Three more escapees......
Lieutenant Joseph Fisher 1891 to 1978
We don’t have much to go on for Joseph Fisher. It seems his parents Joseph and Sarah died with within 10 years of his birth and he was brought up by his uncle and aunt as confirmed by the next of kin address on his Red Cross Records. The first army service we can find on him is where he was wounded in France and Flanders on 15 October 1916 and was eligible to wear the “wounded stripes”.
He started in the “The Devil’s Own” Connaught Rangers possibly pre- war and rose to the rank of Sergeant. He was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery in the Field as noted in the London Gazette on 21 August 1917. The September supplement to the London Gazette shows he had been transferred to the Royal Inniskiller Fusiliers where he was a Second Lieutenant and later a Lieutenant.
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| Military Medal |
We know he became a prisoner of war around 16 August 1917. Red Cross records show him arriving in Franzenburg from Courtai and Karlsrule.
Later in January 1918 he arrived at Schweidnitz with Dilnutt. I have been told by another researcher that the red pencil drawn square around his name on the record shows he probably was involved in earlier escapes. Fisher arrived around the same time as most of the other escapees. It didn’t take long before they started their next planned escape.
Joseph of course was a was one of the 24 escapees. He was re-captured and sent to Holzminden for court-martial and solitary confinement. After the armistice, he was a released from prison and returned to England around 4th January 1919.
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| All bar Harker and Atkins recaptured at this point |
Not much more is known about Joseph Fisher. We haven’t even been able to secure a photograph amongst our many collected or any other snippets of life post war. It is presumed he died in 1978 in Camberwell England.
Captain Ernest Michael Murphy 1891 - 1941
Ernest Michael Murphy was a Liverpool lad. He had joined the 8th Liverpool (Irish) Regiment before the war and immediately volunteered for active services when hostilities broke out. He had been sent to France in April 1915 and was promoted to Captain soon after. The Liverpool Daily post of 22 August 1916 reports that this 24-year-old captain was wounded and missing. He had been involved in a big push in France on August 8 and was believed to have sustained injuries.
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| Ernest Michael Murphy |
Because of the length of time he had been in captivity he was entitled to be part of the prisoner exchange program. He was interred to Holland on the 12th October 1918 and repatriated back to England on 21st Jan 1919.
After the war and he married Florence Mary Smith and they had seven children. They continued to live and work in Liverpool.
Murphy became the commanding officer of the King's Liverpool (Irish) Regiment when it was reformed at the beginning of WW2. I believe he had been discharged by the time he was killed during an air raid while up on his roof with a couple of his sons on 4 May 1941.
On the night of 3/4 May 1941 Ernest and two of his sons were performing civilian Home Guard duties. They were on their roof during an air raid. Dennis Winter Murphy age 16 was injured and died the same day. Kevin David Murphy age 14 was also injured and died at the same day. Ernest Murphy by then a retired Lieutenant Colonel age 49 was a fire watcher with the Home Guard He was too was killed as a result of war operations on 3 May 1941 and his dead body was found on 4 May 1941.
Major Cecil Ernest French 1897 - 1961
Cecil Ernest French (Ernie) was born on 1 November 1897 in Montréal Canada. He resided in Washington as a young lad. It was in Belgium that French was first fired up with enthusiasm and determination for assisting the allies. He was only 16 and completing his studies when the Germans invaded.
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| Cecil Ernest French |
The CEF Attestation papers have him living in Montréal Québec in May 1917. He was working as a bank clerk at the time. He joined the Royal Flying Corps and was given a Commission as Lieutenant. His mission was as a scout in a battle squadron to France.
He was shot down on 20th May 1917, his first flight landed behind German lines. He was sent to Karlsruhe POW camp initially and then to Holzminden. At the time his father had a Commission of Captain in the CEF and was located in France.
His record shows the red markings of an escape upon entering Karlsruhe. Obviously, he was recaptured before even arriving at Karlsruhe. From there he went to Holzminden. At Holzminden on 9th Nov 1917 he requested via the Red Cross that his mother
“Send warm clothes again including heavy underwear, puttees (leg binding), shoes and another great coat. Continue Food”
Winter was upon them. In January 1918 he transferred to Schweidnitz where he took part in the March escape. From there he was sent back to Holzminden on 6/5/1918. His Red Cross record notes he is suffering from maladie mentale on 26th June 1918. Possibly anxiety, depression or Barbed wire fever. He was repatriated to England on 14th Dec 1918.
As a result of his experience flying during World War I Ernie French had a lifelong enthusiasm for planes and flying. French was an interesting character: not only for what he did during the war but also for his exploits after it. After the war he married Helen Bernice Wharton. She also had a love of flying.
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| Caricature of Ernie French | Helen and Cecil French |
In 1936 he and
Helen sailed to Europe where he attended the dedication ceremony of the Canadian
Vimy Ridge Memorial. They flew from England to France in a Short Scylla and
returned across the Atlantic on the Airship “Hindenburg” He was arrested for
taking pictures from a train window in
Germany. His camera and film were confiscated and finally returned when they
were found to be innocent. I think it was the location of where he was shot
down. Ref: The Journal of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society Spring 2002
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| The Hindenburg |
He was an active Toronto Flying Club member. During WWII he became a Major in the Canadian Army.
After Helen's death he remarried to Marguerite K Fair in 1952 but French died a few years later in early 1961.
