POW in Germany

[stephensmithbb1]

My Grandfather was taken prisoner at Mons in 1914. I have quite bit of information kindly obtained for me from Kew by a member of the forum. On one of the forms it says “Missing from… (Something I cannot read) since 24/8/14 in the field 1st Cheshire regiment “. Then an official stamp says “Unofficially Reported Prisoner of War Muste Larger Germany”. Now, if my basic schoolboy German is correct then “Lager” means compound. Can some one tell me however what “Muste Lager” may refer to?

On another sheet it says “23/1/15 WO (I assume that to be War Office) reports unofficially taken prisoner of war at Munster Germany”. Would this be a prisoner of war camp at Munster and if so can any one tell me anything about it?

[Doug Johnson]

Hi,

Lager also equals camp etc. The camp is called Munsterlager and is in Hannover. It is not to be confused with the three camps at Münster which are referred to as Münster I, II and III.

I will check my references and post some more later.

Doug

[Doug Johnson]

Report by Mr Jackson

Munster (Lager)

At Munster (Lager) there are two camps, one of which is devoted entirely to Russians and which Mr. Russell and I did not visit. In the other there are about 2,000 soldiers, principally Belgian, only 17 being British and about 60 French. This camp consists of one large compound, in which all the British live in one room together with about the same number of Belgians. Here the relations between the British and Belgians seemed cordial and the former participated in the recent celebrations of King Albert’s birthday, which the French declined to do. In this camp the barracks are well arranged and solidly built, with a view to their future use by German troops. They form the sides of a hollow square, with administration buildings and kitchens in the centre. General conditions appeared good, although there were the usual complaints in regard to the character and quantity of the food. At times there have been larger numbers of British in the camp, and of those remaining there were several who had been badly wounded and who are anxious to be exchanged. In the well arranged hospital, at a considerable distance from the camp proper, there were two Englishmen, one of whom had been wounded, while the other had recently had an operation for appendicitis. The bathing arrangements are good, but men are only permitted (compelled) to bathe once a week, as the baths (shower – hot and cold water) are outside the camp itself. Although men complained of rough handling on the way to the camp, none of the British complained of any discrimination against them since they had been in it. Some of the British soldiers are regularly employed in fatigue work in connection with cleaning the latrines, but they expressly stated that they had no complaint to make on this score, as they were glad to be in apposition to see that it was done thoroughly.

April 12, 1915

[stephensmithbb1]

Thnks for that Doug. I’ll see if I can find anything on the WWW.

[manchester regiment]

what was your grandfathers name clouter,i have a list of 300 men from the 1st cheshire regt who were reported missing,assumed POWs at mons in 1914

mack

[stephensmithbb1]

My Grandfather was 7019 PTE Albert Owen. He was a reservist, and recalled on the 8th of August 1914; captured at Mons on the 24 of August 1914.

[GrahamC]

My Grandfather was taken prisoner at Mons in 1914. I have quite bit of information kindly obtained for me from Kew by a member of the forum. On one of the forms it says "Missing from… (Something I cannot read) since 24/8/14 in the field 1st Cheshire regiment ". Then an official stamp says "Unofficially Reported Prisoner of War Muste Larger Germany". Now, if my basic schoolboy German is correct then "Lager" means compound. Can some one tell me however what "Muste Lager" may refer to?

On another sheet it says "23/1/15 WO (I assume that to be War Office) reports unofficially taken prisoner of war at Munster Germany". Would this be a prisoner of war camp at Munster and if so can any one tell me anything about it?

Only just come across this post ....

The missing word in your quote above - "Missing from… (Something I cannot read) since 24/8/14 in the field 1st Cheshire regiment" is probably Audregnies if not Elouges

This refers to the Cheshires stand with the Norfolks in which they lost about 550 men killed, wounded or missing. Your grandfather was in 'A' Compnay, under Captain A J L Duyer, who was badly wounded and also captured.

Graham

[maccmedalman]

Clouter,

Please get in touch. I have some information for you that you may find extremely interesting.

Regards

Richard

[matteyre]

my grandfather was in munster 1, where there were many russian prisoners.. does anyone know what the proportion of nationalities of prisoners would have been? he brought back russian carvings etc

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Matteyre,

Munsterlager and Munster I are different places, one in Hannover and one in Westphalia. There are other threads on the three Munster camps. The proportion of nationalities in any one camp would vary throughout the war. Early on nationalities were mixed up together but later on they were more concentrated. Also the ratio of different nationalities varied throughout the war, William Doegen's book has some good figures for the various nationalities at various times and includes the different nationalities in each head camp but only in October 1918. Bear in mind that, depending on circumstances, he may have spent very little time in the camp where he was registered and where his address states. Most prisoners were sent to work camp from the end of 1914, so much so that many of the US inspection reports for numbers in the head camps show that they were amost empty.

Doug

[matteyre]

thanks Doug

[beegeer]

Hi,

My Grandfather was John Robert Harding, SN 9105 in the 2nd Regiment , South African Infantry.

He was taken prisoner on 24/3/1918 (he was a Corporal by then) and repatriated on 3/12/1918.

What battle would he have been fighting on 24/3/1918?

How can I find out which camp he was sent to in Germany?

I have tried applying to The Red Cross in Geneva a year ago (found a form to fill in where the research costs nothing if you are a direct descendant) but they have not bothered to reply.

Thanks