Bedford Soldier Describes Experiences in Germany

The ‘Black Hole’, Lille (Fort MacDonald)

[Imperial War Museum Art.IWM ART 3760 reproduced under IWM Non Commercial Licence]

Saturday 28th December 1918: Men who have returned to Bedfordshire after spending time  as prisoners of war in Germany have been telling of their experiences. Corporal Sydney Beddall of the Bedfordshire Regiment, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Beddall of 49 Park Road, Kempston arrived back last week after spending nearly twenty months in captivity. He was taken prisoner in April 1916 during the battle of Vimy Ridge and was sent to Fort McDonald, which has been described by other prisoners as the ‘Black Hole of Lille’. He spent only five days there but witnessed appalling conditions. Over one hundred prisoners were packed into a single cell, leaving them no room to turn round and with only a small hole near the roof for ventilation. It was “indescribably dirty and verminous”,and impossible to lie down due to lack of space; sanitary arrangements were “shocking”. The prisoners were allowed out for five minutes’ exercise once a day, and their died consisted of half a slice of black bread each day, with a quantity of mangold wurzels, sliced and partly boiled in water but inedible, with the liquid from the vegetables all they had to drink. During his time there three fellow prisoners died.

Corporal Beddall was then sent to Marquion near Cambrai, where the prisoners were put to work clearing away German ammunition dumps and railway lines as the British advanced. They were “practically worked to death, and more than half starved”, starting work between 3 and 4 a.m. and continuing until late in the evening. As the British advanced the prisoners were moved back to Devain, where they received their first bath. Corporal Beddall was then told that as a non-commissioned officer he was not obliged to work and that he may be transferred to an easier camp, but was unable to get further information. He deliberately opened a superficial wound on one of his fingers, leading to blood poisoning and admittance to hospital where treatment was better.

After he was discharged he was transferred to Dulmen Camp, where the state to which Germany had been reduced was obvious. The Germans were in a state of semi-starvation, and children would come round the barbed wire enclosure and beg biscuits from prisoners who had received a parcel from England. The Germans would also give almost anything for a tablet of soap. The camp was “filthy beyond description”, and the prisoners were put with Russian prisoners who were infected with typhus. Parcels sent by Prisoners of War Associations in England were extremely welcome, especially those received from the Bedfordshire Prisoners of War Fund. He was next sent to Cottbus, where rumours that the war would soon end meant that the prisoners received better treatment and were allowed more freedom. When news of the Armistice arrived the men were told they were free to leave. A party of 750 prisoners were sent to Altdamm on the way to Stetting. The camp was filthy and verminous, with no blankets for the men. They refused to stay there and rushed the gates; 1400 men marched to Stettin, from where they were taken to Copenhagen and embarked for Hull.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 28th December 1918

Dunstable Man Killed in German Prison Camp

High Street North, Dunstable c.1910 [Z1306/36/8/8]

Sunday 22nd December 1918: A fellow prisoner reports that Private James Baxter, the husband of a Dunstable woman, was murdered at the end of September by a guard at the German prison camp where he was held at Freiburg. Private F. Bungay of the North Staffordshire Regiment reports that “While we were working the guard yelled out to Baxter, who, having a slight cold, did not hear at once, but he afterwards started to run, and being weak from want of food, stumbled at the bank. The guard then went forward and beat him with the butt of his rifle, and then shot him through the back, the bullet reaching his heart. It was awful to see a chum murdered in cold blood like that.”

