The Schweidnitz Tunnellers

 

On 19th March 2022 our friends at the Polish blog site Swidnicki Portal Historyczny  http://historia-swidnica.pl/swidnicki-tunel/ published a story written by one of our researchers, John Copeland, grandchild of Arthur Copeland, one of the escapees.  The aim of the story is to raise awareness of the historical escape among local Polish people who might have known someone with a connection with the Schweidnitz WWI POW camp or might have historical knowledge of the camp itself.  It is also an attempt to try to elicit any newspaper cuttings or memorabilia from people in the Polish town which may still be accessible but temporarily forgotten.
The publication date of John’s story marks 104 years since the escape.  John’s story was translated into Polish by Andrzej Dobkiewicz, editor of the Świdnica Historical Portal for the purposes of this blog it has been modified slightly to reflect the audience of this blog.  Please contact us via the blog if you have anything to share.

 

View of the Evangelical church and camp barracks in 1918. Today, none of the visible objects at Sprzymierzeńców Street  exists

 

The Schweidnitz Tunnellers

Looking for answers about one of the least known,but largest, Prisoner of War escapes of World War I

One by one 24 men crawled slowly through a narrow tunnel and emerged into the crisp night air on the other side of the fence.  Two by two they melted into the darkness as they began their quest for freedom.  These were the tunnellers of Schweidnitz - a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War I.  The town of Schweidnitz, now known as Swidnica, lies within present day Poland.

 The Schweidnitz camp held mostly British officers and their allies.  Over half of those passing through the tunnel on the night of March 19/20, 1918 were from England.  The British Empire was also represented by a handful of Australians, a few Canadians, and one each from New Zealand and South Africa.  To the Germans they were all Engländers.  During the past two years they had been plucked from the sea, fallen from the sky, and dragged from the field of battle on their way to becoming reluctant guests of the Kaiser.

All of the escapees had experienced several camps prior to arrival at Schweidnitz, to which most of them were transferred a few weeks before Christmas in 1917.  The majority transferred from either Augustabad, Neubrandenberg or the infamous camp at Holzminden, Lower Saxony.

Schweidnitz was not considered a bad camp.  Prisoners transferring there from Augustabad had been living in a converted tourist lodge on the shores of a large lake, the Tollensesee, where they could sometimes swim in the summer and play ice hockey in the winter.  By comparison, those arriving from Holzminden left behind a camp known as one of the worst in Germany, run by a sadistic commandant, who encouraged his guards to abuse the prisoners in their care and even shoot at them on occasion.

Regardless how they felt about Schweidnitz, the 24 tunnelers shared a common goal - to escape from Germany, get back to England, and get back into the war or reunite with their loved ones.  As they left the tunnel and crept into the night, they were one step closer to realizing their dreams.  They put their faith in themselves, their God, and not least of all, their luck, to get them back home.

Twelve pairs of men spread out and dispersed in all directions of the compass, hoping their particular plans would help them avoid recapture by “the Hun” on their way to the German border - the first leg of their trip home.

My grandfather, Arthur H.M. Copeland, was an Observer in a two-seater aircraft in the Royal Flying Corps.  He was shot down by German aircraft in October 1916 during the Somme offensive.  He was lucky.  He was captured.  His pilot was killed.

Arthur Copeland

When I think of my grandfather I picture a small man sitting in his favourite chair in the living room of his house wearing a navy blue blazer with an air force crest on the chest.  He is wearing a straight tie, and often, a vest.

Sometime during my childhood I heard the story of my grandfather and a group of other men digging a tunnel from a basement with kitchen utensils and exiting the tunnel into a pig sty.  I don’t remember much beyond that.  I knew he was recaptured very close to the Dutch border, and I remembered that he had jumped from a train at some point during his captivity.  Like many others who experienced the horrors of war first hand, Gramps had no particular interest in reliving bad memories, so he rarely spoke of those years.  He was a nice man and had a great sense of humour.  With a twinkle in his eye, he enjoyed teasing his grandchildren.  The fact that he and I were both introverts probably didn’t promote any in depth discussions of his wartime experiences, despite my growing fascination with the subject.

