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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: arabrab on Thursday 08 March 18 21:14 GMT (UK)
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Can anyone please translate these headings from POW papers 1918 . Or would it be better if I posted this on the Handwriting Deciphering page ?
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1 Serial number
2 a Surname b Forename c only for Russians - father's forename
3 Rank
4 a/b Type of unit c Company
5 a/b taken prisoner (location and date)
6 a Date of birth and place b/c Address of next of kin
the manuscript is the name of a POW camp which is Langensalza (in the area of Kassel)
Interesting piece here on the camp http://www.edinburghs-war.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_Langensalza_POW_Camp.pdf
MaxD
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Thank you very much . I guessed most of it but it is easy to make guesses and go off at a tangent.
I wanted to be clear as the relevant column for 5 a/b says St Simon 24 /3 /18 and (c) Kohle West Front. and I can't find a reference to St Simon. Any ideas where to look next?
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Apologies first, I left out 5 c which means "previous location". Could you say what his name/number are? In addition, when was he taken prisoner and what was his unit, looking at the area they were in on a map may help.
(Edited)
MaxD
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name H O Pellant 68950 7 R Fusrs
The details above and below him are for men at Cambrai same date 24 /3 /18 which was where a relative thought he was wounded.
The date stamp at the top of this form is 20 AOU 1918- don't understand this either (as see below)
he was repatriated wounded from Germany 2 June 1918 with a shoulder injury
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Found his card in the
Archives of the International Prisoners of War Agency 1914-1919
https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/3706848/3/2/
won´t help much, not a lot of info
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While I also find his card, I have not been able to find (to my embarrassment) the listing with the German headings and notations that you refer to. Could you provide directions please?
Looking at the war diary for March 1918, 7 R Fus were engaged in the retreat from Cambrai and between 23rd and the evening of the 25th were fighting heavy rearguard actions while withdrawing from Havrincourt Wood to Thiepval, a distance of about 20 miles in a straight line taking casualties all the way. Some 35 miles south east of the area in which they were fighting is a place called Saint Simon which was on the German side of the line at that time and may very well be the first place he was formally registered as a POW, having been brought there from somewhere else.
MaxD
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It's probably not critical, but 2b asks for just the name by which the person is known.
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Thank you everyone for all your input.
MaxD --there are two different cards for Harry Pellant in the International PWA The first one is for Pellant Harry O and the other Pellant O H One card comes under the Pegram etc index and one card under Pell etc. Not sure why! I hope this makes sense? Barbara
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Makes total sense, I've seen the somewhat eccentric listings before!
Seeing the list helps to answer your queries. What you read as Kohle is actually Kehle (throat). That column was often used to indicate "unwounded", "wounded", on the same page appear "R Ellbogen" (right elbow), "L Schulter" (left shoulder) etc. Indicates he had been wounded (presumably) in the throat area. As he was repatriated with a shoulder injury one presumes it affected his throat also.
Secondly, the August date is the date the list was copied (Copie at the top). It starts at 33662. There are two list numbers, it relates to English prisoners at the POW camp Langensalza and there are three dates indicating when it was sent from the camp, when it was received in Vienna and when it was despatched from Vienna. All these dates are indeed after he was repatriated. Having seen something like this before, the best that one can do is say that it has probably been compiled for other lists and the list isn't of men at the camp on any of the days noted but lists those who are/were there. Frankly as your man clearly came home on 2 Jun having been taken on 24 March, I wouldn't concern myself with what look like anomalous dates. Saint-Simon has a hyphen by the way.
MaxD
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Thank you so much for your help . All is explained. Well nearly! Barbara