Private Bungay hid behind some bushes and saw the guard leave to give the alarm and fetch the doctor. While the guard was gone he took out Baxter’s pocket book to get his address; he found a photo of Baxter with a child but had to put it back again. The affair was hushed up and guard claimed he killed Baxter in self-defence, but Bungay insists this was a lie as Baxter had his back to the guard. Private James Stewart, who has just returned to his home in Perth, says that when he arrived at Freiburg soon after the matter was being widely talked about at the camp; a number of prisoners told him that Baxter had been set upon by the guards after being accused of picking and eating blackberries he was gathering for the Germans to make tea from. Pioneer Baxter served his apprenticeship as a lithographer in Dundee, but joined up at Bedford in August 1917. He leaves a widow, the daughter of Mr. J. H. Proverbs of High Street North, Dunstable, and a young son.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 24th December 1918

Civilian Prisoner Returns from Germany

Ruhleben Prison Camp, 1917

[Imperial War Museum ART 522 reproduced under IWM Non Commercial Licence]

Monday 9th December 1918: Cyril J. Hopkins, the son of Mr. J. B. Hopkins of Broad Oak Farm, Leighton Buzzard, has returned home after spending four years as a civilian prisoner at Ruhleben in Germany. When the War started Mr. Hopkins was working in Berlin for electrical engineers A.E.G.  Initially he was ordered to report to the city’s principal gaol every third day. This continued until the end of October when the head of A.E.G announced that he was receiving many anonymous letters complaining that British employees were taking the bread out of the mouths of Germans. The British workers were then dismissed without notice. On November 6th British people living in Germany were taken to the main prison at Alexander Platz, a move which was claimed to be in retaliation for the internment of Germans in Britain.

On the afternoon of the same day he was sent by train to Ruhleben, where the prisoners were kept in uncomfortable conditions in the racing stables. The beds were dirty, and some were without blankets for months. Six men were crowded into each horse box, but thanks to exchanges of prisoners with England this number eventually fell to four. Food was at first provided by a Jewish caterer with an allowance of 6½d per head, but this was soon reduced to a daily ration of one-fifth of a loaf of heavy war bread, coffee without sugar or milk for breakfast, and thin potato soup with a little meat in it for dinner. Sometimes there was also a piece of blood sausage. Fortunately these meagre rations were supplemented by food parcels from England. The camp was extremely cold, with poor heating only turned on for short periods. In winter it was necessary either to walk about or to stay in bed to keep warm.

English newspapers were smuggled into the camp, and German newspapers were also available, leaving the prisoners in a better position to judge the progress of the war than those at home. They realised that German power was weakening, and that the morale of German soldiers was low. Last winter the state of things in Germany became “almost intolerable”. After the Armistice the former prisoners were taken by a “very cold and dirty” train from Ruhleben to Sassnitz on the Baltic, where they were handed over to the Danish Red Cross and taken to Copenhagen. When they reached Leith in Scotland they were surprised by the “colossal” reception they received. Like all repatriated prisoners, Mr. Hopkins feels a little bewildered by the sudden change, and has no desire to see Germany again for a very long time!

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer 10th December 1918

Bakers Selling Bread to German Prisoners

Chalgrave Church [Z1130/26/2]

Friday 16th August 1918: Another case involving the passing of food to German prisoners of war was heard today at the Woburn Police Court. This time Hockliffe bakers Walter Harris, aged 28, and his brother John Harris, aged 17, were charged with selling bread on June 17th to a prisoner of war at Chalgrave. John Harris was also summoned for a second offence which took place the following day. Evidence was given by Police Sergeant Dennis of Toddington, that on June 18th, as a result of something he had heard, he hid near a field where the prisoners were working at Lord’s Hill, Chalgrave. He saw John Harris drive past. Some of the prisoners whistled; Harris then turned back and served the prisoners with four half-quartern loaves. He challenged Harris, who admitted he had done wrong, but said he had sold the prisoners only four loaves although they asked for six. He also admitted serving the prisoners with bread on the previous day, when his brother Walter had been with him.

When interviewed Walter denied selling any bread, saying “I have never served a prisoner with bread and I have repeatedly cautioned my brother not to do so”. He admitted being with his brother, but said he had only held the reins of the cart and did not know whether his brother had served the guard or the prisoners. The prosecuting solicitor pointed out that if Walter had been aware of the sale it was a ‘contemptible wriggle’ to blame his brother. Such actions showed a ‘gross want of patriotism’, with the men seeming to care nothing for their country provided they could get a bit of extra money in their pockets. William Garner, a postman from Dunstable said he saw the baker’s cart on June 17th standing opposite a field gate with several German prisoners round it. They had a bag with them which he assumed contained bread, although he did not actually see any bread change hands. As Harris drove on he called out “You ought to get six months for serving German prisoners!” 