I started reading stories about prisoners of war escapes as a young teenager.  Among the earliest were The Wooden Horse and The Tunnel, by Eric Williams.  Most of the available escape stories seemed to take place during World War II.  However, when I read the prologue to The Colditz Story, by P.R.Reid, I noted that Reid’s desire to escape from Nazi Germany was in part motivated by books of World War I escapes he had read during his childhood.  He was inspired by The Road to En-Dor, by E.H. James, The Escaping Club, by A.J. Evans and Within Four Walls, by H.A Cartwright and M.C.C. Harrison.

Until the advent of the internet I had no success finding any of these titles.  Now each of them has a place of honour in my collection.  Over the years I became aware of a book called The Tunnellers of Holzminden, by H.G. Durnford.  Knowing my grandfather had spent time at Holzminden I thought this could possibly be the story of his escape.  Alas, this was not the case.  Twenty nine officers escaped from Holzminden through a tunnel in July 1918, but he was not one of them.  I have now read at least 4 different books telling the story of the Holzminden escape, and quite clearly this was not his tunnel.

About fifteen years ago I started seriously searching the internet for anything related to escapes from the Schweidnitz camp, which I then knew was the camp from which he had escaped.  I could find no mention of any books, but I did find references to the escape in a couple of online forums.  One of the forum contributors was Ruve Baker from New Zealand, whose grandfather, Tarn Harker, had escaped from the Schweidnitz tunnel.  After further digging I found an email address for a Ruve Baker in New Zealand, but my attempt to contact her was unsuccessful.

 

 Photo of four prisoners of war in the Świdnica camp. From the left: Alan (Brolga) Hill - Australian in RFC, George Augustus (Gus) Avey - from New Zealand Rifle Brigade, William Henry Howes - British in RFC and Charles Nobbs - Australian in RFC. The first three escaped in March 1918 through a tunnel

A couple of years ago I again renewed my search for information about the Schweidnitz escape.  An online article about the death of Aubrey Rickards in an air accident in the 1930’s provided a lead.  James Offer, an information source for the article, was identified as Rickards’s nephew.  After a bit of detective work, with the help of social media, I was able to establish contact with both Ruve Baker and Britisher James Offer.  Needless to say, we all share a keen interest in learning more about the lives of our ancestors/relatives, particularly their wartime experiences.

 

Photo taken in Świdnica. From left to right: T. Gilford (Gil) Holley, Frank Bronskill and Arthur H. M. Copeland (John's grandfather). All three were Canadian in the Royal Air Force Corps (RFC). Bronskill was not one of the escapees. 

Since discovering each other we have shared much information and collaborated freely.  Along the way a couple of others joined our ranks - my sister, Gail, a Canadian with a keen interest in genealogy, and Robyn Ford, an Australian with a genealogy blog called Robyn and the Genies (http://robynandthegenies.blogspot.com), which records family history and stories, WWI tributes, etc.  Robyn is a third cousin of escapee Mark Fryar.  She has now created this new blog specifically related to Schweidnitz (https://schweidnitzpowcampwwi.blogspot.com).  In it she gives details of the tunnelers, other officers who spent time as prisoners at Schweidnitz, and life and conditions at the camp.  She also talks about some of our research materials and methods.

How does one go about researching events which took place over one hundred years ago.  That was our dilemma and our challenge.  We had access to publicly available records through sources such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, The National Archives in London, and genealogy websites.  We were not aware of any German archival records, since most of them had apparently been destroyed during World War II.  We were also not aware of any books or articles about the Schweidnitz tunnel escape. 

Our key piece of background information was a list of the names of the 24 escapees.  This list was obtained in 1929 by one of the Canadian escapees.  Cecil Ernest French, a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps during the war, obtained the list of names and a brief description of how the officers escaped the camp, from the German Consulate General in Montreal.

Armed with the list of names it was fairly easy to search online records of the International Committee of the Red Cross to discover which prisoner-of-war camps they had been in and background information such as their rank, unit, date and place of capture, birth date and place, and name and address of next-of-kin.

