J Laugher Posted 28 February , 2017 Share Posted 28 February , 2017 Frank Laugher was my Great-Uncle, I have always been confused as to his fate. He was reported missing 29-04-1917 and then as a POW 30-04-1917 in Limburg POW camp. He died of sickness 17-09-1917 in Douain and is buried in Denain. He was captured uninjured. Any help confirming or correcting information anyone has would be much appreiciated. Judith Laugher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 28 February , 2017 Share Posted 28 February , 2017 Hi Judith, The Red Cross PoW records indicate that he was captured 28th April 1917 at/near Arras, and that he died in hospital from an unspecified sickness. Index card 1 Index card 2 Regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Laugher Posted 28 February , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 February , 2017 Hi Chris. Thank you very much. He died in September, do you think he was in douain the whole time. A newspaper cutting I have says he was pow in limburg but I don't know if that's accurate. He'd been involved in the battle for monchy le preux & arras. Regards judith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 28 February , 2017 Share Posted 28 February , 2017 (edited) Hi Judith, Top right of PA 18599 in red is "Friedrichsfeld". So I guess that for at least part of his captivity he was administered from there. If a man was at/administered by several camps you often find other PAs with the respective camp name written on each. Regards Chris Edit: 'Friedricksfeld' as posted originally changed to 'Friedrichsfeld' Edited 28 February , 2017 by clk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Laugher Posted 28 February , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 February , 2017 Thank you so much Chris. I'm writing up Frank's story and want it to be as accurate as possible. Regards judith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 28 February , 2017 Share Posted 28 February , 2017 Hi Judith, If you investigate the thread about Douain thoroughly you will see that Douain was almost certainly a mis-transcription/misunderstanding of Denain. all best wishes, seaJane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Laugher Posted 28 February , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 February , 2017 Thank you seaJane. I want to do Frank justice and write his story as accurately as possible. Very best wishes Judith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank_East Posted 28 February , 2017 Share Posted 28 February , 2017 Judith Frank Laugher must have died at the Denain German hospital centre which is not far from the Arras area where he was captured..looks as if that there was not an attached POW camp here so he may have been held in the area before he fell ill and was transferred to hospital. http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/33000/DENAIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY Limburg is in Germany and was a POW camp....it may well be other captured Warwickshires were sent to Limburg. However I cannot see a POW falling ill being taken from Germany to a German military hospital in France for treatment. Friedrichsfeld, a suburb of Wesel on the Rhine was another POW camp. As Chris has said,it might have been within the POW administration structure since the ultimate destination for most POWs was Germany. Best of luck with your research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie2 Posted 1 March , 2017 Share Posted 1 March , 2017 (edited) Judith There are three more ICRC index cards than already linked to relating to Frank Laugher. PA 12813 dated 29.07.1917 records that he was transferred from the Echelon area Douai to Limburg. PA 19792 records his burial in the Military Cemetery Denain. PA 17097 dated 27.11.1917 records that his ID disc was forwarded from the Field Hospital Denain. Even though his details appear to be wrong it is a transcription error, he was the only Frank Laugher who was killed with the RWR. E and B and 11 and 17 are easily confused. The links to the index cards: https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/3076923/3/2/ https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/2383817/3/2/ https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/2281057/3/2/ Both Friedrichsfeld and Limburg were used as "dummy" addresses to register PoWs held in the Echelon area as forced labour. This has been discussed at length elsewhere on the forum. In all probability Frank Laugher was never in Germany. The list recording his transfer to Friedrichsfeld from the Western Echelon Area is dated 13.01.1918 some three months after his death! Charlie Edited 1 March , 2017 by charlie2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Laugher Posted 1 March , 2017 Author Share Posted 1 March , 2017 Thank you so much Frank & Charlie. I did think it was unlikely that Frank would have been transported from France to Germany and then back to France when he became ill. It makes much more sense that he became ill whilst being held before transportation and was in Denain military hospital until his death in September. I do know that he had had pneumonia winter 1916 so I guess it's possible he had a relapse and this was the cause of his death. I am very grateful for your information, I am so proud of Frank and want to get his story as accurately as possible. Regards Judith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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