Without further ado I'd like to introduce ‘our 24 Escapees’ from Schweidnitz POW camp.
The tunnel escape occurred on the evening of 19th March 1918 from Schweidnitz POW camp Germany . As you will see they had a diversity of backgrounds and varying skills to offer the escape plan. Let’s say skills may have been gained in previous attempts of themselves and others. The escape and the aftermath will be documented in a future blog.
Photos are supplied from various relative’s collections (thank you Margaret Clarke and Chris Nobbs) and sourced from various military accounts plus Ancestry trees.
Each man will have a story on this blog…. Some are already there. Happy to have you reading along. We know you'll come to love these faces and their stories.
"They being prisoners of war at Schweidnitz, of having banded themselves together and by means of united effort forcibly undertaken to break their way out"
Lt Claude Asquith
1882 Cumberland England -1946 Mayport Cumberland England
Royal Navy (previously Merchant Navy)
Distinguished Service Cross
Lt George Carman Atkins
1896 Norwich, Ontario, Canada -1975 Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Royal Flying Corps 1 Sqn
Captain George Augustus 'Gus' Avey
1892 Thames, NZ -1979 Auckland NZ
2nd Bttn NZ Rifle Brigade
Military Cross
Lt Reginald Burrow
1890 Birkenhead, Cheshire -1919 Liverpool, England
8th Bttn Irish The Kings (Liverpool Regiment)
Lt Henry Kramm Bush
Royal Army Medical Corps and 20th King Liverpool Regiment
1896 London, England - 1980 Worthing, England
1889 Winnipeg, Canada- 1984 Toronto, Canada
Canadian Army
Services Corps / Royal Flying Corps 25th Sqn
Lt Edwin Dilnutt
1896 London, England- 1978 Reading, Berk, England
Bedford Regiment and Royal Flying Corps 59 Sqn
(No known photo available)
Lt Joseph Fisher
1891 Hammersmith, England-1978 Camberwell, London, England
2nd Bttn Connaught Rangers
7th (Service Battalion) Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Military Medal
Lt Cecil Ernest French
1897 Montreal, Canada-1961 Toronto, Canada
56 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
Captain Mark Strelley Fryar
1892 Denby, Derby, England- 1931 Nottingham , England
5th Bttn Sherwood Foresters
Lt Eric Paul Fulton
1891 Oxley, Victoria, Australia- 1982 Box Hill, Victoria, Australia
14 Bttn Aust Infantry Force and 100 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
Lt George Tarn Harker
1894 Surrey, England- 1983 Te Awamutu, NZ
29 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
Lt Alan Barrington 'Brolga' Hill
1892 Warren, NSW, Australia- 1974 Concord, NSW, Australia
Aust Iinfantry Force and Royal Flying Corps 29 Sqn
Lt Thomas Gilford 'Gil' Holley
1896 Holyoke MA, USA -1987 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Canadian Expeditionary Force 23 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
Lt William Henry Howes
1896 Devon, England – 1971 Bournemouth, Hampshire, England
54 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
Captain Frank ‘Ace’ Neville Hudson
1897 Beckenham, Kent, UK -19Middle East
The Buffs (East Kent ) and Royal Flying Corps
(No known photo available)
Lt Harold Lindsay
1894 Kokstad, South Africa-1957 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
British Transvaal
Scottish Regiment and Kings Royal Rifle Corps 2nd Bttn
Lt William 'Willie' Bradshaw Moorhead
1893 Chinkiang, Jiangsu, China -1970 Surrey UK
1 Bttn The Kings (Liverpool Regiment)
Captain Ernest Michael Murphy
1891 Liverpool, UK - 1941 Liverpool UK
8 (Irish) The Kings
Liverpool Regiment
(No known photo available)
Lt Alexander George Bartlett Patten
1892 Brockley, Greenwich UK- 1975 Southwick, Sussex
2nd Bttn Suffolk Regiment
Lt Ronald Starr Phelan
1894 Sydney, Australia- 1953 Sydney, Australia
35th Bttn Aust Infantry Force and 22 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
Lt Lionel Read (aka Alfred John Lionel Lee)
1893 Wellington, NSW, Australia – 1937 Manly, NSW, Australia
Aust Infantry Force and 1 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
Lt Aubrey Robert Maxwell Rickards
1898 Fairford, UK- 1937 Khor Gharim, Oman
100 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
Lt Arthur Wearne
1894 Allandale, Vic, Australia- 1945 Sunbury, Vic, Australia
Aust Infantry Force and 19 Sqn Royal Flying Corps