Over the course of time we gathered much background data, but we still lacked many details of these men and their actual experiences.  It seemed obvious that the best way to find out more about the men as individuals, and about their wartime experiences, was to look beyond the data and see if we could trace their descendants/relatives in search of memoirs, diaries, journals, photos, letters, anecdotes, etc.  The background data from the Red Cross records gave us a starting point and allowed us to actually track down living relatives of many of the escapees.

It can be a very rewarding experience to finally speak to the grandchild of one of our escapees over the phone and explain our project.  The reactions vary.  Some people are very excited to learn more and offer to share information.  Others are excited but readily admit they know nothing about their grandfather’s wartime experiences and have nothing to share.  Some never knew their grandfather.  Some have no interest in their grandfather or in helping with our research efforts.  Sadly, some talk about the difficulty their grandfather had adjusting to life after the war.  Some families, like some veterans, find it too painful to share memories.

Original drawing made in the Świdnica camp, showing the escape of prisoners through a dug tunnel

One of the more exciting contacts we made about a year ago was not related to an escapee.  Rather, our contact was another researcher with an avid interest in our project.  We were very excited to connect with Andrzej Dobkiewicz, Editor of the Swidnicki Portal Historyczny and to read an article about the escape which he had published in his monthly newsletter.  Andrzej offered to help us with our research.  This could be a significant step for us, because none of our team speaks Polish, and it would be very difficult for us to make enquiries locally.

Understanding that many German records were destroyed during WW II and that many Polish records have also been destroyed, I firmly believe there is still relevant information out there somewhere, whether in a repository for official records or in somebody’s scrapbook in their attic.  After the escape the Germans notified the public and authorities of the escape.  It may be that there were posters in public places to warn people to watch for the escapees.  When an escapee was captured there would have been a report prepared by whomever apprehended the escapee.  This could have been a railway official, a border guard, a soldier, a policeman, or even a civilian.  Perhaps records were kept at a local jail, where an escapee may have been held for several days before returning to Schweidnitz.

We know that there were stories in several local newspapers describing the recapture of some of the prisoners, and it is also likely that the authorities placed notices or stories in local or regional newspapers warning of the escape and asking citizens to be on the lookout for the escapees.  After being recaptured all of the escapees were court-martialed and sentenced to 2 weeks punishment.  Where did the court-martial take place?  Are there court records? Was the outcome reported?

It seems to me that any of this material could have ended up in a local library, archive, museum, or in somebody’s personal collection.

In addition to information specific to the escape, I would also like to learn about any other attempted escapes from Schweidnitz and about life and conditions at Schweidnitz and any interactions between local townspeople and the prisoners.  We know some of the prisoners left the camp to attend church.  They likely also saw local doctors and dentists.  We know a local photographer came into the camp to take photos of the prisoners.  We know that the prisoners sometimes went for walks under guard.  There may have been various other opportunities for them to interact with people from outside the camp.  Perhaps some of the people who interacted with the prisoners kept diaries or passed on stories to their children or grandchildren. 

 

So, why are we doing all of this work and collecting all of this information?  It may seem like a strange hobby to some, but I’m sure many genealogists and history buffs will understand the gratification we get from gathering up the morsels of information which collectively fit together to tell the stories of 24 lives.  At first I think our investigations were driven solely out of curiosity, but eventually, as our collection accumulated and began to form a story, the idea of gathering it into a book grew to a point where the book became an end goal.  The desire to write an account of their lives, with a focus on their World War I experiences, seems like a fitting tribute to two dozen men who put their lives on the line for what they considered a very noble cause. A book seems like a very gratifying conclusion to all the hard work and dedication of the Schweidnitz research team.

