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Remembered Today:

POW's at Murren in Switzerland


Paddy Jackson

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Fascinating, I have just ordered a copy.  Always interested in anything to do with Murren. My Dad was a bit of character and was there from December 1917 to March 1918. I wonder if he met Kenneth?

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Mr MR

Wouldn't disagree with a word of your review - have not completed mine yet. It really is good to have an old soldiers account which does not simply go over all the mud, blood and horror. The book adds a new dimension. I for one was totally unaware Murren. Actual ly, you've let me very little to say. I shall have to do a Previn on the book me - all the same words but not necessarily in your order. Plaigarise? Moi?

Regards

David 

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6 hours ago, David Filsell said:

... I shall have to do a Previn on the book me - all the same words but not necessarily in your order. Plaigarise? Moi?

Regards

David 

All too often nowadays, I get words in the wrong order from the start. And, as Maureene tactfully pointed out, I placed the review in the wrong part of the Forum. After huffing & puffing, I managed to "hide" it and replicate in the correct sub-forum - and I even remembered to amend the link to the review in my post above.

 

Moonraker

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Allegro22

Hi everyone: 

I am Swiss Historian who is rebuilding the story of the Hotel Regina (1916 Hotel Regina Beau-Site) in Mürren. Is here somebody who has some Photos or Informations about Prisoners of War, interned at the Regina? Thank you very much for your help.

Edited by Allegro22
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Hi Allegro, and welcome.

 

Mike Richardson's book (see post 72 and later ones) does have a couple of references to the Regina Hotel. The subject of the book, Kenneth Foyster, had a pleasant surprise when his sister arrived for a ten-day visit and stayed in the Regina, and on July 26, 1918 "the Regina won a football match. This was a great occasion as they had not won before." This suggests there were sporting fixtures between the various hotels.

 

That summer, it was announced that two other hotels would close, the officers moving into the Regina and the men from there sent to other hotels. (This suggest that up to then the Regina had accommodated Other Ranks.) In November most of the officers caught Spanish Influenza, and by December 1 only three officers were still at the hotel.

 

Moonraker

 

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On 13/04/2019 at 15:09, Allegro22 said:

Hi everyone: 

I am Swiss Historian who is rebuilding the story of the Hotel Regina (1916 Hotel Regina Beau-Site) in Mürren. Is here somebody who has some Photos or Informations about Prisoners of War, interned at the Regina? Thank you very much for your help.

This is taken from the International Red Cross site and refers to the POW listed in the English Herald 16 Sep 1916

 

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/List/5157173/701/50256/

 

Hope this helps

 

Tony

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8 hours ago, familyhistoryman said:

This is taken from the International Red Cross site and refers to the POW listed in the English Herald 16 Sep 1916

 

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/List/5157173/701/50256/

 

Hope this helps

 

Tony

Tony

That's a very interesting list especially the Chateau D'oex page of 6th June 1916 as the officer list is that of the first 30 British officers to be exchanged on 29th May 1916. The Murren page of 16th Sept 1916 is fascinating and I would like to try to trace the newspaper archive. Do you or anyone have any idea where I might find copies of 'English Herald'. It doesn't appear to be 'The Daily Herald' as pages for that date in British Newspaper Archive do no match.

Paddy

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On 13/04/2019 at 14:09, Allegro22 said:

Hi everyone: 

I am Swiss Historian who is rebuilding the story of the Hotel Regina (1916 Hotel Regina Beau-Site) in Mürren. Is here somebody who has some Photos or Informations about Prisoners of War, interned at the Regina? Thank you very much for your help.

You might find a photo of interest in this list

http://calmview.bham.ac.uk/CalmView/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=XYMCA%2FK%2F1%2F9

 

Paddy

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1 hour ago, Paddy Jackson said:

Tony

That's a very interesting list especially the Chateau D'oex page of 6th June 1916 as the officer list is that of the first 30 British officers to be exchanged on 29th May 1916. The Murren page of 16th Sept 1916 is fascinating and I would like to try to trace the newspaper archive. Do you or anyone have any idea where I might find copies of 'English Herald'. It doesn't appear to be 'The Daily Herald' as pages for that date in British Newspaper Archive do no match.

