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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

German POW Camps in the UK


Hazel Basford

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Graham Mark lists it as a work camp, "aka Snettisham", its parent camp being Pattishall (which has featured here on the GWF).

Moonraker

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I wonder which camp these men were from. Sandside station was on the Grange-over-Sands to Kendal line and the workhouse referred to would have been in Milnthorpe, in the south of Westmorland.

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(September 1918)

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The parent camp was Leigh. There's a book by Leslie Smith, The German Prisoner of War Camp at Leigh 1914-19, published in 1986, which quotes extensively from local newspapers.

I'm just a little surprised that local newspapers were able to report on such camps, but my own experience relates to Wiltshire, where most PoW camps were attached to military installations, press coverage of which was restricted, except when - in the case PoWs - there were escapes or court cases involving inmates.

("RDC" refers to the Royal Defence Corps.)

Moonraker

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  • 4 weeks later...

After watching the recent episode of Who Do You Think You Are on the BBC I got to wondering about my great aunt Catherine’s first husband called Herman Jeeteman from Germany (called Jutterman on the 1901 Census).

Catherine & Herman didn’t marry until 1924 in Glasgow, but before this Herman was married to another woman called Lizzie Pegler in 1901.

Herman & Lizzie’s 1st son, George, died the same year as their marriage. Then they had another 2 sons, Herman born 1904 & Alexander in 1908.

Then Lizzie died in Edinburgh January 1914 leaving Herman the sole carer of Herman Jnr. (age 10) & Alexander (age 6).

I found the attached on the International Red Cross website this morning regarding Herman’s POW status in 1916. Can anybody help me understand it? Any idea where he was sent from the information kept by the Red Cross?

I just wonder how the authorities would have dealt with Herman Snr. in 1914 as he had just been widowed and had two young sons to bring up on a waiters wage? He was born approx. 1875/76. I would have thought he was getting on the elderly side to be considered useful to the British Army even if he volunteered to join.

Would the boys have been allowed to stay with Herman in a POW camp or would they have been taken into care?

When Herman married my g. aunt in 1924 he was using the name Harry Jutman, but when he dies in 1928 he is named Herman Jeeteman once again on the death register.

I did manage to trace the child Alexander’s death in Oban in 2002. Unfortunately he was a single man and his care home registered his death so I got no leads as to further generations. Of note, Alexander’s surname was recorded as Goodman & Jeeteman on his death entry in 2002.

I’ve never been able to trace Herman Jnr’s death though and can only assume that he also ended up using a different surname due to WW1.

I would like to know where Herman Snr. spent his internment here in the UK. The icing on the cake would be to find out if they became a family again after the war but I’ll need to wait on the 1921 Census to find that out.

I can see from this thread that records are scarce in this area and I’ve no idea yet if the Scottish National Archives will hold any records which might shed some light on Herman and his children but it’s always worth asking here first.

Any pointers are welcome. Many thanks - Maria

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Moonraker, and please accept my apologies for not replying sooner..... been (amongst other things) relaxing on the Somme!

I knew that it was linked in some way to Patishall, but that is the extent of my knowledge.

I have found an aerial photograph of Heacham taken during the Great War, but where it was located (I believe) is fractionally off the photograph! just my luck

I shall keep searching

Thanks again

Andrew

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  • 2 months later...

Higher up this topic I saw a comment that only four got away and that two of those were drowned in the North Sea.

Pluschow has been mentioned - he got away from Donington Park 5 Aug 1915, and stowed away on the Flushing boat from Gravesend.

and there were others:

Alfred Klapproth, a Merchant Marine officer, and Friedrich Weiner, a civilian, got away from Lofthouse Park, Wakefield, on 28 May and reached Copenhagen (The Times 2 June 1915 and 29 June 1915)

Johannes Schmidt, a sea Captain, got out of Alexandra Palace on 2 Sept 1915 (Police Gazette 7 & 10 Sept 15) and got back to Germany (The Times 5 Oct 15).

The Hungarian "History of PoWs" records an un-named German arriving back in his country after stealiing an aircraft. No confirmmation of this has been seen by ne in British records. However August Junght is recorded as escaping from Frith Hill 26 August 1915, about the right date, and there is no subsequeent report of his recapture.

In my book "Prisoners of War in British Hands during WWI" I listed over 400 escapes, most re-captured, which I had traced from newspapers.

The book is still available (not many left) for £25 plus postage. Contact gmarkb34@btinternet.com

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Hi Mark

You'll see that I've quoted your book, with attribution, many times here on the GWF.

Welcome to the Forum, but it's not a good idea to display your email address as it can be harvested by spammers.

Advice here.

Moonraker

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  • 5 months later...

We are a Registered Charity set up to develop a Visitors Centre for Knockaloe Internment Camp which was situated in our village of Patrick on the Isle of Man, together with an Archive recording the stories of all of the civilian internees who were interned in our village 100 years ago, as well as the stories of their families at that time.

We should love to help anyone looking for more information about an internee or hear from anyone with information they can provide to add to our archive. To properly research each internee takes time so please do be patient, but we value every piece of information we can find out. In turn, every piece of information allows us to build a better picture of the experiences of the internees and their families at that time.

We hope, over time, to rebuild the records of the people who lived in our village, however briefly, and to add their story to our archive for future generations.

We have now extended our work to cover all civilian internees held in the UK. We fully research available internment records from a number of sources including the International Red Cross and will be continuing to add sources and update information as our archive develops.