We are under no illusion that we can complete this project without the help of others.  If anyone has any information which may fill our knowledge gaps, or can point us towards other helpful sources, we would be very happy to hear from them.  We can be contacted either through Andrzej Dobkiewicz  or  Robyn

Oh, and what happened to our 24 heroes after they crawled out of that tunnel into the cold March air and set off in search of their freedom?  Despite their hopes, prayers, plans and ingenuity, luck was not with them.  Within a few days most were back at Schweidnitz awaiting the inevitable punishment for their little adventure.  They had been apprehended at whatever distance they had managed to travel from camp.  Most walked, but some had planned to travel by train to distance themselves from their pursuers, Even those who managed to ride a train for part of their journey were eventually recaptured.  The last pair, returned to Schweidnitz less than a month after their escape, was picked up in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic.

Written in English by John Copeland, Orillia, Canada

"My relative mentioned he was in Schweidnitz POW camp during WWI………."

 

You might have landed on this blog page because you know your relative was at Schweidnitz POW camp at some stage in World War I and you’ve done a google search. One of our team, Ruve, has been a gem at collating names of prisoners who were interned at Schweidnitz POW camp at sometime while they were prisoners of war. There are hundreds.

We started with the 24 names and one thing led to another. Stories were explored, people were found. The spreadsheet is impressive and still a work in progress (Sorry the only way to access it is by requesting it by email using the contact form at the bottom of this page.)

This shows the movements of one prisoner through camps- he was multiple escapee Jocelyn Hardy

 She has collected names from every reference we have come across

•          International Red Cross records,
•          The National Archive accounts of POWs
•          Articles
•          The Liddle collection
•         Websites/ forums
•          books
•          memoirs
•          photo collections

 As you can imagine prisoners of war came from all theatres of war in Europe and were transported to POW camps all over Germany for many reasons. They were moved on as the war progressed. The Germans often needed more places to accommodate the prisoners as number rapidly increased.

There were many reasons they may have been moved on from camp to camp. This of course could’ve been because they were first housed at a processing camp such as Karlsruhe or a new camp was built such as Schweidnitz. The size and capacity of the camp and the ability to adequately feed and house prisoners was of utmost importance. Escape attempts often meant prisoners were moved on.

 Sometimes prisoners were multiple escapees and the distance from border was a way to limit the ability to escape for serial offenders.  Schweidnitz which was a new camp from early December 1917 could house up to 600 officers at any one time. It took its last batch of prisoners in October 1918.

Our own 24 came from different camps at different times. Some would have met in camp after their capture, others would have travelled in trains or on foot together, building friendships, swapping stories, hatching escapes.

Prisoners came and went often via other German camps. We have found prisoners transferring to Schweidnitz from:

•         Holzminden
•        New Brandenburg
•         Landshut
•         Dobein and Freiburgh
•         Eutin
•        Sennelager
•        Munster II
•        Brandenburg
•        Castrian and Zorndorf
•       Trier
•        Closthal
•        Kauenburg
•        Rastatt
•        Karlsruhe
•        Stendel
•        Grandenz
•        Heidelberg

Ruve’s list also captures other known escapees from Schweidnitz. Men usually desperate to get out and recommence their war effort- some successful and others not.

 

So how do you trace the movements of men from Capture to repatriation?

The Red Cross records have been digitised and housed at the following site.  https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/ They are online and free and among their 5 million records includes British and Commonwealth military personnel and civilians who were captured during the War.  The Germans provided lists of those captured to the International Red Cross  to facilitate communication, food parcels and letters home. There are 13 country groups including British and Commonwealth. An index card should exist for each prisoner of war.  

 

To search for POWs and build your relatives story.

1.Search for the person in the archives. Choose the nationality e.g. British and Commonwealth forces which includes Australia and New Zealand and Military or Civilian. Click on the validate button.

Start your search with a name, Country and choose Military or Civilian

Click Validate

2.      Click on surname in the left hand box or look down for the Army unit or suitable defense category. Scroll through the list until you find your man.

 

Index card for Fryar- note incorreect spelling

3.       When you do hover your mouse at the bottom of the relevant record.

This will bring up all the index cards and PA numbers

4.       Small index cards will come up. This reveals PA numbers. They also contain comments written at the time by Red Cross volunteers about prisoner contact addresses, DOB, capture date and place etc. Add in a PA reference number and search.