Paddy

Paddy

At the moment I am staying with my daughter who lives in Münster, Germany. When I get home I will check the information I have. I got found details of the English Herald. I thought that it might have been published in Switzerland. I do have detail of some who stayed at Murren

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‘Keeping the Old Flag Flying’ is centred on the WW1 memoir of Kenneth Foyster, 7th Canadian Battalion, who was wounded and captured at St. Julien. He was imprisoned at Gottingen and was then an internee in Murren from August 1916 until December 1918; one of the first to arrive and last to leave. His story contains much fascinating detail about the life of internees and he introduces a host of military and civilian characters that found themselves there.

The book is published by Spiderwize (ISBN 978-1-912694-3-6). It can be purchased as a paperback or as a digital download via your App Store.

The paperback is available through a wide range of online booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Waterstones. The Book Depository offers free delivery worldwide.

As a digital download, it can be found, amongst other sites, on Amazon Kindle.

Acknown

Edited by Acknown
More info.
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Guest Allegro22

Hi erveryone and thanks for all your helps! The book is already ordered and i am looking forward to read it.

As there were some discussions about it, in the attachment you will find a (bad, sry) copy of the a booklet by L.E. Vird with many fotos of the topic. (Source: Swiss National Library Bern, Stock)

 

pdfresizer.com-pdf-resize.pdf

 

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Thanks, Allegro22.

Acknown

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On 20/04/2019 at 08:34, Allegro22 said:

Hi erveryone and thanks for all your helps! The book is already ordered and i am looking forward to read it.

As there were some discussions about it, in the attachment you will find a (bad, sry) copy of the a booklet by L.E. Vird with many fotos of the topic. (Source: Swiss National Library Bern, Stock)

Vird.pdf 37.06 MB · 4 downloads

 

Hi Allegro,

the (véry interesting!) booklet you posted says "Mürren had undergone a transformation in August 1916"

But the (neutral) Dutch press of the time suggests the British POW's were already there in July 1916:

misc.jpg.56fa7a9b8352aedb59a9294e428ebb86.jpg

Miscellaneous reports

As far as we know at this moment the next group of British POW's will arrive in Switzerland in three parts, on 17th, 18th and 19th July [1916].

It will amount to approx. 800 to 1000 [men].

The majority of which will go to Mürren.

 

From Haagsche Courant [the Hague Newspaper]  of 13th July 1916.

https://bit.ly/2KRMYW7

 

More than probable véry old news indeed (in that case: just ignore this post)

 

 

Edited by JWK
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According to Kenneth Foyster, see 'Keeping The Old Flag Flying' above, his was the first batch of POWs to arrive in Murren; during 12 Aug 16. He left on 20 Dec 18, stating: 'I was not sorry to go. We left at 8 a.m. on the 20th in two trains. I was in the second and thus was on the first funicular of interned to come to Murren, and on the last to leave.'

Acknown

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The first British internees to arrive in Switzerland arrived in to Château d’Oex on 30 May 1916. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36391241. Next was Pays-d'Enhaut, I believe. It seems that British (Empire) officers and soldiers were located at a total of 11 sites in Switzerland during the war.

Acknown

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A number of British newspapers reported on the first internees that arrived in Switzerland 

Tony

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A couple of articles  (there may well be others along similar lines waiting to be searched for) from The Times of August & September 1918 relating to the presentation of 1914 Star ribbons in Switzerland may be of interest

 

The Times, Wednesday, Aug 28, 1918; pg. 5; Issue 41880; col E; Article CS85527324
Category: News

1914 Star. Message From The King To Recipients In Switzerland. 
(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.). 
   BERNE, Aug. 26

