PoW Punishment

[PhilB]

Picture shows 2 British PoWs being punished for stealing. Not dissimilar to the British punishment of tying to a wheel. Their footwear looks unusual.

[yellow]

Looks like a rather light punishment for the crime. I cannot say I blame these lads for trying to steal soup from the kitchen, towards the end of the war many British POW's died because of malnutrition.

In my friends POW camp during WW1 you were forced to stand up straight to attention for 24 hours, if you moved you were hit by the rifle of the guard. That was just for being cheeky to a German NCO.

Its a shame that many historians have neglected to document the life of British POW's, they appear to be so often overshadowed by their WW2 counterparts.

[owilki1984]

In my friends POW camp during WW1 you were forced to stand up straight to attention for 24 hours, if you moved you were hit by the rifle of the guard. That was just for being cheeky to a German NCO.

Ive read about similar treatment, often refered to as the "silly stand". Don't think it would have appeared silly to the POWs!!

Oli

[Doug Johnson]

This is almost typical punishment for offenders that was also applied to German soldiers etc. I say almost typical as most records of it applying to British PoWs (who were subject to the same military discipline as German soldiers) say that no footwear or coat was worn, even in the coldest weather (the photo appears to show prisoners in clogs which was typical footwear - and hated), that they were stood tiptoe on bricks and after being tied the bricks were removed. One British prisoners is recorded as having died from this punishment. Strange that the punishment is for stealing soup as most British PoWs would not go anywhere near it! Also it records that it was stolen from the stores, why would it be in the stores, tinned soup? I have not seen any references to tinned soup being sent to PoWs. Is it a genuine photograph ie from a genuine event or was it staged?

Doug

[Aaron Pegram]

This is a clear depiction of the punishment "strenger arrest", the footwear being wooden clogs which some prisoners were given to replace their rotten/stolen boots.

"silly stand", as Oli mentioned, was a more passive form of punishment, and I've found that it was prevalent amongst prisoners who were NCOs. As part of the Hague Convention, NCOs were not forced to work unless they volunteered to do so (ironically, psychologists after the war found that work prevented men - mainly officers who didnt have to work - from 'barbed wire disease'). So if the NCO's didn't want to work, they were marched out on parade and stood to attention for 8 - 10 hours, quite often in the sun in summer, and exposed to the elements in winter. This would continue for days, weeks, months, until the prisoners either went on strike (in which they could be court martialled and sent on a hard work detail or solitary confinement) or broke and 'volunteered' for a work commando.

Many Australian prisoners found the latter quite amusing - and were willing to engage in the German's battle of wills. This often made them receive short shrift, one man being slashed with a sabre, others beaten, the most horrific I've come across was an Australian prisoner tied to a boiler in a small, unventilated room. He survived by laying on the floor and breathing the air from gap underneath the door!

But you're right - the illustrated punishment was no means different to Field Punishment No. 1, a form of punishment meant to demean rather than inflict pain.

A.