johnboy Posted 21 June , 2020 Share Posted 21 June , 2020 Does anyone know of an Asylum in Ypres used to hold German POW's temporarily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 21 June , 2020 Share Posted 21 June , 2020 The Ypres Asylum was used as a casualty station - was it injured PoW's ?. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 21 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2020 Not sure Craig. I will try and find out more. I have seen reference to motor buses being used to transport german POW's from there to ,I think, Belgium. Not just the odd few, but but a couple of hundred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 21 June , 2020 Share Posted 21 June , 2020 1 hour ago, johnboy said: Not sure Craig. I will try and find out more. I have seen reference to motor buses being used to transport german POW's from there to ,I think, Belgium. Not just the odd few, but but a couple of hundred What part of the war are we in time wise ? Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 21 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2020 (edited) Info from1st Auxilary omnibus Coy ASC Convoy records. 200 German prisoners from Asylum to Steenwerk 25 & 26 September 1916 Edited 21 June , 2020 by johnboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 21 June , 2020 Share Posted 21 June , 2020 (edited) Try this. It was a Mental Hospital used by the British. TR Edited 21 June , 2020 by Terry_Reeves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 21 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2020 Thanks Terry. Seems it was used for holding prisoners in 1916 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRC Kevin Posted 21 June , 2020 Share Posted 21 June , 2020 (edited) The Asylum was one of the main billeting locations for whichever division was holding line from the Cross Roads Farm sector down to the Railway Wood sector. Edited 21 June , 2020 by IRC Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 21 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2020 Thanks Kevin. The Asylum buildings look big enough to hold prisoners. Are the green highlights on the aylum and buildimg marked Prison of any significance ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRC Kevin Posted 21 June , 2020 Share Posted 21 June , 2020 31 minutes ago, johnboy said: Thanks Kevin. The Asylum buildings look big enough to hold prisoners. Are the green highlights on the aylum and buildimg marked Prison of any significance ? Not really, they're just places of relevance to the three battalions from 55 Division I wrote books about (each chapter has a table giving the coordinates of any trenches, billets etc mentioned in that chapter. I just used the flags to get accurate Lat/Long coordinates to transfer to the lists from my georeferenced maps). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 21 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2020 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 21 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2020 You might find some div troop movements. The amount of men moved and the mileage covered is an eyeopener http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/80447afd7f66401c892b9bc549847dfc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy Posted 21 June , 2020 Share Posted 21 June , 2020 I have just been reading At Ypres with Best-Dunkley by Thomas Floyd, and he mentions the Prison as providing billets for the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers in June 1917, particularly in the 2nd Chapter, entitled "The Prison". In one of his letters home, written from one of the cells, he describes getting back to the Prison after a visit to the town thus: But we got inside the Prison safe and sound , and here I now am writing this while the shells are flying and our guns stationed in the city are speaking. The top of this building is in ruins as shells are constantly hitting it, but we are down below, and we have wire-netting to catch the falling debris. A few pages later he says: ...we managed to get all the way back to the Prison without a single casualty.I can tell you we were very happy when we were safely inside. To think that one should look to the cells of a prison as a haven of refuge! When they returned to Ypres on 1st July after a period of training at Westbecourt, however, it was decided that the place was no longer safe and they were billeted elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRC Kevin Posted 22 June , 2020 Share Posted 22 June , 2020 The Asylum is still there today, conveniently located next door to the mental hospital Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Blanchard Posted 2 February , 2022 Share Posted 2 February , 2022 (edited) The female asylum sometimes referred to as the Red Asylum was taken over from the French in February 1915 and used as a dressing station initially by the 84th FA of the 28th Division then by the field ambulances of the 5th Division from early April. David Edited 2 February , 2022 by David_Blanchard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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