Captain Claude Asquith 1881- 1946 , Lt William Henry Howes 1896-1971, Lt Reginald Burrow 1890- 1919

 

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 15^th 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 2^nd April 1918 and placed in Holzminden Camp.  On 13^th June he was sent to Holland as  part of a POW exchange for long term prisoners. After Armistice, he was repatriated on 22^nd 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

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 23^rd 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.  

 

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.

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 4^th 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 13^th May 1915  he transferred to the King’s Liverpool Regiment.

He was captured at Guillemont France on 8^th 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. 

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.

 

 

 

Baron Von Richthofen 1892-1918 Germany’s 'Knight of the Air'

 

Many of our Airmen in Schweidnitz had encountered him.............

 

The famous Red Baron- Baron Manfred von Richthofen born 1892 came from the town of Schweidnitz in East Silesia. Coincidentally he came from the same town as our men's famous POW camp. Baron Manfred von Richthofen was well known for deliberately marking himself in the air and with his painted bright red tri-winged plane. The plane which struck such fear with the allied flyers was an Albatross D111.

This skillful and deadly fighter is credited with 80 Allied aircraft being shot down.

“March proved to be a very successful month for von Richthofen with ten aircraft brought down, but it was to become far worse for the British during April. In this month (known as 'Bloody April') the number of losses suffered by the RFC were the highest of the war, the British lost 245 aircraft with 211 aircrew killed or missing. The average life expectancy of a new subaltern on the front line dropped to just eleven days. The Red Baron was to take full part in this; he was to shoot down 21 British aircraft in April 1917. It is incredible to think that just one pilot could bring down nearly 9 percent of British losses in April.”

https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/the-other-man-who-shot-down-the-red-baron/

The Baron is killed

But his  terror reign ended in 1918, aged 25 years, when he was shot down after over France on 21 April 1918 and he crashed near Australian lines. He has been immortalized in history and in song even being celebrated by the character  Snoopy of the cartoon fame.

It is said that the Red Baron was shot down by Canadian Captain Arthur Roy Brown DSC  while he was chasing an Australian, Lieutenant May of Melbourne. The Red Baron was effectively thwarted trying to chase his 81st victim. It is said he made an almost perfect three-point landing and it was thought that he might have survived the crash. As word went around that the Red Baron had been shot down over Australia lines, Australian Sgt A J Porter 3rd Australian Flying Corps was detailed to recover the red machine and the body of Richthofen.

Captain Arthur Roy Brown DSC

 

The conclusion was that he was dead before he hit the ground. It appears that Roy Brown had made the fateful shot as it was concluded that the Red Baron was shot from the right. However, there is considerable controversy over this as the Australian Lewis Gunners from below had peppered the plane with shots.

Meanwhile within 24 hours many Aussies had souvenired parts of the red bird leaving only its frame. Porter took the boots worn on his last mission from Richthofen’s body and kept them as a memento. The regulation German aviation pattern, high topped  boots were patched and worn probably made of leather and fur.  

The famous aviator was to receive the highest accolades when his body was laid to rest by the 3rd Australian Flying Corps. He was revered and respected. The Red Baron was known to be a keen but clean flyer. Australian troops lined the area on route to the cemetery bowing their heads and saluting. His 6 pallbearers were said to be Australian Air Force members of  the Third Squadron AFC. British Aircraft circled overhead.

The Baron's first resting place at Bertangles, France. Buried with full military honours

 

This 1918 newsreel footage from the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia  documents his funeral. NFSA: 77959

His boots are returned to Schweidnitz

After 15 years of owning the treasured boots of Richthofen, Porter decided to return them to his mother in Schweidnitz.  He had received a letter from the Baron’s mother stating she would be glad to receive the boots and place them in her dead son‘s room . A museum dedicated to his memory is the house where he was born. It had opened sometime after 1933. Many exhibits in the museum are personal relics and belongings.

Encounters with the Red Baron

I know the tales of encounters with the red Baron would’ve been talk of the Schweidnitz POW camp.   Schweidnitz POWs- Oscar Greig  and Lt John Maclennon were his 18^th victory. Oscar and his fellow flyer were photographing from the air when they encountered the Baron on the  24th January 1917. Greig and  MacLennan were shot and wounded by the man. 

Details of Greig’s and MacLennan’s encounter in the air are found in Bloody April: Slaughter in the Skies over Arras in 1917. Greig was shot through both legs during the crash landing but came out of it a bit better than Richthofen  whose Albatross D111 cracked forcing him to make an emergency landing with  his ace machine  overturning when it crashed. 

Even Richthofen's comment about the conflict is included.

Controversy  over who killed the Baron......

The controversy over who brought down the Baron  on that fateful day still abounds. Was it the Lewis gunners from the ground or was it Canadian Roy Brown? Surely ballistic forensics and physics could solve this problem today. Overall, this is one of the stories of war which will be remembered for all sorts of reasons .

 

“A valiant but worthy foe”

 

Lyrics of the Red Baron Song 

After the turn of the century
In the clear blue skies over Germany
Came a roar and a thunder man has never heard
Like the screaming sound of a big war bird

Up in the sky, a man in a plane
Baron von Richthofen was his name
Eighty men tried and eighty men died
Now where buried together on the country side

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The bloody Red Baron was running up the score
Eighty men died trying to end that spree
Of the bloody Red Baron of Germany

In the nick of time, a hero arose
A funny looking dog with a big black nose
He flew into the sky to seek revenge
But the Baron shot him down
"Curses, foiled again!"

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The bloody Red Baron was running up the score
Eighty men died trying to end that spree
Of the bloody Red Baron of Germany

Now, Snoopy swore that he'd get that man
So he had to think Broccoli off the new battle plan
He challenged the German to a real dog fight
While the Baron was laughing, he got him in his sight

The bloody Red Baron was in a fix
He tried everything but he run out of tricks
Snoopy fired once and he fired twice
And the bloody Red Baron went spinnin' out of sight

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The bloody Red Baron was running up the score
Eighty men died trying to end that spree
Of the bloody Red Baron of Germany

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The bloody Red Baron was running up the score
Eighty men died trying to end that spree
Of the bloody Red Baron of Germany

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Dick Holler / Phil Gernhard