Gustrow Bing boys

[Doug Johnson]

Jen,

If you are interested in the story of the Wolf then "The Wolf" by Richard Guilliat and Peter Hohnen; Bantam Press; London; 2009, is an excellently researched book on the subject and by far the best available.

There are a few personal accounts including;

Das schwarze Schiff. Kriegs- und Kaperfahrten des; Witschetzky, Fritz; The story of the voyage of the German raider Wolf by the gunnery officer. In German and only available second hand.

Five Months on a German Raider; F G Trayes; Internet Download; Trayes was captured on the Hitachi Maru and released after the Ingotz Mendi ran aground off Denmark.

S M S Wolf; Von Fregattenkapitan Nerger; August Scherl GMBH; Berlin 1918 The story of the German Raider Wolf by the Captain. Only available second hand. In German though there are some English translations available.

Ten months on a German Raider; Cpt John Stanley Cameron; Internet Download

The Amazing Cruise of the German Raider Wolf; Captain A Donaldson; New Century Press Pty Limited; Sydney 1941 An account by the Captain of the Matunga. Usually freely available second hand and I think available on the internet.

The Cruise of the Raider Wolf; Roy Alexander; Noontide Press; USA 1991. The Wireless operator of the Wairuna. Widely available

To Kiel on the German Raider Wolf and After; A H F Clarke Clarke was taken prisoner on the Hitachi Maru and was on the Ingotz Mendi when it went aground off Denmark. Only available second hand and not easy to find.

A book to avoid is;

Raider Wolf; The voyage of Captain Nerger 1916-1918; Edwin P Hoyt; Paul S Eriksson, Inc, New York, 1974

I have all of them apart from Clarke.

Doug

[julian35]

Well this is wonderful. I wondered what became of the memorial statue; sad to see it in such disrepair. My mother(now 86), daughter of Albert L. Pruden, told me today that the statue was created by the prisoners of the camp. That is what her father had told her. I have attached the Google Earth photo of the coordinates listed in the previous posting. Presumably the memorial is in the small set of trees just north of the shooting range? Would that be correct? In further conversation with my mother, she distinctly remembers her father telling her that he saw prisoners being crucified at the camp. Literally "nailed" to a cross. Do you have any knowledge of this? She can remember nothing more of the conversation, but that vivid image stuck with her.

[julian35]

Hi Doug,

I'm trying to find information about my great-grandfather, Cpl Harold LePlastrier Jackson, and I found your forum through Google. Is there any chance you have more information about him, or a photo in which he has been identified? I'm Australian, living in Berlin, Germany, and I'm also curious to know if there would be any further information in Gustrow, or maybe a memorial at the location of the camp, to know if it would be worthwhile making the trip there. I speak German, so any further information you have in German is fine with me.

Thanks so much, and look forward to hearing from you!

Jen

Jen, here is a picture of your great-grandfather that my grandfather was given. The front and of course the back where Harold had signed it.

[julian35]

Hello Doug, Well I am only a couple of years late in replying! Better late than never I suppose, sorry. You asked about my grandfather , Albert Pruden, and what regiment he was in. I believe this will answer your question.

[Doug Johnson]

Julian,

Nice to hear from you again.

Some answers;

Yes the memorial was made in the camp. Money was raised to pay for it by way of the concerts, some of which were dedicated to that.

This appears to be a photograph of it in production with smaller artist models (I forget the name for them).

The crucifixion was actually a German field punishment. It was practised at many camps though its use at Guestrow was way beyond its normal application. The punishment consisted of being tied to a post for a few hours at a time and normally it was humiliation more than anything else. As used at Guestrow it was excessive as it was carried out in inclement weather (the prisoners greatcoats and boots having been removed) and the prisoners were first made to stand on bricks which were then removed leaving the prisoner suspended on the ropes. There is an illustration called "Death of an Englishman" which recalls the tragic death of William McGrath of the Coldstream Guards who died as a result of this punishment. The IWM has a copy of it and I had a scan (of a different copy) which I have mislaid for the present.

There are reports on line of the early events at Guestrow here. These include descriptions of this punishment and the death of McGrath.