Sergeant-Major Richard Malone of the prisoner of war camp at Leighton Buzzard said there were forty prisoners in the camp at this time, who were being sent out in gangs of six with one soldier in charge. The prisoners had breakfast at 6 a.m. of biscuit, bread, jam, cheese and coffee. When they came back from work they had potatoes, meat or fish, and there was no need for them to buy bread except out of greed or for other purposes. He had received no complaints that they did not have enough food from the prisoners.

John Harris gave evidence that on June 17th the guard in charge of the prisoners had asked for the loaf of bread, had paid for it, and then went back into the field with the prisoners. The next day the prisoners had come out of the field with a bag and asked for six loaves, but he only sold them four as this was all he had in the cart. He had told the policeman he was very sorry if he had done wrong, but the guard had told him that he could supply the prisoners – Sergeant Dennis however denied that Harris had said this. Unfortunately the prisoners’ guard, Private Rumble, could not be called as he was in hospital with double pneumonia and was given little chance of recovery. The element of doubt over whether the guard had neglected his duty and told John Harris that he could sell bread to the prisoners made it impossible for the magistrates to decide on the case without his evidence. Due to Private Rumble’s illness the hearing was adjourned indefinitely.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 20th August 1918

Soldier Gaoled for Supplying Food to German Prisoners

Aspley Guise Woods 1921 [Z1130/3a/62h]

Friday 2nd August 1918: Private Frederick William Brock of the 383rd Motor Transport Company, Bedford has appeared at the Leighton Buzzard Police Court charged with supplying Quaker Oats to German prisoners of war from the camp at Woburn. Private Thomas Patrick Dasey of the Canadian Forestry Corps gave evidence that while he was working in the woods between Aspley Heath and Woburn on 16th July he saw Private Brock, who was driving one of the timber supply motor lorries, take a parcel from his van, carry it about 150 yards into the wood and place it behind some brushwood. Five minutes later he saw a German prisoner, who had been working nearby, fetch the parcel and take it away to where the prisoners were cutting pit props.

Private Walter Croft of the Royal Defence Corps said he was on sentry duty over the prisoners when Brock took the parcel into the wood. He saw the German prisoner drop the parcel behind a heap of pit props; he was 150 yards away, and thought the defendant could not see him. Private Croft reported the incident to Corporal Frederick Smith, who was in charge of the prisoner escort that day. Corporal Smith went to the prisoner and asked through an interpreter what he had received. He said it was bread. When asked to show it he produced a small linen bag with about one pound of Quaker Oats in it. Corporal Smith also found three full two pound packets of Quaker Oats under the prisoner’s cape. He claimed Private Brock had admitted to him having given these to the prisoner, but Private Brock said this was not true – he had said he put the parcel behind the brushwood, not that he gave it to the prisoner.  

Private Brock said he had bought the oats at Thirsk in Yorkshire in May due to a problem with rations. He had got tired of carrying them about with him so decided to pack them up and send them away, but found the postage too expensive. He had therefore simply walked out into the wood and dropped them where he expected they would be burnt with the brushwood. There were no German prisoners within 100 yards of the spot, and he did not know what had happened to the oats until the Corporal came and asked about them. When pressed Private Brock admitted that prisoners had asked him to procure things for them, but said he had refused. When asked why he did not give the oats away while he was billeted in Bedford he said it was because he knew no one there. When it was pointed out to him that throwing the food away was as serious an offence as to give it to the prisoners, he claimed he did not know what else to do with it.

