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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: curtainhooks on Thursday 24 November 22 21:28 GMT (UK)
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Hello,
I was wondering if anyone could (or suggest how to) help find the Labour/Prison camp that my Grandad was in during the years 1940 to May 1945.
He enlisted prior 1936 at some point (gave his birthday as 11.7.11 on some records (apparently) but was actually born 1910), and then left in 1936 and met his wife + had his first child. In August 1939 he joined again for retraining. He left around November/December 1939 to fight in France. He was taken as a prisoner of war mid 1940 (I think captured in France and made to walk to Germany/Poland).
I am not sure what camp he was held in and would be very grateful for any advice on how to find out! From stories I've heard, he seemed to say although it was horrible, he made some friends in Poland and had drinks with the Polish guards. I think he spent most of his time in Poland.
This is some information family has on him:
Army Number: 5434769
Rank: Pte
Unit Ylist
Regiment: Duke of Cornwalls Light infantry
Any information on his life during the war would be very appreciated, thank you!
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He was born 1911 - not 1910
September qtr 1911
William S K Walker mmn Pitcher Eastry 2a 2146
He died 1971 as William Stephen Walker born 11.7.1911
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Sorry, I meant that but accidentally wrote it the wrong way around. Yes, he was born 11.07.11, thank you.
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I can see him on three casualty lists.
Casualty List 237 (all casualties reported to the War Office Casualty Section during the 24 hours ended 9 a.m. 21st June 1940):
2nd Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
5434769 Walker, Pte. W. S. reported as missing (date not reported, but others in his battalion on the same page were reported missing 12-6-1940)
Casualty List 272 (all casualties reported to the War Office Casualty Section during the 24 hours ended 9 a.m. 3rd August 1940):
2nd Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
5434769 Walker, Pte. W. S. previously reported as missing, now reported as P.O.W.
Casualty List 1812 (all casualties reported to the War Office Casualty Section during the 24 hours ended 9 a.m. 19th July 1945):
2nd Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
5434769 Walker, Pte. W. S. previously reported as P.O.W., now reported as not P.O.W.
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Did your grandad keep his German POW ID Tag and is it still available in the family?
The example below is for POW Camp Thorn (Toruń in Poland):
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30080593
Tony
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A copy of his service record, available from the MOD and not online, might give some information.
https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records
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This sounds like him?
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=5434769+pow
Cathy
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Thank you very much everyone for all your help :)
Those casualty lists confirm what I heard from family members and the record of William Stephen Walker I think must be him, so now I have the name of the camp, Thank you Cathy!!
Just wondering though, does anyone know what ''Number of Cards: 1'' means on the link that cath151 sent? May be a stupid question.
edit: Unfortunately I'm not sure if he kept the ID tag tonepad, good idea though I will check,
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I think it just means there is one card with his details in the collection, no other cards in his name in the collection.
Cathy :)
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Thanks again, Cathy!
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The International Committee of the Red Cross, which was responsible for monitoring the welfare of POWs and liasing between the belligerents on the subject of POWs, maintained card indexes which sometimes resulted in more than one card being created for the same individual, especially if he was moved between camps and it took a while for the ICRC to update their records. On the plus side, the German records of POWs were extremely thorough and comprehensive. Unfortunately the ICRC's resources for dealing with historic requests are very limited and so you are better off using the National Archives to get hold of his POW records - ideally by making your own visit if you can.
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Thank you Andy, I live quite near to the Kew Archives, so will definitely have a look there- thank you.
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Just to add my experience with these records.
The ICRC do have some basic PoW records, but it may take a long tome to arrive (ICRC reasonably prioritise their more current work), and the results are not very comprehensive.
As said, try the record set WO 416 at National Archives. The index is online, so you can search before you pay. If you can travel to Kew you may hold the original German card(s). The German WO 416 card MAY have photos, fingerprints and medical data, or it may not, but to see the actual card (which your PoW probably never did) is fantastic. I did this for my Father's card. If travel is not possible, they will scan the card(s) for a fee.
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Hello, I have found some more information about William Walker but was wondering if anyone had any ideas about where the places he is talking about are?
The second screenshot is talking about a march he did from ''Templebury/Templeburg?'' to ''Belle?''
The first screenshot is of the names of working camps he was in, the last one is ''Templebury/Templeburg'' but I can't make out the other two
Can anyone work out what the writing says or where they are?
Thank you :)
(He was captured in Ypres, Belgium and was in Stalag XXA in Poland if this helps location wise)
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I think the place to which he marched in 1945 is Celle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celle), which was later in the British Zone of occupation. The place he marched from is possibly Zempelburg. Today it's Sępólno Krajeńskie, in Poland which would have been in the Russian zone at the end of the war. However there was also a place known by the German name of Tempelburg (today it's Czaplinek also in Poland) which was a WW2 labour camp for Russian prisoners of war.
No luck so far with the other placenames
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There's an incomplete list of German POW camps (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_prisoner-of-war_camps_in_World_War_II) on Wikipedia. And a more comprehensive list in German here: https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Kriegsgefangenenlager/Stammlager-R.htm (includes only the STALAGs ie the camp for soldiers.
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Thank you Andy!
I think you're right that looks a lot more like Celle than Belle.
Now comparing the T to the ''T'' at the start of ''Thorn'', it looks like it could be Zempleburg rather than Templeburg, so that makes sense.
Also the first letter of the first working camp looks almost exactly like the T in Thorn, so think that one starts with a T.
Again, thanks, will look through that list on wikipedia
(Moved this question to the handwriting deciphering board to see if I can find out any more of the words)
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New thread
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=868191.msg7388784#msg7388784