Doug

PS I have about 140 photographs of the camp and its inhabitants. You clearly have some that I don't have copies of. Any chance you have a photograph of Forbes Checketts?

[julian35]

Thanks Doug, what a wonderful link to the letters and accounts of what occurred in the camp. It would seem that conditions improved by the time my grandfather may have arrived. Do you have any idea on where and when he may have been captured? I am assuming he was in the camp until the end of the war. I have found only one photo that may be who you are looking for. I cannot make out the signature , but it may be Checketts by the look of it. Otherwise, I can not be of help on this. The other signatures that I read on other photos are very clear.

[australis]

Julian,

Thanks so much for posting this. My PM unfortunately isn't working. Please send me a quick email at meriki_08@hotmail.com.

Cheers,

Jen

[Doug Johnson]

Julian,

Thanks for posting the picture, it is of Checketts, 1/Berkshire Regiment. He was taken early in the war, probably in 1914. Along with Phelps he was awarded the MSM for work in Guestrow. The only image I have of him is in the group photograph in post 3.

With regards your Grandfather I would suspect March/April 1918 was his date of capture. Statistically it is the most likely time as more prisoners were taken at that time than during the rest of the entire war up to that time. Also I have no references for him earlier than the Bing Boys concerts though you do have earlier ones; however, none are prior to 1918.

Unfortunately the information you posted in post 29 is meaningless to me as units are not my strong point. Is this the Lincolnshire Regiment? Also it states he only served in this unit for one year and was discharged in October 1917 which is prior to his time in Guestrow. There is no Albert Pruden in the MIC index for the Lincolnshire Regiment so presumably he did not serve overseas with them. I guess he moved to the RAMC at this time, assuming he was the Albert L Pruden in the RAMC. If he was RAMC it was the practice to return medics though there were quite long delays. O'Grady, RAAMC arrived in Guestrow in March 1918 but was not repatriated until October 1918 so it is quite possible that, if your grandfather was taken during the spring offensive, that he could still be at Guestrow at the end of the war.

Doug

[vertigo]

Hi,

I'm the admin of the above-mentioned page (now: http://www.guestrow-history.de/kriegsgefangenlager-bockhorst/english-francais). I was born in Güstrow and lived there for 25 years. To understand the poor condition of the monument at the cemetery, you must look back in the history of this area. After use as a prisoner of war camp the barracks where used until 1921 for refugees from the East. Many Germans had to leave areas in the east, which had been given to Poland or Russia after WW I. After this most of the barracks were torn down, but a few were used then for the small airport of the Nazi Luftwaffe that was based on the flat part of the area (Now used as a glider field.). After World War II, the whole area was used by Russian troops as a training ground. Until the withdrawal of these troops in 1990 the area was not available for the German population, restricted no-go-area! The Russians used the monument as a target, a numerous bullet holes can still be seen on the fragments. This is the main reason why it is so destroyed. Even graffiti in Russian letters can be seen on the broken parts of the monument. Near the cemetery built by the Russians a shooting range for pistols and rifles. This facility is still used by a shooting club, you can see it in the Google earth photo.

After the End of the GDR (DDR) the area was kept closed because of the high burden of unexploded ordnance and remnants of ammunition. I was able to enter the cemetery in 2008 for first time. For over 60 years the cemetery on the hill was not maintained. I don't think the monument has been moved. Only the paths are no longer recognizable, the crosses are blown away and the trees grew. So it looks completely different. The meadow around was declared a nature reserve.

My photos are taken in winter 2009, so it still looks a bit more unfriendly than in reality. Today you can found a waysign on the parking place in the industriearea on the main road and you can go by feet to the cemetary. The cemetery is the only remaining that you can find from the camp.

In German sources information on the camp are very hard to find, but a lot of intresting things I have read here in the forum. Thanks to all who share their knowledge here. But I have a few questions to the camp, perhaps they can be answered.

On a small memorial stone is the number of dead reported that lie buried on the cemetery. These are the numbers: 573 from Russia, 150 from France, 80 Germans, 64 from Romania, 42 from Italy, 20 from Belgium and 10 from Poland. One of my photos from the camp shows a funeral with a number of soldiers in British uniforms. Are also soldiers from Britain and its allies buried there?