An officer from the prisoners of war camp said there was reason to fear that this kind of thing was happening more often than it should, and that it tended to make the prisoners get out of hand. The Chairman of the Bench took into account Private Brock’s previous good character and sentenced him to three weeks imprisonment.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 6th August 1918

Appeal on Behalf of Leighton Buzzard Prisoners of War

Theodore Bromhead Bassett [from Z1432/5/1/8]

Monday 29th July 1918: Mr. Theodore Bromhead Bassett, of Barclays Bank in Leighton Buzzard (formerly Bassett’s Bank), has requested publication of the following letter in the Leighton Buzzard Observer: 

“Sir, - I trust I need make no apology for bringing before your readers a matter which concerns Leighton Buzzard and district very closely.

There are in Germany at the present time six prisoners of war of the Bedfordshire Regiment from Leighton Buzzard. To keep these prisoners, not in comfort, but in health, entails an expenditure of £21 per month on parcels in addition to what is already being done by relatives. In other districts the expense is borne locally; surely Leighton Buzzard and district will be equally ready to pay its quota.

I hope that it will be possible to raise the necessary £21 monthly but subscriptions of £1 a month, 10 shillings a month, 5 shillings a month, or even 2 shillings 6 pence a month. Few people, surely, will be able to resist such an appeal for men who are helpless in the enemy’s hands. 

If any of your readers with accounts at Barclays Bank will send me orders on the Bank, I will do the rest, and, needless to say, I shall be pleased to receive any donations, large or small. I trust also that in view of the special and pressing character of this appeal, you will be ready to receive subscriptions or donations at the Leighton Buzzard Observer Office.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 30th July 1918

Linslade Neighbours are Prisoners of War

Group of Bedfordshire prisoners of war, 1919 [Z1306/16/36/16]

Saturday 29th June 1918: Rifleman Arthur William Sayell of the Rifle Brigade, who is now a prisoner of war in Germany after being captured at St. Quentin on 21st March, has written to his parents at Springfield Road, Linslade. After being taken prisoner he was marched for some distance and then put on a train for Giessen, where he was kept for three weeks. He has now been moved to Limburg Camp. Rifleman Joe Woods, of Fern View, Springfield Road had been with Rifleman Sayell since they joined the army. They were captured together, but were parted after they reached Giessen.

Rifleman Sayell says that so far he has been treated decently and is getting enough food. He has received food parcels from the Prisoners of War Help Committee and the Red Cross, including biscuits, cocoa, condensed milk, roast mutton, beef and dripping. He complains that time passes very slowly, although they expect soon to be given some work. In the same barracks he has met Horace Rollings of George Street, Leighton Buzzard, who had only just returned from leave when he was captured.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 2nd July 1918

Bedfordshire Regiment Comforts Fund

Bedfordshire Regiment Band, late 19th century [X550/19/34/20]

Saturday 9th June 1918: Bedford is again doing its best to show its appreciation for the men of their local regiment with a fund-raising event for the Bedfordshire Regiment Comforts Fund and also for the Prisoners of War Fund. This sends to each prisoner from the regiment three parcels of food, tobacco and cigarettes every fortnight at a cost of nine shillings, and also five bundles of clothing each year. Today’s proceedings will begin with the Colours of the Regiment being played through the town between 11.30am and 12.00pm before being placed on the Soldiers’ Memorial. The regimental band will play on the Embankment between 3.30pm and 6.30pm.

Source: Bedfordshire Times, 7th June 1918

News from Eaton Bray

High Street, Eaton Bray c.1905 [Z1306/39/2/2]

Saturday 27th April 1918: News has been received in Eaton Bray of two deaths, a prisoner and a wedding. Mr. Lewis Ruffett has been informed that his son, Private Fred Ruffett of the Bedfordshire Regiment was killed on 24th March, only two weeks after returning from leave. Private Ruffett had enlisted under the Derby Scheme in February 1916 and was sent to France in April 1917. His brother lost a leg in France eighteen months ago. Corporal Charley Chanin of the Lancers was killed in action a day earlier, on 23rd March. Corporal Chanin enlisted at the beginning of the war and served in Ireland during the 1916 rebellion. The mother of Lance-Corporal William Neville has received a card from her son telling her that he is now a prisoner of war at Cassel, in Germany. He was the first man from the village of Eaton Bray to join up, in September 1914.

