RNAS air mechanic with Ark Royal: photo album

[pete-c]

On ‎18‎/‎06‎/‎2019 at 00:35, xv229 said:

Fascinating photos and stories!

I have a particular interest in the captured Friedrichshafen FF.33f No.536, as I think I might have a link to the German crew and their names?

This might be a case of 2+2 = 6, but here goes with the theory:-

Malta had several PoW Camps during WW1 and whilst looking through some of the Allied Prisoner lists on the excellent ICRC website, I found these two airmen from Seeflieger Abteilung.1. These two are mentioned in the US Consul's April 1916 report on Malta's PoW Camps as captured at Thasos and received at Malta on 21 March 1916, which seems to tie in quite nicely with the capture date for no.536

I attach sections of the Allied List and the US Consul's report showing the individuals in question.

I wonder if anyone can confirm that the two listed were in fact the crew of No.536?

MTIA, Alan

 

Alan. 

 

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that these men are more than likely the crew of '536'.  They were captured on March 17th 1916 by Skipper Newton (Trawler 258)  The seaplane was initially taken in tow by a Greek motorboat, on board which was the Harbourmaster of Limena; the Germans claiming the protection of the Greek flag.  After some discussion both seaplane and the Greek motorboat were towed to the seaplane base at Stavros.  The machine was eventually embarked on HMS Snaefell on March 26 and arrived on board Ark Royal, at Mudros, the next day.  It was flown many times from Ark Royal (in British markings I hasten to add) and was still under Ark Royal's supervision in June 1917.  An official report was apparently compiled on this machine, but I have been unable to find anything in TNA.

Previous to your post I was unaware of the names of these two men.  Many thanks Alan.

 

EDIT:  The two prisoners arrived at Mudros, on board Trawler 258, on Saturday 18th March.  Skipper Newton reported to HMS Lord Nelson and the prisoners were sent to HMS Agamemnon for passage to Malta.

Edited 20 June , 2019 by pete-c

[b3rn]

Good stuff Alan, Peter!

[xv229]

Peter,

Many thanks for the information!

I can add the arrival of HMS Agamemnon at Malta on 21 March 1916 @0750hrs, according to the Tourville logbook (SGA SS Y 592 p764).

Although the Tourville logbook doesn't mention any PoW details, it all fits together very nicely.

Thanks again for all your help.

Kind Regards,

Alan

[Eschwege1917]

Dear Alan,

 

Apologies for the late reply to your extremely helpful post. Yes, they could be the crew of Friedrichshafen FF.33F '536' which was captured close to Thasos (in fact at Thasopoula, the small islet between Thasos island and the mainland) by two British trawlers, against the international law, withe intervention of a British agent, William (Bill) Riddle. In the Greek files (kept at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the German crew is reported (quite vaguely I would say) as being Herman and Heinrich... No other Germans were captured in the vicinity oh Thasos at this particular date. In respect to their unit (Seeflieger Abteilung I), at that time it was attached to FeldFlieger Abteilung I based at Xanthi, only a few miles to the NW; thus the name of the unit also fits to the story. Later, after approximately a month, when FFA I left for the Western Front, it became Seeflugstation Xanthi. 

 

Is there any other information regarding the two German POWs? Also, are there any other German airmen, captured in the Aegean or on the Macedonian Front, in these files? I would love receiving more information on the subject.

 

Best Regards,

Paschalis Palavouzis     

[xv229]

Paschalis,

Many thanks for your reply with your additional information.

A few more details on the German PoWs:

Sub-Lt. Walter Irmen was allocated Malta PoW No.1905 and following an attempt to escape, he was transferred to Egypt on 4th April 1918, after which I have no more information.

Flmt. Fritz Hennig was allocated Malta PoW No.1906 and seems to have had a quiet life interned at Malta. He was repatriated on 6th December 1919 with 1100 German PoWs held at Malta.

 

I have recently posted details of another captured German pilot on a Facebook group dedicated to WW1 Malta PoW's

https://www.facebook.com/groups/POWMALTAWWI/

The date of this capture was 30th September 1917, although the reports that I have found only mention the name of one pilot (who was killed) of the two Albatros W4 floatplane fighters that were shot down by Mellings & Alcock over Mudros Bay. The surviving pilot was not named.

Separately, information from Malta via Allied PoW lists, refers to Flr. Lt. Johann Robert Müller as being shot down and slightly wounded on 30th September 1917 between Imbros and Tenedos. He arrived a the Malta PoW Camps on 11th November 1917 and his unit is quoted in the Allied list as Sf.A (Ostsee). I believe the similarities between the two reports are enough to assume that Müller is probably the surviving Albatros W4 pilot.

Maybe you have some more details of this event?

 

I have details of a couple more captured German aircrew interned as PoWs at Malta, but rather than hijack this thread, I plan to start a new one when I have a bit more time.

 

Hopefully, this information is useful.

Kind Regards,

Alan