Is there a map or floor plan of the buildings of the camp? I have no idea how big it really was. There are no traces in the landscape and the photographs show only parts of the camp. Perhaps one of the prisoners has drawn such a thing?

Thomas

Edited 16 November , 2019 by vertigo
new webadress forthe link

[Doug Johnson]

Thomas,

Nice to hear from you and to hear that someone local is taking an interest. Regarding British prisoners buried in the cemetery, there were 59 buried there and these were all removed in the 1920's and re-interned in Hamburg (see CWGC site here. There was a plan of the cemetery at one time but I have not managed to locate a copy. The American inspectors who visited the camp usually tried to obtain a plan. They managed to obtain many plans but again I have not been able to find any of them; perhaps there may be a copy in the US if not from the time of the inspections, at least from the time they were in charge.

The funeral photograph is the same as one I have and is the only funeral photograph I have from this camp (NB my grandfather is on it). I have tried to identify whose funeral it is but without any success. As to the date, if the photograph is no 132 (same as mine) then it would be a very early one taken 1916 or earlier. However, once they got into the 8 thousands they had a habit of missing of the first number so it could be 8132 which would put it either Jan/Feb/March 1918 which would agree with the posting date of yours (mine is undated).

This site is of interest if you are not already aware of it. It explains how one of the huts was purchased for use as a catholic church and that the bell and the altar from the church in the camp are still in use.

The Australian War Memorial site has a number of photographs of the camp from when it was a Russian PoW camp run by the Americans.

I have various descriptions of the camp from the inspections. If you want copies of them let me know.

Doug

PS is the memorial now protected in any way?

[vertigo]

Doug,

thanks for reply. I'm not the only one which is interested in Germany in the History of the POW camp. A local amateur historian (Ulrich Schirow) researched since the fall of the Wall between East and West the history and especially the military history of the city of Güstrow; the camp is a large part in this. His newspaper articles were the beginning of my interest in the POW. He tried for years to publish a book about it, but it lacks funding.

So it is also with the camp cemetery: The grass is mowed, the fence will be repaired and the weed is removed from the paths; but thats all. The WW I does not take a large space in the memory of the Germans. The WW II and its consequences are felt much more for the most people. Already around 1940 the camp was deep in the memory. A friend of my Grandmother has told me the children were using the cemetery in this time as a playground, they called it the "Franzosenfriedhof" (French cemetary). .... and then came the time of the Russians.

Today, the city has little money. The industry there is largely perished, and so is the largest source of revenue the tourism. Güstrow is a very old city and so the money flows as first in the historic center and the old castle. For the old cemetery, far from town and far away from the main roads, hardly anyone interrested.

I know the site of the Catholic Church with the history of the bell and the altar, thanks. But I'm interested in the descriptions of the camp from the inspections. The only description that I have is from a German newspaper from 1914. This is a text full of anti-British propaganda and the description of a beautiful summer camp. So I think it's faraway from reality.

One question more: Know you the period which the camp for the russians runs by the Americans?

Thomas

PS I hope my English is fairly understandable, since the schooltimes I have not written so a large text in this language ... some words ar deeply lost in my brain!

[Doug Johnson]

Thomas,

No problem with your English, it is far better than my German! I took German at school for a few weeks but some idiots decided to be disruptive in class so we all got banned!

The Americans took over the camp probably from the beginning of 1919. It is possible that the camp was also used for displaced Germans at the same time as the camp two separate compounds. The American involvement in the Russian PoW problem is described in Herbert Hoover and the Russian Prisoners of World War I; Edward F Willis; Stanford University Press; California; 1951. They were aware of the plight of the Russian PoWs and made plans for their assistance before the war ended.

