JWK Posted 9 November , 2014 Share Posted 9 November , 2014 (edited) Don't know if this is the correct forum to put it in, as technically they weren't POW's.... Pictures of ca 1500 British soldiers, who were interned in the Netherlands in 1914/15, were discovered in the Rotterdam Municipal Archives.. They have now been digitalised and are searchable through a dedicated website : https://www.archieven.nl/nl/zoeken?mistart=4&mivast=0&mizig=236&miadt=184&miaet=54&micode=63_170&milang=nl&misort=last_mod|desc&miview=ldt Quote About this project Almost all the British soldiers belonged to the First Royal Naval Division. This unit was deployed in the defence of Antwerp in October 1914. After the fall of the Belgian port city some battalions were cut off from the main force, after which they sought a safe haven in neutral Netherlands. According to international treaties the Dutch Government’s neutrality required forces belonging to one of the belligerents to be interned. The British sailors were interned in a purpose- built barracks on the grounds of the Rabenhauptkazerne in Groningen, the so-called Englishman Camp. They would stay there until the end of the war. The photos and associated list of names which have now surfaced, were used by the Rotterdam police to trace internees who had escaped from internment camps. Records show that foreign soldiers escaped from these camps in large numbers. Often they tried to reach England by the ports of Rotterdam or Vlissingen to rejoin the war effort. The Dutch authorities wanted to prevent these escapes at all costs because they endangered the neutrality of the country. As the war progressed, the Rotterdam police put more and more effort into apprehending the escaped internees. The police put in place rigorous checks at railway stations and in the port. If the police suspected a traveller to be an escaped internee, he was taken to the police station for further investigation. There the photos and name lists obtained by the internment camps were checked. In the course of the war the Rotterdam police picked up several hundred soldiers of different nationalities in this way. More information: http://www.1914-1918.net/63div.htm http://wereldoorlog1418.nl/RND-Royal-Naval-Division/index.html http://www.internet-promotions.co.uk/archives/caithness/63rdrn.htm To search: - click the downward chevron next to "zoeken" top left - type in surname (The wildcard is " * ". So for Mac-, Mc- names e.g. type *donald, that will get you McDonald, MacDonald, Mac.Donald, Mac Donald etc etc etc) - click "Zoek" [= "Search"] If there is a match/are matches, then the name/names is/are highlighted, and the photopage on which he appears is highlighted. (Check his initial!) - Click on the + before the name, and you get the paynumber, which is written next to his photo on the photopage. Click "volgende" ("next") once/several times to his photograph "Download deze scan als jpg" means "Download this scan as jpg" Edited 12 June , 2022 by JWK added search option explanation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 9 November , 2014 Share Posted 9 November , 2014 Extraordinary. What a great resource. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 9 November , 2014 Share Posted 9 November , 2014 Indeed, an outstanding find, news of which should be widely spread. I'd guess there are a fair few out there today who might be able to get a photograph of a relative from these. Trajan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 10 November , 2014 Share Posted 10 November , 2014 Wow, this is great - I may be able to find photos of the guys who made the picture frames and boxes that Groningen produced and sold - the earlier ones were named... Can't wait to get home now and try!!! Thanks James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 10 November , 2014 Share Posted 10 November , 2014 (edited) An excellent resource. Be aware, however, that the search engine and data are not without error. For example, the five able seamen of Nelson Battalion interned at Groningen are listed as Collingwood Battalion. The few internee ratings from Drake, Hood and Howe Battalions are also attributed to the wrong battalion (usually Collingwood) or are missing. Officer internees are also not included, nor are some men who escaped from Holland in May 1915. Edited 10 November , 2014 by horatio2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 10 November , 2014 Share Posted 10 November , 2014 Always good to see new material come to light Derek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepoy Posted 10 November , 2014 Share Posted 10 November , 2014 Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Standard Bearer Posted 10 November , 2014 Share Posted 10 November , 2014 Great news that this valuable resource has finally come to light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 11 November , 2014 Share Posted 11 November , 2014 Sheer luck this archive survived 14 may 1940 (city hall top center, large building with towers on the corners) Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 17 November , 2014 Share Posted 17 November , 2014 Finally have faces to names and objects that they made around 100 years ago! Lovely to be able to see them! Wonder whether they ever thought, 100 years on, their little wooden boxes and picture frames would even still exist, let alone now be repatriated with their photo!