Happier news comes from Canada, where Miss Annie Hebbes, the second daughter of Mr. J. A. Hebbes of Eaton Bray has marries Mr. H. G. Tice of Truax, Saskatchewan. The wedding took place at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on 22nd March. The bride’s brother, who has been farming in Alberta, Canada for some years was present. The new Mrs. Tice was formerly the assistant matron at Leighton Buzzard Workhouse.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 30th April 1918

A Missing Soldier and a Returned Prisoner-of-War

King George Hospital c.1915-18 [Wikimedia, from Wellcome Images under CreativeCommons Attribution 4.0 International license]

Thursday 25th April 1918: There is much sympathy for Mrs. W.A. Smith of 91 Church Street, Luton, who is undergoing a double ordeal of grief and anxiety. Her husband, Private W. A. Smith, has been serving with a machine gun corps in France and was last heard from on March 18th. Private Smith’s father, who lived at 47 Vandyke Road, Leighton Buzzard was then dangerously ill, and the police wired to Private Smith to try to get him leave. However he had still not arrived by April 12th, when his father died, and just a few hours later news arrived that Private Smith was wounded and missing. Nothing further has been heard, and Mrs. Smith would be grateful for any further information. Her husband has been serving in the army for two years.

Much better news has been received in Dunstable, where friends of Private  L. H. Durrington of Messrs Durrington and Sons, High Street North. Private Durrington, who was serving in the Royal Fusiliers, has been a prisoner of war in Germany for five months. It was known from letters and cards received that he had been wounded in the leg but there was nothing to suggest he was likely to be released. Last week the news arrived that he had been repatriated and was in King George’s Hospital, London.

Source: Luton News, 18th and 25th April 1918

Naval Officer Released by Germans

Ruined entrance to Termond, Belgium 1914 [Z160/484]

 

Saturday 30th March 1918: Lieutenant-Commander Robert Francis Crossman, of the Royal Naval Division, the great-nephew of Mr. J.W. Crossman, Chairman of the Bedford Conservative Club, has just returned to England after three years as a prisoner in Germany. He was captured by the Germans at Manbeke in Belgium after the evacuation of Antwerp, suffering from shell shock and an injury to the head. While waiting to have his head dressed he was ill-treated by his captors, and was placed in a camp at Halle “where the food was uneatable and the sanitary arrangements deplorable”; the prisoners were not allowed to smoke for two months, and many of the parcels which came for them from England were taken by the guard. They were moved to a camp at Hugustabad where they were treated comparatively well. In the winter of 1916 he attempted to escape with six other officers. They spent 6½ months digging a tunnel 72 yards long, which went underneath the main road and came up near an ice shed outside the camp. They crawled through the tunnel to freedom, but it was short-lived as they were discovered by a sportsman’s dog while hiding in a wood. The escapees were locked up together in one room for two days, then taken to Gustrow Camp for 14 days solitary confinement. About a week before the escape attempt he had cut the top of one of his fingers, and blood poisoning set in. When he reached Switzerland he had to have his finger amputated.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 5th April 1918

 

Note: Although the report does not give the reason for Lt-Commander Crossman’s return to England, it is likely that it was as part of an exchange of incapacitated prisoners.

Drunk Man Chases German PoWs

Peacock Inn, Lake Street c.1910 [Z1432/3/1/8/5]

Thursday 28th February 1918: William Dickins, a 60 year old labourer from Chalk Hill, Houghton Regis, has been charged with being drunk and disorderly on the highway at Leighton Buzzard on Tuesday. Police Sergeant Dennis said that Dickins was throwing his arms about in Market Square and a crowd of children had collected around him. Dickins was advised to behave himself and leave, but he went round to the back of the Peacock Inn where he said he had a gun. He was told he would not be allowed to have the gun and was asked to leave the premises, but he eventually had to be arrested and locked up. Earlier in the evening he had been seen running after German prisoners in Bridge Street; his conduct towards them had been very bad. Dickins said he remembered nothing about it and was sorry for what he had done. He had three sons serving the country and had got rather excited as one had just gone back to the front. The Chairman of the Bench noted that it had been five years since Dickins had last appeared in Court and fined him five shillings.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 5th March 1918