5.       There will also be one or more number  E.g. PA1454 type this into the right hand box and the transfer papers and fellow transferees  will be shown on German lists. Camp details and the transfer papers to the particular POW camp will show up this give you enough information to follow transfer through the various camps, the date of capture, date of birth are always included and the unit.  

Fryar is transferred to Schweidnitz with Jocelyn Hardy

6.       You may need to do this with several PA or R numbers displayed under the original record.  

 

Confidential Repatriation list for Fryar using the R number in the record above

Searching using the various PA numbers is a great way to trace your family member’s story through the prisoner of war camps. Occasionally you need to be a little creative or lenient with the spelling or variance of your relative’s name to find the correct record. As you can see from the screen shots above Fryar has been misspelled.  Sometimes there are multiple records also so explore all.

Happy exploring……. Let us know what you find.

 

 

 

 

Six Degrees of Separation - Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes Lyon meets Charles Henry "Harry" Ffrench Nobbs

Unlikely friendships developed whilst in Schweidnitz. One such friendship was with Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes Lyon. Our 24 escapees years later would have said “I knew that guy.” Captain Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes Lyon also known as Mike to his family served with the Royal Scots in World War I. He gained the rank of Captain of the 3rd Battalion Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). 

Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes-Lyon from Nobbs Collection  (Permission Chris Nobbs)

 

He was also Queen Elizabeth ‘s uncle, him being Elizabeth senior’s brother. Elizabeth Bowes Lyon married the future King of England George VI in 1923. She of course was the mother of our current Queen. Six degrees of separation! 

On third of May 1917 or 20/9/1918 his parents the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne received a telegram from the war office to say their son was missing in France. Micheal had been leading the troops and was involved in a counter-attack at Roeux near Arras. After having first been taken to a POW camp at Karlsruhe and then moved to Strὅhen from May to August 1917 he passed through Augustabad (Neu Brandenburg) from September to December 1917. 

 

                                    Micheal's Red Cross Record - transfer to Schweidnitz

From there the Red Cross records show him arriving at Schweidnitz POW camp from December 1917 where he stayed until November 1918. Interestingly they knew he was alive when he drew a cheque on the Cox’s Bank. 

A partial letter in a Glamis Castle Facebook Post in 2018 sees them commemorating 100 years since he wrote this letter to his mother at Glamis Castle in 1918. The archivist at Glamis, Ingrid Thomson answered our query about his time in Schweidnitz POW camp. Her timeline of him being there until November 1918 coincided with our lot arriving around the same time until their escape from Schweidnitz on 19 March 1918. 

 The crux is – our people were mixing with the top echelon of British society. 

 Interestingly, Michael wrote to his mother only 4 days after the escape of our 24 men. Alas, with censorship he could not tell her of our guys’ remarkable effort of escaping through a tunnel excavated with spoons and metal cups. We do know he was offered a prisoner exchange. Ingrid tells us he states in a letter to his mother from Schweidnitz, dated 24 April 1918: “I was offered an exchange to Holland the other day for another German Officer in England but I did not take it as I’ve only done a year & there are many others who have done nearly two still in the country.” …… I sneakily suspect this man who had Earls as relatives was secretly enjoying the company of his newfound friends. Read on…. 

Michael, in his letter dated Schweidnitz July 26 1918 tells his mother about “learning miniature baseball from American or rather the Canadians in the camp.” He was lamenting missing the cricket news and anticipating the grouse shoot his friends and family would be involved with. He said “it is really quite an amusing game but the most important part of it is the booing and cheering. The man who has the longest string of epithets and adjectives to hurl at his opponents is very good and the great thing is to laugh and jeer at them all until they get thoroughly angry and put off their game.” “I am learning American (sic) slang for that purpose now.” 

 

Michael's letter home from the Glamis Castle Facebook Page

 Well Mr Bowes Lyon, we Australians call it ‘sledging’ and perhaps you were also getting your accents mixed up . The practice is possibly as old as cricket itself. Witty banter between players is quite common. ‘Chaffing’ as it is called in England is part of this controversial gamesmanship. Anyhow, this little bit of exchange gives us a rare glimpse at life in the camp- the camaraderie built and friendships made. Others have mentioned the friendships made while watching and playing the baseball games.

