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 

 

Schweidnitz POW Camp repatriation- A Christmas time homecoming. (Repatriation Part 1)

 

A group shot of the men of Schweidnitz from Desbaret's collection

The story of the repatriation of our men has been divided into three parts.

Schweidnitz POW Camp repatriation- A Christmas time homecoming. (Repatriation Part 1)

Part one deals with the men repatriating from Schweidnitz POW camp.   Ironically, when our men escaped Schweidnitz  men were transferred out of Holzminden into Schweidnitz.  Some who had transferred in in January 1918 with many of our tunnelling men were still there …if they hadn’t escaped in the meantime.

Much of the information for this part was taken from an article by JB Sterndale Bennett MC as reprinted in The  Great War … I was there! Part 47.  “A Prisoners View of Germany Our Happy Christmas Homecoming” Further information is provided from Lt Eduard William Desbarats’  memoir shared by his grandson Alexandre Desbarats.

Taken from an article by JB Sterndale Bennett MC as reprinted in The  Great War … I was there! Part 47.  “A Prisoners View of Germany Our Happy Christmas Homecoming”

When the news of Armistice came, there was obviously confusion. Some expected retaliation from the guarding soldiers. Others expected there would be “the infuriated populous” and starving German peasants perhaps invading the camp. Then there were the humiliated, defeated soldiers returning to their homes. The Schweidnitz POWs were advised to await orders.

Taken from an article by JB Sterndale Bennett MC as reprinted in The  Great War … I was there! Part 47.  “A Prisoners View of Germany Our Happy Christmas Homecoming”

 

 

The allies could probably have walked out of prison but being hundreds of miles from the border they decided to stay. It was an uncertain time with fear of danger as it had been a bitter defeat for the Germans and the locals were suffering much hardship. Sterndale Bennett reports that after Armistice the German soldiers ripped off the Imperial Eagles from their helmets and cut off their epaulets.  

Red Cross supplies increased for the POWs but it was an embarrassment of riches. The POWs who were relying on these parcels to be fed shared their biscuits and  chocolates with the little starving children in the town on their parole walks.

The men still suffered food shortages and they were uncertain as to when they were leaving. During the four weeks they waited to be free the POWs spent seeing life in the countryside around Silesia. Freedoms were extended to the men to leave the camp by day and some made friends and socialised freely with local German families. 

When their turn came, they were to leave 25 at a time. Those imprisoned the longest would be let out first. Sterndale Bennett reports that when they departed for Danzig by train they were farewelled by villagers with flowers and rousing cheers as they left. They boarded their ship at Danzig, now Gransk, Poland on the Baltic Sea.  Once there they were greeted by music and bands on board.   

They crossed the North Sea landing at Leith near Edinburgh in Scotland. Some arrived on Christmas morning and  they were greeted by residents of Edinburgh with a breakfast in the quayside sheds and the Gordon Highlanders playing them ashore.

The Gordon Highlanders playing to some other returning interned men at Leith 

From there they moved to Scarborough where they spent a Christmas where they supped on  Christmas fare in a fine hotel. Their happy homecoming was followed by a medical check over, the receipt of £2 pounds and a  voucher for two months paid home  leave. Each was presented with a  welcome home letter from the King.

Over 31,000 men were repatriated via Leith. People of Leith gave a right royal welcome to the returning men by  lining the streets,  cheering and shaking the men’s’ hands.  In turn, on the ships,  the men stood crowded on the deck waving their hats and hankies as they approached the wharf.

On the day Captain Sterndale returned he reported that the first to land "by universal wish of all on board" was the very popular and gallant Captain Blaikie

Captain Blaikie was popular with the men

Most of the other repatriated men arrived back, either via Dover, Hull or Leith.

Edouard  Desbarats,  a Canadian from the Royal Navy Air Service was captured in Disparu 20^th September 1917 who had been a POW at Schweidnitz since transferring in from Holzminden with another 90 men on 19^th January 1918. He had been incarcerated since being shot down during the Third Battle of Ypres in Sept 1917.

 Edward Desbarets  supplied by grandson Alec

He wrote a memoir of his time and recorded those last days post Armistice in his memoir. They had been told they would leave around Christmas. However, some had been ordered out separately to assist in other repatriations.  While waiting however,  they had been able to cash their Cox’s Cheques and enjoy some local hospitality.

“The very first thing we bought was a sack of onions the four of us finished them in one sitting then we bought a cake that looks mouth-watering. A dreadful disappointment the frosting tasted like black bacon fat.”

On another occasion they were told that “up in the Reisenberg there was a castle with a restaurant that serves good meals so a group of us walked up the river to the big defile through which passed the road to Prague Praha (Prague )and found the Schloss Kynsburg -a  frowning mass of towers and battlements way up on the hill overlooking the road. It had been built by a robber baron in the 12th century to levy  toll on merchants passing through the defile.”There they found “a clean restaurant serving soup roast pork apple sauce baked potatoes with hot rum punch all for 5rm.”  (1/- was equal to 25 Reich marks). Desbarats and his friends found it to be an agreeable day out despite the 15 mile walk each way. Returning via the coal mining district they stopped for” black beer and plum and cherry brandy.”

In his memoir Desbarats recounted meeting some of Von Mackensen’s army returning through Schweidnitz. Although “they felt very sore about their defeat” they put it down to a “betrayal by the home front”. In Desbarats words “ give us 20 years” they said “and we will show you” “1918+20 = 1938”.

Desbarats left a little later than Sterndale Bennett who was in the Christmas day in Leith contingent. Desbartes reported that the final parcels from the Red Cross were full of magnificent  “proper Christmas Dinner” which was much welcomed by the remaining men. Desbarats embarked on a special train on Boxing Day via Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin and Swinemunde. The train trip to Swinemunde was quite eventful with protests by students and their train needing to be rerouted around the outside of Berlin because sailors revolted and were attacking the Reichstag. They were welcomed by one of their own- Gus Edwards who had been deployed out of Schweidnitz.

Excerpt from Edward Desbarets memoir supplied by grandson Alec

They said  goodbye to Germany embarking on a Danish ferry for Copenhagen. They were treated to a “splendid meal with Carlsberg “.  After landing at the ferry port at night and then train to Copenhagen they stayed in a hotel for the night and had  a quick walk around Copenhagen.

At a resort hotel high above the beach, they were treated to a well- earned wash, pamper and massage. After  the R&R, sleep, showers and hospitality they spent New Year’s Eve in Copenhagen and then on board the ship to take them to Leith. Here they  celebrated New Year’s Day with turkey, pudding and champers. 

Excerpt from Edward Desbarets memoir supplied by grandson Alec

Being Canadian, he too would have to wait months for passage home. Luckily Desbarats was able to catch a last-minute cancellation and was on his way home in February after a little bit of R&R and shopping for suits and coats.

Thanks to Desbarats’ well written memoir we get insights into the last glimpses of London before the expats returned home. Having left London in the summer of 1917 he had returned in winter to “sleet, fog, rationing, no hotels, no friends.”  No doubt some were asked to sign up again with promises of promotion etc. Debarats complains of “no friends”. After being cooped up with a man in a POW camp or being covered in mud on the battlefields downtime would’ve felt quite odd.

After having organised  his departure in February,  Desbarats was given leave and he went visiting.

Imagine after all that captivity,  strolling around London free as a bird, buying clothes and gifts for those at home, meeting up with relatives seeing parts of the British Isles never seen and maybe never to be seen again.

 Remembrance Day 2022 of the Armistice on 11/11/1918