Thanks from Prisoners of War for Cigarettes

Army Club cigarette poster [Wikipedia]

Sunday 27th January 1918: Letters of thanks have been received for the “smokes” distributed to prisoners of war in Germany through the Tobacco Fund set up by the  Bedfordshire Standard. The cigarette parcels are sent to prisoners from a fund to which Messrs. Martins contribute one penny for each shilling subscribed to the newspaper’s Patriotic Tobacco Fund. Contributing  to the Fund is a cost effective way of sending tobacco and cigarettes to soldiers, as nearly double the quantity which could be bought for the same amount in the shops can be provided. Further donations are urgently needed.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 1st February 1918

Luton Man Captured in France

Prisoners of War in Germany [Beds Times]

Wednesday 16th January 1918: Mrs Davies of 9 Bailey Street, Luton, has received a letter from her brother, Private H. J. Broome of the Middlesex Regiment informing her that he was captured on November 30th and is now a prisoner of war in Germany. He writes:

“There is no need to worry about me, as I am quite safe and looked after well. I am not alone by many hundreds. Do not send any parcels as I have already received one, and we often get one from the Red Cross … I was not with the battalion when I was captured, but with the Royal Engineers on fatigue. We are all together in one camp for a month’s rest, and do not do any work, but just look after our own huts and cots. We do have a good night’s rest in comfort and peace – no “whiz-bangs” and “coal-boxes” flying about and knocking pieces out of us. Well, sister, it is worth pounds to be in a clean, warm bed and not in danger, but being away from home and everybody we know well, there it is. Let us hope the war will soon be over”.

Before the war Private Broome was employed on the Luton Corporation Tramways.

Source: Luton News, 24th January 1918

Two More German Prisoners Escape at Woburn

German prisoners marching along Woburn Sands High Street to work in Duke of Bedford’s woods, 1917 [Z887/2]

Saturday 15th December 1917: There has been another escape by German prisoners of war working at Woburn. Two prisoners were felling trees in the woods on Friday afternoon when they went missing. It is believed the escape was only made in order to get away from some other prisoners with whom they had differences and who had been making their lives uncomfortable  - after an escape has been attempted prisoners are generally sent to a different camp. The two men  were recaptured the same evening.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 18th December 1917

Linslade Soldier a Prisoner in Germany

St. Barnabas Church and recreation ground, Linslade c.1906 [Z50/74/1]

Wednesday 3rd October 1917: Mr. and Mrs. George Read of 39 Old Road, Linslade, have received a postcard from their son Frederick telling them that he is now a prisoner at Limburg in Germany. Private Read was a bugler in the St. Barnabas Church Lads’ Brigade and worked as a cleaner on the railway before he was called up last February. Soon after his 19th birthday he was sent to France and transferred to the Inniskillin Regiment. A fellow soldier wrote to Private Read’s parents informing them that their son had been wounded on August 16th and had probably been taken prisoner by the Germans. Another Linslade soldier, Private Page of Wing Road, was wounded in the same fighting.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer 2nd October 1917

German Prisoners-of-War at Woburn

German prisoners marching along Woburn Sands High Street to work in Duke of Bedford’s woods, 1917 [Z887/2]

Thursday 13th June 1917: The commandant of the internment camp for German prisoners of war at Woburn has been asked if he would allow some of the prisoners to help with the work of potato spraying; this is now being recommended to allotment holders to help avoid blight. He was rather reluctant as he had in the past taken a great deal of trouble to arrange to provide prisoners as labourers, only to find out that they were not wanted after all. When they were employed in gardening and agricultural work experience showed that the prisoners proved very satisfactory, and he would expect to get permission from the War Office if application was made to him in good time. However, he was now “sick of the labour question” and did not intend to waste time pleading with people to employ the Germans. There was plenty of lumber work available for them.