 

Schweidnitz Camp Baseball Game courtesy Richard Townsley

The archivist tells us food and cigarettes featured in Michael’s war diaries and letters home and we know that the Red Cross was instrumental in ensuring the delivery of boxes of goodies requested by the POWs from their families. I don’t have a definitive answer (from Archived Red Cross records) but several references including the Imperial War Museum site have him also serving time at Holzminden which is of course the POW camp our lot spent the rest of their captivity in after their escape and recapture. 

Her Majesty’s uncle met up with a young Aussie called Charles Henry Ffrench "Harry" Nobbs and also known as Nobby. Harry was not part of the escape but he was an affable chap who kept a magnificent archive of camp photos. In normal times it was an extremely unlikely friendship considering the isolation of Norfolk Island in the Pacific 1600km from Sydney. However Harry and Mike were extremely close friends during their captivity. 

Charles Henry Ffrench Nobbs was born on 18 June 1895 at Norfolk Island. He was a descendent of the Christian family from mutiny on the Bounty fame. After completing his education in the Kings School near Parramatta in 1911 “Bishop” or “Bish” as he was known worked for a couple of years as a clerk. Harry Nobbs, enlisted in Sydney in the 6th Australian Light Horse, Australian Army at the commencement of the war. 

Charles Henry Ffrench Nobbs

He served in Egypt, then Gallipoli Later the young Aussie, transferred from the AIF to the Royal Flying Corps as part of the first intake of the Australians. After training he was commissioned 2nd Lt as a pilot in the 66 Squadron flying Sopworth Pups in sorties against the Germans during the 3rd Battle of Ypres. Less than 2 months later he was reported missing over enemy lines. The website http://www.niwarmemorial.nlk.nf/SalutingtheirService/Nobbs_Charles_Henry_Ffrench.html has an account of Harry’s capture. 

"Sent out in bad weather to bomb and strafe aerodrome (north of Courtrai). Failed to locate aerodrome on account of weather. Proceeded to return to lines, encountered and engaged enemy aircraft which went down through clouds after my first burst. Later encountered 5 enemy aircraft over lines but evaded them by diving into clouds. Continued under clouds towards lines then observed several Battalions of German Infantry on the march and in column formation near the road so dived to attack with machine gun fire. Much confusion and many casualties observed (Subsequently confirmed from German sources). Finally brought down by fire from ground during third dive. Not wounded. Unable to destroy machine as crashed among German soldiers who very nearly lynched me but managed to delay matters by feigning to be wounded till arrival of German Officer who escorted me at a run for 2 or 3 miles followed by a great crowd of shouting German soldiers from whom all semblance of order or discipline had apparently disappeared" 

Nobbs ended up in Schweidnitz. His POW records seem to be missing but his family has a letter also putting him in Holzminden as well as Schweidnitz. This Norfolk Islander, “Nobby”as he was nicknamed was also friendly with our lot. Interestingly overlapping photos featuring our escaping 24 turned up in two different sets of photos- one from Nobbs’ relatives from UK and the others from Fulton’s relatives from Australia. 

Interestingly Nobbs was next in line to escape via the tunnel when it collapsed. Hence in the photo he has started growing some facial hair like the other men to help disguise themselves after the escape.

Hill, Avey, Howes and Nobbs  Courtesy of Margaret Clark  Fulton's Collection 

By November came the end of the War. Michael, Nobbs and the mix of prisoners from Canada, England and Australia were repatriated from the POW camp after the Armistice in 1918. 

 For the Aussies, demobilisation was steadily (and slowly) taking place. Since many of the the Australian and New Zealanders had resigned the Infantry and were attached to the Royal Flying Corps they had a different pathway home than the Infantry Forces. After returning to air force bases in England there was little to do and leave was granted. Free rail passes were granted while they waited for the opportunity for passage home. So, in the months to come, time was available to visit friends and relatives while exploring the United Kingdom. 