The following is a description from Cd 7861; Reports by United States Officials on the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians at Certain Places of Detention in Germany., Miscellaneous No 11 (1915); H.M.S.O., London;

Cd 7861

Güstrow in Mecklenburg

The camp is situated at Premierburg, in pine woods, about 5 kilometers from the city of Güstrow. The whole establishment is new, and is built to accommodate 26,000 prisoners. At the time of my visit there were in it only 6,000, of whom about 300 were British, although it has contained as many as 21,000 (600 British) at one time. It is used as a distributing camp, parties being drafted from it continuously to go to other camps where agricultural labour can find employment, or where work is to be done in the way of public improvements. Formerly the prisoners were housed in tents, but during the early winter they were all transferred to solid newly-built wooden barracks, lighted by electricity and heated. Generally the British soldiers occupy separate rooms in these barracks, accommodating from 60 to 65, but as men are continually coming and going, a few of them share rooms with soldiers of other nationalities. Senior non-commissioned officers live together, about a dozen in a room. The rooms are well filled, but do not appear to be overcrowded. The free space outside the barracks is large, with ample room for exercise and games of all kinds are played. The bathing and washing facilities are good, the men being obliged to bathe once a week, but permitted to do so as often as they like. The latrines are fair. They are at some distance from the barracks, disinfected daily and emptied as often as necessary. The lazarettes seemed good. In them was a relatively large number of sick, owing no doubt to the fact that so many of the well men originally brought to the camp had been sent off on working parties. There were several cases of dysentery and typhoid among the British soldiers and there had been about 30 deaths among them since the camp was opened last summer as the result of wounds or sickness. Patients in the lazarette had a special dietary and appeared to be satisfied with their treatment by the German doctors. In regard to the food generally there were the usual complaints regarding its character and quantity and the quality of the bread. Cooks of all nationalities are employed under German supervision, who told me that the quality of the material furnished is good. The prisoners themselves control the quantity furnished and are able to assure themselves that they receive the full ration. Meat is given every second day. The canteen was about as usual. The postal department was well organized. I was able to test its card system by referring to the card of a British soldier who had been in the camp to my knowledge and had been sent elsewhere. British soldiers told me that their parcels – with few exceptions – had arrived promptly and in good order and that they were opened in their presence. Clothing is furnished when required, if asked for. Much of the clothing for distribution among the prisoners in this and other camps is made here from cloth brought from Belgium. There are several work rooms, and most of the men who have trades can find something to occupy their time and can earn a little money.

Most of the British soldiers spoke of harsh treatment immediately following their capture – at the beginning of the war – and while they were being transported to Germany, and several spoke of their having been handled roughly while in the tents. Others said that frankly that most of those who had been treated badly since they came to the camp had done something to deserve it. In any event all admitted that the present treatment was good and that there was now no discrimination against the British. British soldiers had never been called upon to do more than their fair share of the dirty work about the camp. A party of Russians had always been in charge of the latrines, voluntarily, in return for some small compensation. The spirits of the British prisoners seemed good.

There was a catholic chapel in which French priests who had been captured as combatants officiate, and on Sunday evenings a room is provided for Protestant services. The commandant told me that he was trying to arrange for visits from a Belgian clergyman.

April 10, 1915.

You probably know of these books but they are the only ones I have found that cover this camp;

Die Kriegsgefangenen in Deutschland

Kriegsgefangene Völker; Wilhelm Doegen - The only one with an illustration showing the tented camp

More to follow

Doug

[Doug Johnson]

Thomas;

From FO383 at The National Archives, Kew;

Gustrow (written end 1917)

This camp is situated in pine woods, about 5 kilometres from the town of Gustrow, in Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Prisoners began to arrive here in September 1914, the only accommodation then being in large tents, in which the Russians, French, British, Belgians and Algerians were all herded together. By February 1915 wooden huts had been erected into which the prisoners were transferred. Accommodation was finally provided for 26,000 men, but the camp has never been more than partially full, and the numbers have steadily decreased as more and more of the men were drafted out to working camps. During the first winter there were 600 British out of a total of 21,000; by April 1915 these figures had fallen to 300 and 6,000 respectively; while in October 1916 there were only 86 British out of a total of 1,632.

