WW1 Schneidemuhl (Pila) and Gross Born (Borne Sulinowo) POW's

[David Sheehan]

Hi Colin,

Punishment at Schneidemühl in 1916 was fairly harsh and caught the attention of neutral inspects. See McCarthy 'The Prisoner of War in Germany', p.94 and the reports Doug has listed. Many of the Australian prisoners captured in 1917 were listed as being at to Schneidemühl at some time, including my great-grandfather 6777 Pte Oswald McClelland, 13 Bn. Whether or not they were actually at the parent camp is difficult to tell. Many of the prisoners listed as being at Schneidemühl were most probably attached to the camp's satellite arbeitskommandos, however their Red Cross parcels would have been processed through the main camp.

There are 55 hits under the search-term 'Schneidemuhl' in the Australian War Memorial collections database, most (if not all) of them prisoner portraits taken in Schneidemühl camp and donated to the AWM by the Secretary of the Australian Red Cross Society, Ms Elizabeth Chomley.

Cheers,

Aaron

Dear Aaron

My grandfather mentions in his memoirs of the time at Schneidemuhl that he was on an arbeitskommando with a certain Ernest Wood, an Australian. Is it possible that there is a mention of him on the Australian Memorial site. I am not sure how to go about this, so any help from you would be welcome. All pieces of the puzzle.

Thanks for any efforts

Dave Sheehan

[colinalsbury]

Long time since I last commented on this posting of yours on the www. I noticed a name Jim Wiltshire on the list, without mention of rank or service unit. This Jim is mentioned a number of times by my grandfather Joe Garvey as a very good friend. They were sent together as interpreters to the officers' camp at Daenholm on the German Baltic coast in August 1918. Do you know anything else about Wiltshire?

Dave Sheehan

Two images of extracts from the camp newspaper relating to Joe Garvey and Jim Wiltshire can now be found at

www.alsbury.co.uk/ww1/pila/images

Colin Alsbury

[colinalsbury]

Colin,

I have checked my list of camps, Cecile's site, the LLT and FO383 and there is no reference to Gross Born.

Doug

I've put an image of the postcard of Gross Born that my grandfather brought back at

www.alsbury.co.uk/ww1/grossborn/

- now Borne Sulinowo

Colin

[David Sheehan]

Two images of extracts from the camp newspaper relating to Joe Garvey and Jim Wiltshire can now be found at

www.alsbury.co.uk/ww1/pila/images

Colin Alsbury

Dear Colin

Many thanks for the two paper clippings, which gave me a small window onto the world of my grandfather Joe and his friend Jim Wiltshire. He mentions Jim's banjo playing in his memoirs, but I never thought I would see a newpaper review of it!

Again, if there is any way I can help with information about Pila/Schneidemuhl, I would be more than willing to oblige.

Kind regards

Dave Sheehan

[David Sheehan]

Hi Colin,

Punishment at Schneidemühl in 1916 was fairly harsh and caught the attention of neutral inspects. See McCarthy 'The Prisoner of War in Germany', p.94 and the reports Doug has listed. Many of the Australian prisoners captured in 1917 were listed as being at to Schneidemühl at some time, including my great-grandfather 6777 Pte Oswald McClelland, 13 Bn. Whether or not they were actually at the parent camp is difficult to tell. Many of the prisoners listed as being at Schneidemühl were most probably attached to the camp's satellite arbeitskommandos, however their Red Cross parcels would have been processed through the main camp.

There are 55 hits under the search-term 'Schneidemuhl' in the Australian War Memorial collections database, most (if not all) of them prisoner portraits taken in Schneidemühl camp and donated to the AWM by the Secretary of the Australian Red Cross Society, Ms Elizabeth Chomley.

Cheers,

Aaron

Hallo Aaron

Just wanted to react to your entry above. My maternal grandfather, Joseph Garvey (1st Scots Guards) was interned in Schneidemuhl from November 1914 to August 1918. I know for a fact, from his memoirs of life in the camp at Schneidemuhl that he was on an arbeitskommando twice with Australians (among other nationalities such as Canadians). He suggests that the arbeitskommandos were always recruited from the main camp, but could last for an indefinite period. His experiences was usually of fairly short periods, since he was strangely attached to camp life, being a keen sportsman (football and rugby) and appreciating the camp theatricals. The fact that my grandfather showed an ability with learning languages made his stay at the camp more pleasant, although he has one or two fairly harrowing tales to tell, of sickness and violence at the hands of the German guards.

Hope these couple of snippets of info help.

Regards

Dave Sheehan

[Aurel Sercu]

Hello David,

Your last posting was a while ago, but I hope that you are around and can still be reached. (Cannot send you a PM... :-( )

A simple question : can you let me know (in a posting or via PM ?) when your grandad Joe Garvey died ? Mid 1960s ?

Aurel

[David Sheehan]

Dear Aurel

Typically, I have not been on this site for a long time, before today it was last June !

My grandad Joe Garvey died in October 1962, at least I could check but this is going from memory. I remember how deep an impression his being laid out made on me at the time, for I was just 8 years old. He died of cancer, at a fairly ripe old age. It could have been so different, given his various war experiences, both at First Ypres, in October 1914 and being shot at point blank range by a German camp guard. His cigarette case, in which he kept photos of near and dear ones, saved his life.

Please write back to me if you see this message. I am so curious to find out how you knew my grandad.

Dave

Hello David,

Your last posting was a while ago, but I hope that you are around and can still be reached. (Cannot send you a PM... :-( )

A simple question : can you let me know (in a posting or via PM ?) when your grandad Joe Garvey died ? Mid 1960s ?

Aurel

[egbert]

If you would like to have many impressions how Gross Born looked like, there is a wealth of information, both text and images using google search engine. You simply have to type in the German double s, so enter : Groß Born

tons of pictures but mostly from the 40s. The area though certainly did not change from 1918 to 1940, only new barracks built in the 30s. Also a great and detailed 1:25000 map

http://amzpbig.com/maps/2465_Gross_Born_1934.jpg

Just dare to google........

[fritz]

Hi,

here are two pics of Schneidemühl POW-camp in 1918.

Fritz

The other one

[Guest Frances schembri]

I have just discovered a family member who was interred at Schneidemuhl. He was Clifton William Manns, No. 2744, who enlisted in NSW, Australia; he was captured on 30/5/16 at Sailly and by 17th August the family had word that he was interned at Ofgl Scheidemuhl, Germany

[wingrove]

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=214062&p=2119957

A few photos from the war memorial in the graveyard near the camp in Pila Poland

[G661]

Sorry, i dont want to hijack the thread, my great uncle Albert Reader from Folkestone, Kent was taken prisoner of war in 1914, he was a L/cpl with the Royal Irish (previously Buffs), i've no idea where he was at the time of being captured or to which pow camp he was taken, any help is much appricated.

Paul