While the German prisoners may make efficient and civil labourers, not all have been prepared to co-operate with their captors. Only a couple of weeks ago one of the prisoners escaped from Woburn Camp and the special constables had to be called out to search for him. He was spotted coming out of Copse Spinney in the parish of Battlesden apparently making for Watling Street, and was recaptured and returned to Woburn by two policemen.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 5th and 19th June 1917

Three Soldier Brothers

Private Ernest Clements, 1916 [Luton News]

Tuesday 23rd January 1917: Three brothers from the same Leighton Buzzard family are all serving with the Bedfordshire Regiment. Their father, Mr. Robert Clements of 35 Mill Road is also an old soldier who is expecting to be called up for home defence; their mother Annie’s brother and nephew have also served in the Army, and her nephew was discharged due to wounds The eldest of the three brothers. Ernest, is married with three children. He was taken prisoner in April last year and is now in a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany, where the photograph above was taken.

The other two brothers, Sergeant Jim Clements and Private William Clements are both serving with the Bedfords in Egypt. Sergeant Clements’ time in the regiment expired just at the beginning of the war, but he signed on again and fought at Gallipoli. In a recent letter he says that he and his chums had a “jolly good time at Christmas. This is the third Christmas I have been away from home, but let us live in hopes that the fourth will find us all together again, and then we shall have a good time … I am in the best of spirits up to now, for the war, we hope, will soon be over, and I will be back in dear old Blighty.”  Private William was also at Gallipoli, where he escaped unscathed. He is finding the Egyptian climate rather hot.

Source: Luton News, 25th January 1917

Escaped German Prisoners

German prisoners-of-war marching through Woburn Sands, c.1917 [Z887/2]

Tuesday 5th December 1916: Leighton Buzzard has been on alert since hearing that two German prisoners had escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp at Woburn yesterday. Carl Schwartz and Paul Hubner, two inmates of the camp at Crawley Road, had been at work in Woburn Park felling and cutting timber. When the prisoners were marched back from the park to the camp just before dusk, the two men were found to be missing. The guard and all the Woburn special constables were called up and spent the night on duty. The men were spotted at Eversholt and near Tingrith, then a message was received at mid-day to say the missing prisoners were in custody at Luton. Without food or a change or clothes it was not anticipated that they would get far. Special constables were sent from Leighton this morning to relieve the exhausted Woburn men, but their services were not needed.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 5th December 1916

Leighton Buzzard Man's Brother Captured by Turks

Ottoman Turks at Qatia, 1916 [Wikmedia]

Thursday 30th June 1916: Mr. W. S. Potter, solicitor's clerk to the Leighton Buzzard firm Messrs. Newton and Calcott, is overjoyed to hear that reports of the death of his brother Corporal Nelson Potter were premature. Corporal Potter, who was serving in Egypt with the 1/1st Worcerster Yeomanry, was reported missing after an action on Easter Sunday at Katia on the Suez Canal. His mother refused to believe that her son had been killed and would not hold a memorial service, on the grounds that none of his comrades had seen Corporal Potter fall. Her faith in his survival proved justified when the family, who live in Dudley, received a letter dated May 11th showing that their son is a prisoner of war in the hands of the Turks a Damascus and sent the good news to Leighton by telegram. Mr Potter has since received the following letter from his brother:

"It is no use. You see, I am just like a bad penny - always turning up. This is my first opportunity of writing to you or I would have done so before. We can only write at certain periods, so you must not be anxious if you don't hear from me every week as when I ws in Egypt. I am quite all right, in the best of health, unwounded, and in the best of spirits. I might have been a jolly sight worse off. The Turks are treating us remarkably well. It is a delightful country we are in, and in a month or so, when it is the fruit season, we ought to be 'well away'. Don't worry; I have been worse off many a time."

Source: Luton News, 6th July 1916