The conditions were at first were very bad, overcrowding, dirt and vermin, bad and insufficient food (which has been complained of throughout) and no proper sanitary arrangements. No clothing was provided, though many of the prisoners had had their overcoats taken away from them or stolen and what they were wearing was mostly in a bad state, so that there was much suffering from cold, exposure and frostbite. There was much bullying and brutal treatment of the prisoners by the German N.C.O’s, especially in the first six months. One form of punishment was tying prisoners to a stake with a brick under their heals, which was then kicked away, and a statement signed by seven prisoners who were transferred to Switzerland, testifies that a private of the Coldstream Guards died while tied to a stake. Other instances of cruelty are given in the same statement, which was taken by Captain Knight-Bruce, who believes the witness to be reliable.

Dogs were kept and set upon prisoners who broke the rules, several men were wounded by bayonets and there was much striking and knocking about and general ill treatment by the German unteroffiziers.

In the winter of 1914 – 15, owing to exposure and insufficient food and clothing, there was much illness, and hospital arrangements being almost non-existent, many deaths occurred. One witness gives the number as 100 in ten weeks, and 300 subsequently – another says 600 of various nationalities

The hospital arrangements were improved after February 1915. Two RAMC officers arrived in that month, and a Russian doctor and Russian orderlies and mentioned as being there between August 1915 and May 1916, and two French doctors in January 1916. The German doctors and orderlies are complained of as giving little or no attention to the patients.

On the whole, conditions were much improved after the arrival of Colonel von Matheson as Commandant and captain Kuts his adjutant, in the spring of 1915, except for food, which was if anything worse as time went on. Very little clothing was served out, except to working parties, and it was of very poor material.

The English and Russian prisoners were at first treated more harshly than the others, but latterly no distinction was made. In December 1914 the Commandant separated all the Irishmen from the English – two who refused to go were tied to a post and beaten.

Letters and parcels were delivered regularly after February –March 1915 except in punishment cases, when they were stopped. No games were allowed at first but afterwards football was played.

More to follow.

Doug

[Doug Johnson]

Thomas,

Amongst my list of working camps attached to the head camp is Ludwig Rosemann, 25 Gertrude Strasse, Güstrow. I have a full description of it (not yet transcribed) but there is no indication of the type of work being carried out there. Is there any way of finding out?

Doug

[Doug Johnson]

“Prisoners of the Great War” by Carl P Dennett, P150

Camp Güstrow:

Güstrow is a “Stammlager” well organized. There is a side track from the railroad station to the camp and packages are delivered directly inside the post office. After two days’ delay, the parcels are distributed. Drinking water is not good but it is not dangerous. No wash-rooms in the camp; bath rooms are large, clean, and open all the week. There is a large theatre and a cinema. Prisoners may go to a public house outside the camp where they may purchase lemonade at a reasonable price. Canteens are established in the camp, but sell nothing but toilet articles. Libraries, four in number, English, French, German, Russian. Discipline not hard. Colonel in command is a good man and has issued special orders that both the Americans and French must be well treated. Blocks are not separated. Prisoners announce Güstrow one of the best German camps.

Doug

More to come

[Doug Johnson]

(MS in the Imperial War Museum)

British Post office Güstrow

British post in Güstrow first came into existence about the middle of Nov 1914 by the arrival of a small handful of letters. These were followed later by parcels & money orders. At this time there were something like 2,000 British prisoners in the camp.

From the commencement, a staff of British prisoners have controlled the distribution of letters & parcels but it was not until March 1916 that the card register was in charge of a British prisoner, with what I consider were disastrous results. It was not until March 1915 that British prisoners had responsible control of money orders. Here again this work had previously been done by the French.

The original staff in the British post consisted of three prisoners, one of whom was interpreter. As the number of parcels arriving increased, so the staff was increased, until at the time of writing it numbers twenty seven British prisoners.

On an average, 14,000 parcels are received per month & 11,000 are readdressed, listed & despatched per month. Until March 1917 this work, in addition to the sorting & readdressing of a considerably larger number of letters & the readdressing of a money orders, was done with a staff which never exceeded more than 10 men. Since the spring of 1916 all parcels brought to & sent away from the camp have had to be transported on a small gauge railway in hand trucks. This work also had to be done by the above mentioned number of men.

