative reply regading the caps and badges. Tom certainly didn't have his own cap. One of the first thinks that the Curator of the Liverpool Scottish Museum told me when I showed him this photo was "He's certainly not wearing one of our caps". There is nothing to indicate whether the photo was an idea by the Welsh prisoners or whether it was a propoganda idea by the German authorities. It seems that whoever did not have his own cap borrowed one from other prisoners.

Dean 1 asks about the Sheffield connection. I've tried to attach a photo of three soldiers but I found that it failed as it was too big to upload. The photo had the following name on the back "F W Rhodes, 168 Brunswick Road, Petsmoor Road (I'm not sure the the "Pets" is the correct interpretation of the handwritting), Sheffield. Do you recognise the name? I shall be putting the photo up on my blog within a few weeks so you can then see whether you recognise any of the faces. There is no clue as to whether all three men come from Sheffield. I'm sorry that I can't show the photo immediately but you will be able to see it on My link in a few weeks.

Hywel Roberts

[hywelroberts]

“Jolly Boys” photo taken in Friedrichsfeld Camp rather than Minden Camp

It’s been a while since I last made a contribution and during this time I’ve been sending the photo of the 23 “Jolly Boys of Wales” to numerous newspapers in Wales and making use of my Blog and I’m absolutely delighted that I have now received a positive reply. Last week I received the following comment on my Blog from Brian Hollins:

“Hello, I have just seen the picture of the 23 jolly boys of Wales. I believe that the man in the centre of the second row could well be my grandfather Sgt. William John Garland of the 1st Bn. Monmouthshire Regt. He was a P.O.W. in Friedrichsfeld from 1915 until 1918. He was captured at Frezenburg. Best wishes, Brian.”

This message had made me question whether or not the “Jolly Boys” photo was taken in the Minden POW Camp and I’m now starting to think that it could have been taken at the Friedrichsfeld POW Camp. On a card post-marked Minden and dated 18 April 1918 Tom wrote:

"Dear All Just a few lines to let you know that I have moved from Friedrichsfeld sooner than expected to the farming centre and also I have turned to be a farmer which is a great change from tailoring but one gets used to everything and so far all is well. Please put my regimental number and camp number on all letters. You will notice that I have a new camp number, which is the custom when changing to various Lager's. Look out for some lessons in farming when I shall return which I hope won't be long. Yours etc T Wms." The last comment is a joke for his brother who was a farmer. Tom hadn’t lost his sense of humour in the POW camp!

Tom posted the “Jolly Boys” postcard on 2 May 1918 with the Minden post mark. It’s therefore quite possible that the photo was taken in the Friedrichsfeld camp but that Tom had moved back to Minden by the time the photo had been processed into a postcard. I should therefore be looking for Welsh prisoners at the Friedrichsfeld POW camp rather than the Minden camp.

I assumed that the photo had been taken at Minden as Tom’s war records show that he was initially taken to Minden following his capture on 30 November 1917 and that he was released from Minden in December 1918. Whilst many of the photos have no official stamp, the majority have the following stamp on the back:

"Photograhic genehming Kommandanur des Gefangenenlagers Minden".

I was advised to resize the photo, which I’ve now done so I hope that it appears! I hope that, despite the title of this thread that people who had relative at Friedrichsfeld will see if they recognise anyone.

Hywel Roberts

[hywelroberts]

I've had a look at the photo which I attached to my last message and it has lost something in the reduction so I thought that I would let people know that they can see a better version on my Blog at My link. The Jolly Boys photo is in the current blog and if you double left click on the photo you can enlarge the image and it can then be seen very clearly. You can see photos and postcards from France and the POW camp on previous blogs from No 46 onwards. Photos of the following individuals are shown:

Pte C Tennant of the Royal Scots with the address 12 Marlow Road, Homerton, London

James J Fearn of the 2nd Bn. The Royal Scots of 15 Avenue Road, Springburn, Glasgow

Jas. Cunningham of the 13th Bn. The Royal Scots of 82 Dunchahattan St, Denniston, Glasgow and the date of 1 October 1918 on the back.

Pte Peter McNamee, 8^th Royal Inniskilling Fllr

F W Rhodes, 168 Brunswick Road, Petsmoor, Sheffield which is on the back of a photo of 3 soldiers

There is also a photo of a group of 4 soldiers with no names on it.

The remaining photos from the POW camp in the album are of prisoners from other nationalities and some of these can be seem on my Blog.

I attach a copy of the photo of 4 soldiers in the hope that somebody recognises someone and I'll send the F W Rhodes photo with the next message as I can't get it onto this one.

Hywel Roberts

[hywelroberts]

I now attach the F W Rhodes photo of 3 soldiers.

Hywel roberts

[ARMAGH]

Thanks Hywel Roberts

for posting,I found this on the GWF about Friedrichfeld quite a distance from Minden.

Joe

Steve Mattock

The following description of Friedrichsfeld comes from a booklet by Mrs Pope-Hennessy and published by Nisbet and Co. Ltd. Map of the Main Prison Camps in Germany and Austria (reprinted by the Imperial War Museum).

Friedrichsfeld - Sixty miles north of Cologne near Wesel. Capacity, 35 000. There is an open space with flower-beds between the barracks; large vegetable gardens and potato field run by the prisoners. It is the centre of many working commandos, mining and otherwise. It is also a postal station for a large number of prisoners who have never been in the camp itself.

The camp was in the 7th Army Corps area.

There is a photo of the main gate to Freidrichsfeld camp in Prisoners of the Kaiser by Richard Van Emden.

Steve

York and The Great War

Mattocks Military Books

[sutcliffe trail]

My grandfather was also at Minden. L/cpl Leonard Sutcliffe. He was 227 Machine Gun Corps (no 8826) in the 29th Division.

He is standing in this photo. Does anyone else have a photo where he appears?

Does anyone recognise the other man?