11/11/1918 Armistice at Holzminden

11/11/1918 Armistice at Holzminden (Repatriation part 2 )

Holzminden Officers' Camp

At the announcement of Armistice most of our men were in Holzminden POW camp where the men had been  held since being rounded up after their escape from Schweidnitz. Some had been involved in prisoner transfer and were being held in Holland.

Holzminden, located in Lower Saxony, was the location of  largest POW escape of the war. Our men had arrived there and were in solitary confinement when it occurred. On the night of 23^rd/ 24^th July 1918,  24 POWs escaped through a tunnel that was  9 months in the making and 10 of those  escaped recapture. This did not sit well with the Commandant Hauptman Karl Niemeyer who until then had a perfect record for escapes.   

Margaret Clarke and family, relatives of Eric Fulton  one of the recaptured Schweidnitz POWs from Australia have generously shared his memoir  and photographs which contained some recollections of his time there and his departure at Armistice.   Jaqueline Cook in her book “The Real Great Escape” also wrote about the days surrounding the men leaving the camp.

Prior to the news of pending Armistice,  the men were bored by their idleness but managed to break this boredom by playing football, hockey and tennis.  Although better fed than the local Germans and the staff they were malnourished. However, sometimes the prisoners could use their food items supplied by the Red Cross to bribe the guards for better treatment or contraband items.

                          A group shot supplied by De Selincourt's (right seated) family Holzminden

 Realising the end was nigh, the very unpopular and possibly evil Commandant Niemeyer commissioned a photographer to portray the camp in a most favourable light. The allied officers posed in a series of casual scenes. You could say he was preparing the propaganda. Eric Fulton in his memoir described Niemeyer as a “particularly nasty piece of work “.

Some shots made it look like the men were just killing time or enjoying sport. These shots of our men standing around posing for the photographer were not just commemorative shots for Niemeyer, several shots were purchased by the officers to collect their friends’ signatures etc.

In  the weeks leading up to the end of the war there were very real fears that the lager would be stormed by the villages desperate for food.  Some of the guards began to arm themselves against the event.

After the announcement of Armistice  delivery of over 2000 Red Cross parcels of food for the POWs was raided by townsfolk and only 200 made it to the camp in one week alone.  Our men  relied on the Red Cross for food. However, release was not immediate and the reality was that times were tough both in and outside the camp. Food was running short and winter approaching.

Our men and other POWs were suffering from malnutrition and were being struck down by the presence of Spanish influenza which had been in the camp since January 1918. Their immune system from this influenza pandemic was certainly compromised.

Niemeyer fled the camp two days after Armistice.  He never got to answer for his war time behaviour. 

Fulton in his memoir told of a love story between a female staff member and his Aussie mate ‘Brolga’ Hill. “After declaration of peace” when the men had added freedoms, he says “Brolga got out and met his Fräulein and had a whale of a time.”

When there are  more than 300,000 prisoners to repatriate from Europe It was always going to be a logistics nightmare.  There were significant delays for Holzminden man who arrived home much later than their colleagues who were interned in Holland. By Mid- November they expected to know that they would leave any day or by the end of November at the latest. However, it was a period of delays, discomfort and frustration.

Jacqueline Cook in her book “The Real Great Escape” states that the POWs celebrated with Armistice dinners with printed menus. Some of the menus remain as they  were passed around to each other for signing. While the men waited, they had  freedoms to take photos and  leave the camp “on parole”  during their free time. They  explored the river and the town which was already decorated in anticipation of their own troops returning from the war. Some POWs left the prison deciding to walk themselves to the nearest exit point.  

 

Here is Rickards Parole card issued in July 1918.

Rickard's Parole Document Holzminden

 

One night, in anticipation of the repatriation orders,  the man had a good night on the town using up the camp currency on alcohol. This was around the 4th and 5th of December. However,  the departure date was extended. Soon they were running out of food with the Red Cross parcels drying up and the letters from home not getting through. Next, they were told they were to leave on the 9th and 10th of December by train. That didn’t come to fruition. When they didn’t leave there was some discontent.   Camp items were  smashed up and bonfires lit. The  POWs sabotaged the fire hoses by cutting them and in all it was not a good look.

 Finally, it  took a senior officer to get action from the local train station. It worked,  and on 11^th  December the men marched in formation out of the Holzminden  compound to their train home.

 As Fulton recounts the happy day when they were released men from Holzminden. They were moved by train to Holland. Imagine their excitement to be greeted at the border by some English ladies who have travelled from England to ensure the first people to greet them upon leaving captivity were some of their own. Each was presented with a small silken Union Jack as a memento. Next, they spent three days in Holland, visiting shops and  mixing and drinking with the excited Dutch who treated them quite hospitably.

From Rotterdam,  they boarded ships and were escorted around under- sea mines to the estuary at Hull.  As with the Schweidnitz POWs, they were met with a declaration from the King on the wharf and a banquet of delicious delicacies provided by the local women. Of our 24 tunnellers, 6 returned via the internment camp and the rest returned between 14^th December and 6^th January.