On March 1st 1917 the post office staff was increased owing to the fact that every parcel had to be opened & the contents strictly censored by the German authorities, this entailing a great deal of extra work. Later more men were added to the staff to serve as wagon pushers. This left the original staff free for office work only.

Parcels & letters are sent each week to between 200 and 300 different addresses.

Men working outside the lager on farms etc are never settled in one place for any length of time as a rule but are moved about from one village to another, thus entailing changing of addresses. As notification of a change of address is never given until the man or men have actually moved this causes a good number of parcels to be returned from the old address to Güstrow to be readdressed, parcels never being sent on from the old address to the new one.

Two British prisoners are always employed at the station where the railway wagons containing the parcels arrive, their duty being to unload & sort parcels.

Parcels for British prisoners arrive from Holland in wagons along with parcels for Belgian and Russian prisoners. Parcels of bread from Switzerland arrive in wagons along with parcels for French prisoners from Frankfurt. The parcels of bread from Denmark come in wagons from Berlin along with French parcels. All readdressed parcels sent from Güstrow camp are taken in hand trucks from the camp to the station where they are unloaded, sorted & placed in sacks & then despatched to their respective destinations.

When parcels arrive at Güstrow, for men who are not on the lager roll, enquiry cards giving their full particulars as to name, regimental number etc are sent to the enquiry office for prisoners of war at Berlin & are returned giving, when the man is known, the address of the camp in which he is. When a man is neither on the Güstrow or Berlin rolls, the parcel is handed over to the British help committee in the camp to be used for the benefit of newly captured men. At the same time, notification is sent to the sender of the parcel.

David B Pryde

Pte. London Scottish Regiment

Chief of English post 1915-1917

June 1917

More to come (but not today)

[Doug Johnson]

The innauguration of the monument took place on 21st April 1918 at 11.00am;

[Doug Johnson]

[vertigo]

Doug,

thanks for the interesting text files.

To the workplace outside the camp in the Gertruden-Strasse 25 I can give at the moment no information. The road is located in the city, so it can't be a farm. In my old address books from the years 1935 and 1939, no one lives there with that name. At that time, the number 25 seems to be only a residential building; no company is registered there. But Rosemann may be a Jewish name, he could have left Germany at these bad years.

I will contact the Municipal Archives of Güstrow, they also have address books and directories of population from previous years, maybe we can clarify that.

Are you interested in the newspaper article of 1914 about the camp, I could translate him on next weekend?

Thomas

[Doug Johnson]

Thomas,

There are a couple more documents I have yet to transcribe so these will follow. I am certainly interested in the 1914 article, it could well have seemed like a holiday camp if the weather was OK. Unfortunately the winter of 1914-15 seems to have been a bad one, the tents leaked, there were no groundsheets and they were short of clothes so life was hard and some did not survive it.

FO383/390

Gertrude-Strasse 25

Ludwig Rosemann

Berlin, February 20, 1918

Sir,

I visited this working commando unannounced on February (1?)5, 1918. no previous visit had been made.

I found one British prisoner only amongst prisoners of other nationalities employed here. The British prisoner in question, viz:- Pte Henry Cavanagh, Kings Royal Rifles, No. 5339, has been here since May 1917. He is most contented with the treatment. His quarters are good, and also the food, and he is compensated for his work at the rate of 35 Pfg. Per day. He has no complaints whatsoever. His letters and parcels arrive regularly, and clothes, etc., are sent to him by his regimental care committee in England.

He made the request to be allowed to go back to the parent camp every Sunday in order to take a bath. I took this question up with the employer, who has no objection and who will try and obtain the necessary permission from the commandant. I also had an opportunity of bringing the matter to the attention of the Camp Inspection authorities who promised to see that Cavanagh’s request would be acceded to.

I am, sir,

Your obedient servant.

A R Römer

From this report there was a business there of some sort as there were numerous PoWs employed. From the rate paid it was not skilled work.

Doug

[vertigo]

Doug,

on my next visit in Güstrow early august i will make a photo of Gertrudenstrasse 25, it's an old street with old buildings; in my memory it could be a building with a large backyard. Mr. Rosemann could be a craftsman. But let us wait whether the archive will find something.