Invites were plenty. After his release Harry Nobbs spend some time visiting Glamis Castle in Scotland with his friend Michael. What an experience for this island Aussie far from home spending time in a Scottish Castle in the winter snow and ice. Jacqueline Cook in her book “the Real Great Escape” places Harry and Michael in Holzminden for a time. She describes the visit to the Bowes Lyon home where Elizabeth Bowes Lyon refers to Harry’s Norfolk Island home as Nobby’s Island. 

Later Michael married Elizabeth Margaret Cator on 2 February 1928 in a high society wedding followed by a tour of the continent. Together they had four children. His post war life was taken up with farming. He died 1 May 1953 in The Gastlings, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England of asthma and heart failure after suffering ill health from his imprisonment and as a result of being gassed in the trenches. 

Interesting fact: Bowes Lyon was once considered for the position of NSW Governor. Little was known of him at the time and the NSW Government considered the position should be offered to an Australian born person. So, the Queen Mother's favourite and elder brother was passed over.

Harry was repatriated home to Australia and then to Norfolk Island. Post war he spent time in New Guinea before heading off to England to live and work. He married Audry Copperthwaite on 20 March 1930 at Malton, Yorkshire, England and had two children Christopher Kenyon Ffrench Nobbs (Born 1936) and Gillian Ffrench Nobbs (b1937). 

Due to ill health he was unable to enlist for WWII but in the end contented himself to serve in No.7 British North Riding Home Guard from 1940 to 1944 where he was promoted to Captain. He died on 7 January 1946 at age 50 at Amotherby, Yorkshire, England. 

                                            Charles Henry Ffrench Nobbs - origin unknown
 

The Kings School Magazine in May 1946 reproduced Harry’s obituary from the British Trade Journal as follows - 

“Charles Henry Ffrench Nobbs 

His many friends in the bottling industry will learn with profound regret of the untimely passing of Mr C H Ff Nobbs - Nobby to his family - who passed away in the early hours of January 7th. The bottling industry is well known for the good fellowship which exists among those whom it is the ‘daily work and common task’ Nevertheless, Nobby was an outstanding character, because of his ability to make not merely business acquaintances but real friends. Indeed if one were asked to account for his undoubted success in life, it may lay in the very fact that his mission was to be a pal amongst pals. Born on Norfolk Island in 1896 he was educated at Kings School, Parramatta, NSW. A true son of the Empire, he joined the Australian Light Horse and at the outbreak of the 1914 war was in the Middle east subsequently transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. Shot down in operations he was for eighteen months a prisoner of war in Germany, an experience which doubtless contributed to his ill health which dogged him during the latter part of his life. After making and to quote him “losing a pile” in New Guinea, he settled in England and in 1930 married Miss Audrey Copperthwaite, whose family is connected with Messrs. Russells, the well known Malton brewers. When the second World War began he made tremendous efforts to re-join the RAF and much resented on being turned down on medical grounds. Nobby, hated to use his own words, ‘being not wanted’, but this illusion was quickly dispelled when Mr Anthony Eden’s call to arms came and he was well to the fore in organising the L D V, afterwards of course the Home Guard in which he held the rank of Major in command of A Company, 7th North Riding Battalion for three years. He was a member of the Camulodunum Masonic Lodge, Malton and his interest in local affairs culminated in his appointment as Chairman of the Amortherby Parish Council in 1944 which office he occupied until his decease. He was also President of the Amortherby Cricket Club and was an enthusiastic player until it became necessary for him to curtail this activity due to health reasons.”  

One of the family treasures is the Letter from the Royals about the friendship of Harry and Michael. 

 

                                    Letter from Balmoral Castle  courtesy Christopher Nobbs

So in summary Our 24 relatives  and Nobbs knew Michael Bowes- Lyon who knew Queen Mother who knew Queen Elizabeth II -6 degrees!!

                                                                Published on ANZAC DAY 2021

                                                                    LEST WE FORGET
                                                                WE WILL REMEMBER THEM