Wearne in a short memoir  wrote 

“On the 10^th December 1918, we entrained for Holland. We arrived at Rotterdam on the 12^th December 1918, and embarked on the S.S. Takada on the 15^th December 1918 arriving at Hull on the 14^th December 1918.”

Upon return to Britain each man received a King's welcome home letter, 2 pounds and a voucher for two months leave. 

Extract from Fulton's memoir c 1980

 They were given leave while they awaited demobilisation. After giving their “capture statements” and contemplating whether they would reenlist or re-join their units everyone went their separate ways.

For Australia and New Zealand Royal Flying Corps members demobilisation was slower due to their being no longer attached to the AIF or the New Zealand Infantry. Passage home was going to be slow so the men took advantage of the time and hospitality of various friends and relatives around England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.  All those addresses and signatures became invitations to “see my home town ”. A trip back to the “old country” would be a long time coming for most.  Eventually passage home for the Canadians, Aussies and NZers was available by ship via a long sea journey home. A lot of returning men didn’t make it back to the Antipodes until mid-1919.

Fulton tells of one last retaliation at the camp for their treatment by the Germans.  Some cans were hidden in the wall of their prison home. Think of unwanted cans of soup, cabbage etc which were punctured and put back into the wall cavity. Fulton’s plan was that they would announce themselves at some later stage to those military personnel who are going to be housed there sometime in the future.

So, what became of our tunnelers post war? As we’ve seen from our “tunneller” stories some remained with their units and continued have a career in the  Military, Air Force, Navy or Merchant Marines. Some went  back to start their careers or marry their sweethearts after they were demobbed. One died of Spanish Flu. It is interesting to see who returned to their homelands for good and who moved to the countries of their POW friends they had met in camp in either  Canada, New Zealand, Australia or England.

      Prisoners needed to be repatriated from all over Germany- the officer camps have orange dot

Some of our research has revealed friendships which were fond and rekindled. For some and not unusually they never talked of their time in the POW camp or indeed the war to family. Many never wanted to join in regimental reunions such as Anzac Day etc. As with a lot of WWI soldiers- best forgotten or experiences never understood by their families. There have been reports of reunion dinners organised by the English and Canadian men. As for ANZAC reunions, these have generally been in their battalions or district marches and events  rather than POW groups.

Some like Fulton , Howes, Wearne, Copeland and Harker we have found have been open about their war time experiences of flying, planning escapes and life at the POW camp. We have fine examples of some very articulate  memoirs that they have been persuaded to write  much later in life.

We are mindful of the fact that so much has been preserved and needs to continue to be preserved by the many generations in between the 1914 and now. Their story needs telling. One of our team is in the process of writing it based on the research of many who share the passion.

Thankfully we’ve had the opportunity to pull together this part of history. Thanks to all those generations who have  jealously guarded the relics of this story and who have shared with us and researched with us  to give insights into the story of capture, transfers, POW life, escapes, repatriation and  other antics.

Repatriation Part three follows ......

Remembering Armistice 11/11/1918   Remembrance Day 2022 

 

Morale lifts with each Red Cross Parcel

Thinking back to World War I ……what was worse than your son or loved one being away fighting in the war?  Death and injury rates highest but what a feeling of helplessness to be told your relative is missing- in- action or a Prisoner of war POW being held in the enemy territory.

Relations living thousands of miles away in Australia, New Zealand , or Canada would be trying to think of ways to ease the pain to keep them alive or warm. I’m thinking it would take months to transport goods to individuals.  The deliveries from Britain would have been a little shorter.  Some families were hard pushed finding food  and clothing for themselves let alone for the POWs. In true war time spirit people mobilized under the auspices of the Red Cross charity to provide food, clothing etc to the men.

We now know in hindsight that the Germans were suffering their own shortages of food. Food supplied by the Germans to their prisoners/soldiers was very meagre- only a small amount of meat and vegetables to make a watery soup or stew. It was a starvation diet so if they were lucky they got some sort of soup, potatoes and black sour bread. They could not be supplied with any more as the Germans did not have food themselves and there was none to spare.

Originally the British Government was sending food but this was stopped by the Germans. There were fears that the food contained all sorts of secret contraband such as compasses etc. Many shipments were destroyed. Later the International Association of the Red Cross and the order of St John collaborated to coordinate relief for the British POWs through a Central Prisoner of War Committee.

 

A Replica package

 

Back in the home front the Red Cross parcels provided vitals for sustenance to the prisoner. In some cases these were paid for by relatives or donations. Parcels included clothing, food, soap and toiletries.  Cigarettes and games such as draughts, cards and dominoes were included. Parcels were sent fortnightly to the POWs. Some would go astray and men would share amongst themselves. Occasionally men sent letters to their families requesting specific items of warm clothes and coats.  Further afield people did their best to ease the discomfort by knitting and selling gloves and socks.