The Newspaper article comes on the weekend.

Thomas

[Doug Johnson]

Thomas,

First part of a lengthy report.

Dr. Webster and Mr. Ayrault to Mr. Grew

October 18, 1916.

Sir,

We have the honour to submit to you herewith a report of a visit of inspection made by us on the 17th October to the camp for interned prisoners of war at Guestrow.

Previous Inspection;- This camp was visited by Mr. Jackson on the 10th April, 1915, and on the 20th January, 1916, and by Mr. Osborne on the 12th February, 1916.

Number of Prisoners of War;- There are 49,000 prisoners on the books of this camp, most of whom are at working-camps in the surrounding country. At the time of inspection only 1,632 of the prisoners were in the parent camp. These included:-

311 French soldiers

86 English ,,

1,038 Russian ,,

185 Belgian ,,

1 Serbian ,,

2 French civilians

5 Russian ,,

3 Belgian ,,

1 Russian Doctor

There are thirty non-commissioned officers among the 86 English interned here, of whom 11 had been transferred from Osterade within the last two weeks. Serjeant Major Sweeney, the Queens is the ranking non-commisioned officer. There is one officer detained here, Lieutenant Adams, who had been promoted from the ranks just before being captured, but who desires to remain here in preference to being sent to a camp for officer prisoners of war.

Description of the Camp;- The camp is situated near a railroad, about 5 kilom. from Guestrow. It is composed of three divisions two for prisoners and one for the German guard. The camp can accommodate 25,000 prisoners, but at the present time only five of the ten blocks in the central division are being utilised. There are ten barracks in each block. The entire camp is surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and one block is divided from the other by a similar fence. The men have free access to all parts of the camp, and each prisoner is provided with a card giving his nationality, his fitness for work, etc, which is to be shown on requisition by the German authorities.

There are trenches about the camp for the disposal of the surface drainage, and concrete sewers provide a sufficient system for carrying off waste water etc.

Barracks;- The barracks are well built with double walls, and are divided into two parts so that each room is about 50 feet by 35 feet, with a 12 foot wall and a 15 foot apex. Twelve windows provide sufficient light and ventilation. There are wooden bunks in sections of four, double tier, with thick straw mattresses in excellent condition, and each man has two blankets. There are two stoves in each room for heating and for the cooking of the contents of packages. There are about 50 men in each barrack. Serjeant-Major Sweeney occupies a room with four others. The remainder of the British non-commissioned officers share rooms with non-commissioned officers of other nationalities, but are not quartered with privates.

Latrines;- In each building at a sufficient distance from the barrack are latrines for each block. Each building contains eighteen places with seats without covers, four of them being partitioned off at the sides. They are of the cistern system, and are cleaned out by pumping whenever necessary. Chloride of lime is used as a disinfectant every morning. The latrines are unobjectionable. Opposite the latrines are separate rooms for urinals, which are of the wall trench system, and are cleaned each day. The floors of the urinals on the afternoon of inspection were wet, but there was evidence of sufficient disinfectant having been used, and otherwise the urinals were unobjectionable.

TBC

Doug

[vertigo]

Doug,

I have news from the archive: the correct name is Ludwig Rossmann. He was a horse dealer; he has a number of stalls for horses and probably also ran a blacksmith. Presumably he also had pasture land outside the city.

I have a other question: In some reports is told of a private railway siding from the main line to the camp, where the new prisoners arrived. I don't mean the narrow gauge railway in the camp itself. Others say the prisoners are arrived at the station Güstrow-Priemerburg, and then go by feet to the camp. Do you know anything about it?

Thomas

[Doug Johnson]

Part 2

Baths;- At one side of the compound there is one building for bathing and for the disinfection of clothes. The men undress in one room and after their clothes are numbered, pass to the showers, of which there are fifty-six supplied with hot water. After bathing, the men proceed to a dressing-room, where their clothes are returned to them after having been sterilized with steam under pressure in two autoclaves. Leather belts, shoes, and other articles which might be spoiled by heat are disinfected with powder. Baths are compulsory once every week, and no more frequent bathing is allowed..

