Here’s three more of our intrepid escapees. As usual all the best bits are being kept for the book.
Captain Claude Asquith 1881- 1946
Prior to the outbreak of WWI Claude Asquith was a member of the Mercantile Marines. Born in 1881, he had been sailing since age 15 having achieved his Certificate of Competency in June 1903. He was married to Mabel and had one son Kenneth.
Before joining the WWI war effort, he was commanding the trawler “Onward”. He was taken on as a Sub Lieutenant (temporary) to ply the waters on renamed HMAT “Onward” around Scotland for the Royal Navy. In preparation, he took a modified sweep course in June 1915.
Subsequently he received a commission in the Royal Navy Reserve. Quickly he was promoted to Lieutenant and put in charge of 3 British trawlers, Onwards ,Era and Nellie Nutton which were to patrol the North Sea undertaking mine sweeping.
On the night of 15th July 1916 while Asquith
was captaining the “Onward” with the two others- the “Era"
and "Nellie Nutton” when they were attacked by 4 German submarines- the U-boats U46 ,U49 , U52 and U69.
The "Onward" sank off Aberdeen. His whole crew of 16 were taken prisoner. His wife Mabel received a telegram telling her that her husband was missing in action. After being picked up by the Germans Asquith was transferred through various POW camps eventually ending up being taken to a POW camp at Augustabad. by August 8, 1916.
The gallant conduct in handling of the “Onward” of Lieutenant Asquith and all the officers and man concerned was brought to notice in endeavouring to “succour and shield his smaller trawlers as much as possible “
He received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) on 18 October 1918 after Mabel had received a strange letter from Claude (not sure when ), which she believed was some kind of a message. She forwarded it to the Commodore at Peterhead, and received a reply on 21 Feb saying “your husband is to be highly commended for his action in successfully transmitting this information while a Prisoner of War.”
Eventually he ended up at Schweidnitz being transferred in from Neubrandenburg on 19/1/1818. He arrived with 72 others, some of whom where his future fellow escapees. (Copeland, Murphy, Moorehead, Bush, Pattern, Fulton , Howe and Holley.)
He is the oldest of the escapees at 36. It is not known who he escaped with. I have seen accounts of the “old Captains” looking on at the sidelines during Schweidnitz Camp ball games. Almost a father figure to the young fliers and soldiers who saw 36 as old. One can imagine the stories this “old salty” could tell. At some point he had been promoted to Captain.
He escaped with the others on that famous night but was recaptured by 2nd April 1918 and placed in Holzminden Camp. On 13th June he was sent to Holland as part of a POW exchange for long term prisoners. After Armistice, he was repatriated on 22nd November 1818 and demobbed by the end of February/ early March.
The 1939 census shows he was still on the sea as a Master Mariner. He had a stroke in 1945 and after suffering a second one died in October 1946 aged 64.
Lt William Henry Howes 1896-1971
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| Fulton (escape partner), Howes and Taylor Schweidnitz Fulton's collection (Margaret Clark) |
I had the privilege of assisting with the transcription of the memoir of Lt William Henry Howes 1896-1971 of the Royal Flying Corps. This had been sent to us by his Grandson Peter Blick. It was a delightfully written and entertaining memoir. Howes was an accomplished athlete, tall at 6’2’’ and I believe quite handsome.
William began his service in the Royal Navy and then in the Infantry. He set his sights on the RFC and eventually transferred there in Dec 1916. He was to fly SPADS with the 23rd Squadron.
He too had encountered the Red Baron and other intrepid Flying Aces in the air which he recounts in his memoir. The day he was captured
“I was then near Courtrai well over on the German side, as I was pulling out to climb towards home, two other opponents got on my tail and gave me a choice selection of machine gun bullets which buzzed around like angry wasps. The engine was put out of action at once”
Twenty miles from the line, he didn’t have enough height to glide home as well as ducking from 2 German pilots in pursuit. He looked for a suitable landing place which turned out to be a “very unsuitable field”. Having been captured by the Germans he was taken to Courtrai for questioning and later to Von Richthofen’s squadron for further questioning and a feed.
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| A portion of Howes' memoir supplied by Peter Blick |
Later he was transported to a house full of other pilots who had suffered a similar fate. He travelled to Karlsrule, Heidleburg and Augustabad POW camps where he was impressed with the generosity of other prisoners sharing their food parcels. Later he was sent to Schweidnitz in January 1918 where he spent several months before the escape.
Howes’ memoir describes the preparation for the big escape. – bribery to get civilian clothes, a compass or a map and growing a beard as an attempted disguise. All the while the tunnel was being dug painstakingly and dirt was dumped by the mugful after being dug out with “primitive tools”.
He escaped with Australian Flying Officer Eric Fulton intending for Switzerland via Austria (500 miles).
They had three days of freedom and were 20 yards from the border before the lack of a passport and German conversation meant their escapade was over. Fulton also wrote in his memory of the escape that after crawling through the tunnel, the lanky Howes looked like a “desperate ruffian in his overcoat and beard.
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| Hill, Avey, Howes and Nobbs at Schweidnitz complements Fulton collection (Margaret Clark) |
In the end like the others they were court martialled and fined for escaping and causing damage to property. They were transferred to Holzminden.
Howes died 4th October 1971 at the age of 75 in Bournemouth, Dorset.
Lt Reginald Burrow 1890- 1919
Reginald Burrow was one of nine children of George and Ellen Burrow of Birkenhead, Cheshire. Having enlisted in the Cheshire Regiment 13th May 1915 he transferred to the King’s Liverpool Regiment.
He was captured at Guillemont France on 8th August 1916 with a fellow escapee Ernest Murphy. He was promoted to Lieutenant in September 1917.
In January 1918 he was transferred to Schweidnitz from Augustabad with Asquith, Bush, Copeland, Fulton, Holley, Howes, Morehead, Patten and Murphy.
As with the others he took part in the escape. After recapture he ended up in Holzminden to be court-martialed and be held in solitary confinement.
Records show 19 of the 24 escapees were charged with “banding themselves together, and by united effort forcibly undertaken to break their way out, in that they, in company with 5 other prisoners now interned in Holland did break through the flooring of the nethermost dormitory and then by way of the cellar did dig a subterranean passage through which they escaped on 19th March 1918.” They were found guilty and given a sentence of 6 months imprisonment. The trial was held by the Court of the inspectorate of prisoners of War camps under the X Army Corps Command Section III B No 10499. X Army Corps was based out of Hanover. It appears the action taken by these men to escape was considered “material mutiny” and they supposedly received the minimum sentence allowed under the law.
Subsequently he was transferred to Holland on 12th October 1918 as a prisoner exchange.When he was repatriated he arrived at Riverside Quay, Hull, on the S.S. Porto.
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| A Dead Man's Penny is small consolation for what came next |
The saddest part of this story is what happened next … after becoming a POW, escaping, being recaptured and then becoming a prisoner exchange and repatriated Burrow contracted “the Spanish Flu” presumably while waiting to be demobbed. His death of influenza/pneumonia is recorded at Central Military Hospital , Cork on 15th February 1919. He is buried near his home town in a Commonwealth War Grave Plot 11 Row C/E Grave 394 at the Birkenhead (Flaybrick Hill) Cemetery, Cheshire.
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