Money was collected to fund purchases of  food and  cigarettes etc. Over 395,000 parcels and 36,000 clothing parcels were  distributed by Australian Red Cross alone.  

The standard parcel contained

3 tins of beef

2 tins of cheese or loaf goods

1 tin of dripping

2tins of milk

a quarter of a pound of tea

a quarter of a pound of Cocoa

2 pounds of biscuits

50 cigarettes

 

Donations collected for the Central Prisoner of War Fund from those at the home front exceeded £674,908 in fact over £5 million was spent.

New Zealand relatives had the choice of buying a choice of parcels for 4 shillings or 6 shillings for a toiletries and clothing parcel.  

Sometimes parcels were searched and at other times the German guards would steal the contents of the parcels. When Lt Alan Barrington Hill arrived home  in Australia on 31 March 1919,  an article written in the Sydney Morning Herald  saw Hill  complaining of the mess Commandant Neimeyer made of their parcels.  During his stint in Holzminden POW camp after the 24 attempted their escape he complained that Neimeyer used to mix the contents of the Red Cross and other parcels “so that they were unusable”.

Letters from loved ones were also facilitated by the Red Cross and often there were requests to family members for much wanted supplies. Michael Bowes Lyons writes

June 27^th Wednesday [1917]

1^st ENGLISH PARCELS..... four parcels from England. Three large tongues, some biscuits, butter, which arrived good but melted, a lot of toilet things which will be very useful, especially the soap of which I had none. The biscuits were too delicious. The tongue will be invaluable. The other parcel was cigarettes unfortunately!

June 28^th Thursday [1917]

Life is really very thrilling just now, one expects things and letters every day. Food is still of great moment & we have to do a lot of economising, but things are not half so bad as they were. We don’t really feel hungry now but a healthy longing for food. We have been doing very well in coffee & cocoa & tea lately & meats for the last few days including breakfast...... A dozen eggs are coming for Simonds which will be wonderful if they aren’t bad.

 July 2^nd Monday [1917]

Two parcels from London, six tins of sausage, two of milk, three Veal & Ham pies & three tins of salmon, quite the best I’ve got so far.

Our men were officers and as such did not have to work.  They had plenty of spare time. They were able to request athletic equipment, balls, books etc.

An officer named Goldsmith upon returning to New Zealand gave an interview in the Auckland Star on 4 January 1919. He told of his use of items to plot an escape. Occasionally the POWs used the food in parcels to bribe the guards to help them escape. For example two cans of dripping and a tin of bully beef could get you through the gate after dark. Another time a set of roller skates was swapped in exchange for a quarter pound  packet of tea or coffee.

Red Cross  were also sending out medical supplies. Once such parcel  was an embarrassment of riches when local medical people had not seen these items in months. The supplies were put to use and shared in the town.

Sometimes a prisoner would be moved around a lot and it would take months for parcels to get through. The New Zealand Herald reports that Capt Avey said that it took 4 1/2 months before his parcels arrived for him. In this time he lived merely on the German rations supplemented by supplies from the fellow British officers.

A letter from NZer Lieutenant Gordon Robertson who was also in Schweidnitz writes home of the hardships “ this is the last place on earth you want to come to”. He complains that he has to be supplied with food by relatives in England the German allowance being too meager to afford any sustenance.

 

Local news of the need for supplies

The arrival of food parcels from home provided a welcome boost to morale . For those who had relatives in England supplies were more varied as parcels could be sent more swiftly to the men. As an added advantage for the officers, they were able to cash cheques on their own Banks which enabled them  to order cheese in cans and butter from Denmark and bread from Switzerland.

Red Cross Xmas passage 1917

Captain Sterndale reported that after the Armistice on the 11th of the 11th and the officers were waiting repatriation, Red Cross parcels were still getting through. Upon seeing the hardship in the town the officers would stuff their pockets with chocolate and biscuits to give to the local children. While out on their walks, hungry children with hollow faces would follow the men as though they were the Pied Piper.  Towards the end of the war he guesses that 75% of the parcels got through and that even though many never got past Holland his feeling was that the Germans would not have stolen them.

Canadian Edward Desbarets wrote of his love of receiving the packages .

Excerpt from Edward Desbarets memoir supplied by grandson Alec 

Even so close to leaving the camp on 26^th December 1918, Desbarets writes in his memoir of the much appreciated final parcel of Christmas food and the postcard from the Red Cross girls!

 

 Excerpt from Edward Desbarets memoir supplied by grandson Alec 

Australian Lt RH Richardson in a letter back home from Schweidnitz sent some time in 1918 expresses the dependence on food parcels from home and gives great praise to the Red Cross for their help to the Prisoners of War.  

Australian soldiers from Schweidnitz were grateful: Punch (Melb) 10/10/1918

Thank you RED CROSS for your role in both wars and continuing today.