Trying to identify an old WW1 photo

[Fozzie]

Sincerest thanks to all you clever guys for finding this lovely information for me. It has made my day and will probably keep me busy for some time!

[FROGSMILE]

I just wanted to congratulate everyone involved in this excellent piece of detective work, a real team effort, with IPT in particular delivering his usual coup de main. Brilliant!

 

NB.  It’s fascinating for me to read about and see images of the PoW camps in Northern Germany. As a soldier during the Cold War I was either stationed at, visiting on duty, or partaking in training exercises/manoeuvres, at all of the main camps that have been mentioned.  Dulmen, Gutersloh, Soltau, Luneberger Heide were all old stamping grounds and at the time I did not know of their WW1 significance.

Edited 1 April , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[JWK]

"Kr Gifhorn" I think means "Kreis Gifhorn" (district of Gifhorn)

 

There wás a POW camp in Kreis Gifhorn in WW1, 1.7 km down the "Lagerweg" in Räderloh on the south side of the road  ( coordinates  52.715673 10.382309   )

 

Red dot top left:

 

 

This site has a description of the camp in German, below translated into English)

 

 

 

Quote

 

There was a large prisoner-of-war camp near Räderloh during the First World War. Today there are only relatively few traces of it left - but the history of this camp is worth a closer look.

Coming from Steinhorst, the "Lagerweg” (camproad) still indicates the existence of the former POW camp. This was located 1.7 km west of Räderloh - in the so-called Postmoor.

The Postmoor stretches southwest of Räderloh and extends almost to Bargfeld. Today, it is already drained in many areas - a fact that is directly related to the former POW camp. At the beginning of the 20th century, around 468 hectares of moorland were to be drained in the area of the post moor and converted into usable green areas.

 

A prison camp for around 1,000 prisoners of war was set up on the edge of the bog in 1915 for the necessary work. The camp consisted of two large wooden barracks, each of which could accommodate 500 prisoners. In the kitchen barracks, the prisoners had to prepare the allocated food rations themselves. In addition to these buildings, there was also a pridon barrack and a hospital. In addition, the camp had a large water tower and a camp cemetery. It was surrounded by a high fence and protected by watchtowers.

 

The camp was initially used to house Belgian, French and British prisoners of war. Russian prisoners later came to the camp. Despite the remoteness and security of the camp, the prisoners still had a lot of freedom. They were even able to move almost freely in the early years of captivity. In addition, they received wages for their work service and were allowed to receive packages from their home.

The rules were only tightened when complaints from the population began to accumulate and attempts were made to escape.

 

In addition to the activities in the drainage of the post moor, the prisoners of war were also put to work in agriculture. There were therefore hardly any prisoners in the camp at times, especially during the harvest.

In January 1919, after the end of the war, the last prisoners returned to their homeland. The traces of the camp gradually disappeared. It can be assumed that the building material was used elsewhere. The camp is no longer listed on maps from around 1945

 

 

 

 

And it also has a sketch of the outlay of the camp!

North on the sketch is south in reality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 April , 2020 by JWK
typos

[PhilB]

Likewise, Frog, I was at Minderheide Barracks just outside Minden and had no idea of the site`s WW1 use for PoWs. I believe there`s actually a WW1 cemetery there of which I hadn`t a clue.

[RaySearching]

32 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

I just wanted to congratulate everyone involved in this excellent piece of detective work, a real team effort with IPT in particular delivering his usual coup de main. Brilliant!

 

Having just read this thread

I will second that  

 

Now who are his two companions ?

[FROGSMILE]

18 minutes ago, PhilB said:

Likewise, Frog, I was at Minderheide Barracks just outside Minden and had no idea of the site`s WW1 use for PoWs. I believe there`s actually a WW1 cemetery there of which I hadn`t a clue.

Yes, it seems a shame that we weren’t given a little historical briefing on arrival, but of course priorities were different then, with Northern Ireland tours writ large and, in fairness, but few soldiers were very interested in history.

 

P.S.  Thanks to JWK for taking the trouble to post the history of the camp concerned.

Edited 1 April , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[TullochArd]

4 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

I just wanted to congratulate everyone involved in this excellent piece of detective work, a real team effort, with IPT in particular delivering his usual coup de main. Brilliant!

 

NB.  It’s fascinating for me to read about and see images of the PoW camps in Northern Germany. As a soldier during the Cold War I was either stationed at, visiting on duty, or partaking in training exercises/manoeuvres, at all of the main camps that have been mentioned.  Dulmen, Gutersloh, Soltau, Luneberger Heide were all old stamping grounds and at the time I did not know of their WW1 significance.

 

 …….. you missed Lottie's Bar in Sennelager off your list. 

[FROGSMILE]

18 minutes ago, TullochArd said:

 

 …….. you missed Lottie's Bar in Sennelager off your list. 

Yes indeed, I’ll never forget Sennelager...especially it’s cinema.