A cheering incident in the normally tedious life of the British internees in Switzerland took place on Sunday in the distribution by General Hanbury-Smith, in the presence of the British Minister, Lady Rumbold, and a number of Swiss and British military and diplomatic Representatives, of  the Ribbon of “The 1914 Star”  to two officers and 57 men  at Interlaken. Detachments of French  and Belgian troops attended the ceremony, which was held in the Wintergarden of the Kursaal.
After addressing in French these soldiers – “non seulement Alies, mais vrais amis” – the general, in the course of  a vigorous speech read the following message from the King to the British  troops:- 
The Queen and I send our best wishes to the recipients of the “1914” Ribbon.  
I know that they will keep it as a mark of honour throughout their lives and a remembrance of the gallant deeds performed. 
We wish them one and all  a speedy return to their homes.
He mentioned that 1,000 more men   are expected from Germany this week.
The Ribbons were then distributed by the General, with a few words to each man, and Over-seas Chevrons by Mrs. Glass, wife of the senior British officer.
 An enormous basket of flowers having been presented to Lady Rumbold by Sergeant-Major Bullock, on behalf of the warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the Interlaken  sector, the British Minister, returning thanks, addressed the Allied and British troops adding that the British Government would never forget what the Swiss had done for our soldiers.
A similar ceremony on a smaller scale took place the previous day at Gunten, where the hostess at luncheon were Mrs Cooke Daniels and Miss Martin, the ladies who manage the carpet-making shop for internees, and the Chevrons were distributed by Lady Beatrix Wilkinson, wife of the Staff Officer for internees in Switzerland.

The Times, Saturday, Aug 31, 1918; pg. 5; Issue 41883; col B;  Article CS84347679 
Category: News in Brief

1914 Star for Interned Men
(from our special correspondent.)

BERNE, Aug 29.

In the garden of the British Legation here General Sir John Hanbury-Williams to-day presented the ribbon of the “1914 Star” and Lady Beatrix Wilkinson presented the Oversea chevrons to those members of the British forces interned or employed here who are entitled  to them.
Sir John also addressed the large number of ladies employed in the  Bread Bureau,  which  supplies the British Prisoners in Germany. Lady Rumbold and Miss Sawyer distributed cards bearing the following message from the Queen:- “The Queen sends to all the Berne Bureau her congratulations on the work of mercy in which they are engage and her best wishes for its success,”

 

NigelS

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On 21/04/2019 at 18:40, familyhistoryman said:

A number of British newspapers reported on the first internees that arrived in Switzerland 

Indeed. A search through the British Newspaper Archive (usually free in libraries) for 'internee' and 'Switzerland' will reveal several instances. The Times alone filed several articles that month. On 17 Jun 16, it included an article titled: 'Welcome of our Wounded in Switzerland, British Minister’s warm praise.'

Acknown

Edited by Acknown
Grammar
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  • 9 months later...

Keeping The Old Flag Flying: The World War 1 Memoir of Kenneth Basil Foyster Canadian Soldier, Prisoner and Internee is a book that has a whole chapter on Murren and mentions many of the hotels used by the troops. You can buy it from Amazon. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 28/04/2016 at 22:20, Guest Bruce Taylor said:

Here is postcard of Jungfrau hotel not postal used but must be between 1916-18. Note the YMCA sign above door, dog also centre picpost-128056-0-52609400-1461878308_thumb.

 

Here is an image of Hotel Jungfrau in 2019 taken from nearly the same place

IMG_0660.JPG

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  • 7 months later...

Purely by accident, I came across index cards for prisoners interned in Switzerland.

21251 Private James Hindle, East Lancashire Regiment, was interned at Murren

 

Hindle.JPG

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  • 10 months later...

Hi All, I wonder if anyone managed to get a copy or the English Herald dated 16/9/2016?   Are you able to scan the image or let me know where I can get a copy please.

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/List/440664/701/50256/

My grandfather's ICRC card is annotated with the R number for the article - unfortunately part of the article and the continuation page (page 8) is missing so we're not able to confirm his link to the article.

Arthur Henry Boyce - Sgt 2nd Battalion, KOYLI (King;s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry)

https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/440664/3/2/

Thank you, Mandy

 

 

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