Please contact us via e mail to tell us your story or to seek our help. For more information and for our E mail address, please visit www.knockaloe.im

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  • 3 weeks later...

Whilst working my through some diaries from May 1918 of a local upper class lady, I came across the following references.

Went to Huntly VAD Hospital & worked in the kitchen 9-12.15; after lunch went in the car with Bertie to the prisoners' packing place to make enquiries

Hospital morning; afternoon went to the prisoners' place & helped pack Hospital morning; afternoon went down to the prisoners place, but they didn't want any help

All I know is that it is Huntly in Cambrdigeshire and the VAD hospital was a large house. I am curious to know what the prisoners packing place was civillian or POW can anyone help please.

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I can't see a reference to Huntly in Graham Mark's Prisoners of War in British Hands during WWI which lists major camps and smaller working camps. Some PoWs were attached to military hospitals, though I haven't heard of them working in civilian ones.

The term "prisoners" was used quite loosely outside official circles to include internees and perhaps these were considered less likely to escape and a few were put to work in VAD hospitals.

However, the context shows that your lady went from the VAD hospital by car to the "prisoners' place", which thus may have been some distance away and not at Huntly.

It could be that she was helping the local Prisoners of War Association to prepare parcels of food, clothes and comforts for British PoWs in Europe.

Moonraker

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Hi me again I have been asked tofind out if there was a POW camp at anywhere in South Yorkshire specfically Barnsley area, I know of one in the 2nd WW but not 1st.

Gillian

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There were six major PoW camps in Yorkshire during the Great War,and the most southerly were at York itself (which had three sites), Lofthouse Park (three miles north of Wakefield) and Redmires (five miles west of Sheffield), with small working camps at other sites.

(Pity there wasn't/isn't a South Riding as this would have helped a raw southerner with Yorkshire geography!)

Moonraker

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi

I was wondering whether anyone knows where the patch sometimes seen on German POWs backs comes from? Does anyone know when this was introduced and why - presumably to identify them as POWs when out and about in the fields etc... I cant find any references to it so if anyone has any Id be very interested.

Best wishes

Dan

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  • 6 months later...

Hi All,

If anyone is interested I have just had a book about the camp at Dorchester published. It is called Living with the Enemy, Dorchester's Great War Prison Camp. As well as describing, in detail, what life was like inside the camp it tells many stories of how the local population dealt with the enemy in their midst. The book runs to 140 pages aand has over 80 photographs. It costa £9.99 and came be obtained from me or from Amazon and Waterstones.

Brian.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi All

Do you know where I can view a copy of Prisoners of War in British Hands during WWI, the back copies seem rather expensive to purchase. I'm interested in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. I have seen reference in local newspapers of Farmers using German POW's to help with the harvest etc. I have a photograph of some German POW's working in the fields. I have also seen reference on another website which states that Berkhamsted had a minor camp set up for working parties.

I have no idea of the location or any further information.

Any help would be great.

Janice

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Yes, it's an elusive book and borrowing it through the Inter-Library Loan scheme (or whatever it's called nowadays) would incur quite high postage costs.

In fact the work camp at or near Berkhamsted gets one short line in the appendix as "Berkhampstead". It was an agricultural camp under the control of Pattishall (previously named Eastcote) PoW camp near Towcester. It has a passing reference

here

which is the one you may have seen already.

A search through contemporary local newspapers might provide some snippets. Include 1919 in any such search, as papers would then have felt less restricted about reporting such establishments after the Armistice.

One might speculate that a small group of PoWs with a handful of guards were billeted at one farm and worked there and on others nearby.

Moonraker

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Thank you Moonraker. I'm working through the local newspapers so will hopefully find more. Thanks again.

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  • 2 years later...
On 29/08/2006 at 08:06, Guest nnicol said:

NNicol Aug 06

Hazel, I am the person that created the list found in Tonbridge Library.

Hi I am researching the social history of Tonbridge during the Great War , I came across the list of POWIB in Tonbridge library. Could you please tell me the sources of that information so I can expand my research. Many thanks I know time has passed since the above was posted but I am hopeful you can still help me as the author of said list.

Edited by Guest
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Besides Graham Mark's book Prisoners of War in British Hands during WWI which is mentioned in this thread there is also Norman Nicol's Captured Germans: British POW Camps in the First World War (Pen & Sword, 2017) which is extremely useful.

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7 hours ago, MillsP said:

sources of that information

Some explanation post #3.

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Here are some photos from a book entitled "Deutsche Kriegsgefangene in Grossebritannien".  Presumably a "propaganda" work produced during the war, however the photos speak for themselves I think.

 

 

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Deutsche.Kriegsgefangene.in.Grossbritannien_51.jpg

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  • 2 years later...

I can confirm that Holyport, near Maidenhead,Berks, was a POW camp for German officers. They were housed in Philbert's, a large house on the north edge of the village (photo attached). The building was left in a poor state after the war, and was demolished in 1919

Screen Shot 08-28-20 at 06.01 PM.PNG

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Whilst researching Romsey Remount Depot and reading the depot story written by its commanding officer I came across the following note:

10th July 1918 2nd Lt G L Goldie, Commandant, Prisoners of War, was attached to the Depot.

Then looking at the later camp map, photo attached I found the POW site next to 'F' Squadron.

Judging by its size I would guess that it could hold 200 POW's and was probably built mid 1918.

There is no other mention in the book and I can only presume that the prisoners were destined to work in the remount camp.

Just added for info as the records for this aspect of the war are so few.

Tony

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