Washing facilities;- The laundry is in a separate house near the baths. Here there are long troughs, which the men may use whenever they wish to wash their clothes. There are rooms for the drying of clothes, and in another room the mattresses are washed and renovated. In each block is a hand pump, where the men obtain water for the cooking of the contents of their packages, and for the washing of faces and hands. It was stated by the men that for the latter purpose in some cases there were only five basins for each barrack. When this was called to the notice of the commandant he stated that this matter would receive attention.

Kitchens;- At the present time only three kitchens are being used, and we visited two of these, which are similar in construction and arrangement. In one of these the staff is composed of twenty-seven prisoners, including five cooks. Three British are employed in this kitchen, and there are also three in the second kitchen visited. There are three large kettles and no ranges. The kitchen was found to be clean and orderly. We tasted the food for the midday meal, and found it to be quite palatable and nutritious. The men said that the pickled meat was often in poor condition, but the commandant of the camp stated that this meat always has a peculiar odour and taste, which might cause the prisoners to believe that it was spoiled. We were not able to sample the meat, as we inspected the camp on a “meatless day,” but the commandant assured us that the meat was in good condition. The menu of the camp diet is appended to this report. The British usually take the coffee, and a small proportion of them take the midday meal in order to supplement the food from their packages. The bread is made at the camp bakery described in a previous report. The food is eaten in the barracks, where there are facilities for cooking food from packages.

Canteens;- There are two canteens, one of which was visited. A firm in Güstrow has the contract for stocking the canteens, but so much food has been received by the prisoners in packages that of late the canteens have been used but little by the British, and the supplies have dwindled in variety and amount. The only articles of food for sale in the canteen which we visited are onions, herrings, and cheese, for which a reasonable price is charged. Soft drinks are provided and light wines may be bought every other day. We saw an extensive price-list which was amended to the 1st of September. The prices were reasonable, but the list failed to correspond to the articles contained in the canteen. On requesting the commandant that a greater variety of foodstuffs be for sale in the canteen he stated that it would be impossible to increase the supply.

Bazaar;- In one corner of the camp is a bazaar which is very well stocked with a variety of articles, including musical instruments, pipes, tooth-paste, chains, tumblers, brushes, etc. The prices charged are slightly above those in the town, and the proceeds go to the benefit of the camp.

Packages;- The men stated that the packages arrive regularly and in reasonable condition. There are two British represented on the staff in the parcel room. The organisation seems to be excellent, and 60,000 package a month are censored and disposed of here.

Mail;- The mail was stated to arrive regularly and in good time. There are eight British represented on the staff. 2,500,000 letters passed through this post office for censorship and distribution during the last year.

“Liebesgaben”;- Sergeant-Major Sweeney with four other British are in charge of the distribution of the “Liebesgaben.” The distribution is apparently executed in an efficient manner.

Exercise;- There is a football field where we saw several prisoners playing, and others were kicking a football between the barracks. The men requested that one football and several boxing gloves be sent.

Recreation;- formerly the camp supported an excellent band and orchestra, and there was a theatre in a separate barrack, but so many of the musicians and actors have been sent out to working camps that this means of recreation has now been stopped and theatre has been converted into a café We saw several prisoners at work on a very artistic monument which is being placed in the camp graveyard. Under the charge of Sergeant-Major Sweeney is a library containing over 1,000 books in English. Many of these books are sent to several of the working camps dependent on the Guestrow parent camp.

[Doug Johnson]

Thomas,

So Rossmann was a horse dealer. I am surprised there was any horses left to trade by that time! Presumably the PoWs were acting as stable boys.

The narrow gauge railway ran from the local main line station and into the camp. I have not got a date for it's construction. It is not mentioned in the late 1916 document I am currently transcribing but Pryde states that it was there from the spring of 1916. In it's early days the wagons were hand pushed from the station (I have a photograph of it outside the camp being pushed though not with parcels on it). Later it aquired a locomotive. I have about 5 photographs showing the railway. If there was a standard gauge branch to the camp then there would be no point in constructing the narrow gauge line. I have also seen a photograph of prisoners arriving at the camp on foot (at the Imperial War Museum I think)

Doug