Beselare Posted 1 January , 2012 Share Posted 1 January , 2012 In the book Christmas Truce, there is a section dealing with three soldiers from the Queen's Westminster Rifles (Ptes. Byng, Goude and Pearce). The diary lists them as 'missing' and adds "Known to be safe and not wounded. With Germans". There is also an addendum written in the diary about these three and is underlined, "Please don't publish this". Apparently the three in a drunken state entered the German trenches and because they had seen the defences, in particular the location of the machine-guns, the German commander ordered them to be taken prisoner. British pleas for their release were turned down, but an assurance was given by the Germans that the men would be intered in a civilian camp and would not be treated as POWs. Is there any known record of the fate of these three? Bob Findley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMAGH Posted 2 January , 2012 Share Posted 2 January , 2012 very interesting,i am sure some one must know,have you checked for service records? Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beselare Posted 3 January , 2012 Author Share Posted 3 January , 2012 very interesting,i am sure some one must know,have you checked for service records? Joe Hi Joe - the answer is 'not yet'. I am hoping that someone has the information already. If not, then I am going to have to do some trawling. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bardess Posted 3 January , 2012 Share Posted 3 January , 2012 The first one appears to be 1401 550076 Herbert F Goude and he received an MSM, Gazetted in 1920 2133 550364 Noel C Byng and he also received an MCM, Gazetted in 1920 Finally, 2288 550429 Arthur L Pearce discharged 28/03/19 SWB B330115 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beselare Posted 3 January , 2012 Author Share Posted 3 January , 2012 Thanks Diane. I have checked the book, and these three are indeed the ones listed in the war diary. This gets even more interesting - two of them awarded an MSM and one not. But why would a soldier be awarded an MSM if he spent most of the war as a prisoner? Were all ex-POWs awarded an MSM? It raises the possibility that they could have been relased at some point and returned to their units. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tipperary Posted 3 January , 2012 Share Posted 3 January , 2012 Hi Bob, Awards were issued for services rendered as a prisoner maybe in attending to the welfare of others etc.Not all POW's received awards related to them being prisoners.john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beselare Posted 4 January , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 January , 2012 Hi Bob, Awards were issued for services rendered as a prisoner maybe in attending to the welfare of others etc.Not all POW's received awards related to them being prisoners.john Hi John - thanks for that information. It looks like these three did remain prisoners for the rest of the war. We will probably never know if they were given 'special treatment'. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now