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 17 November , 2014 Share Posted 17 November , 2014 And especially E Ray Jones of Collingwood Battalion, responsible for these iconic paintings of Antwerp in flames, on boxes and picture frames - I alone have two boxes and two picture frames by this prolific chap! Great to see him, finally! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 17 November , 2014 Share Posted 17 November , 2014 That's excellent news! I was rather thinking when the discovery was announced that people might find photographs of lost relatives for whom they had no imagery - but this is also something nice and personal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 17 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 17 November , 2014 Result ! Great to see the pictures of the guys together with the results of their handiworks. There is a website for Timbertown, in Groningen, where these guys were interned. http://www.wereldoorlog1418.nl/englishcamp/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 12 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 12 December , 2014 Redbarchetta : Here's a picture of the lads hard at work making your pictureframes : https://www.flickr.com/photos/22543487@N07/8242820456/sizes/l From this brilliant photostream on Flickr, with 189 pictures of life in Timbertown : https://www.flickr.com/photos/22543487@N07/sets/72157631685465647 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 24 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 24 April , 2015 (edited) BBC Alba documentary on HMS Timbertown, focusing on the men from Lewis. Véry interesting : http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kg1q1/galleries http://www.stornowaygazette.co.uk/what-s-on/leisure/remarkable-wwi-story-of-hms-timbertown-1-3565101 and this website has some scans of the Camp magazine: http://www.groningencamp.co.uk/ I see that the website http://www.groningencamp.co.uk/ is gone unfortunately, but you can still access it through the Wayback Machine : https://web.archive.org/web/2018*/www.groningencamp.co.uk Edited 22 February , 2020 by JWK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 24 April , 2015 Share Posted 24 April , 2015 JWK, Thanks for all this!! The site with the camp magazines is new to me, and very useful!! Thanks James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sommewalker54 Posted 14 March , 2016 Share Posted 14 March , 2016 i run a facebook group dedicated to the RND and ive set up a proper website to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 14 March , 2016 Share Posted 14 March , 2016 And the website address is.....??! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 2 November , 2019 Share Posted 2 November , 2019 Hi do you have any information of my late father Thomas Marshall Thompson interned in HMS Timber town during the First World War Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 2 November , 2019 Share Posted 2 November , 2019 I do have his original discharge certificate from HMS Helicon ex Calliope with dates from 2nd aug 1914 to 6th mar 1919 also a postcard photograph sent I believe to his sister Eliza. of him on a football team.Victory III RND Collingwood is on the certificate as well. Are these items of use to your web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 3 November , 2019 Share Posted 3 November , 2019 (edited) There was only one Thomas THOMPSON, of Collingwood Battalion RND, who was interned in Holland: He was a pre-WW1 (August 1912) recruit to No.2 Company of Tyneside Division RNVR, Official No. Tyneside 2/157. He served as an Able Seaman RNVR in 'B' Company, Collingwood Bn. However, he did not give a middle name (Marshall) on enlistment. Born 14 August 1894 and resident at Heron Street, South Shields. I believe this could this be your late father. Edited 3 November , 2019 by horatio2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekb Posted 3 November , 2019 Share Posted 3 November , 2019 Is this website still available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWK Posted 3 November , 2019 Author Share Posted 3 November , 2019 1 hour ago, derekb said: Is this website still available? I just noticed it's offline! I have sent a message to the Rotterdam Cityarchives asking for the new webaddress (if there is one!), as I couldn't find it on their website/in their archives. Will post their reply when received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekb Posted 4 November , 2019 Share Posted 4 November , 2019 Many thanks JWK, I have some postcards I need to get out that may be associated. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 4 November , 2019 Share Posted 4 November , 2019 Are posters above aware of this website, which might also be of interest: http://friends-of-the-royal-naval-divisions-in-ww1.co.uk/ 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