World War 1 internments in UK - bibliography

[Matt62]

Hello 

I am wondering whether any of you might be able to help me find out more about my 3x great grandfather who was a German living in Glasgow during WW1.

His name was John Christian Louis Maass and he was a seaman in the merchant navy. He came to the UK sometime in the late 1870s and married an Irish lady called Mary Catherine Kerrigan in 1880.

He was born in 1858 somewhere in northern Germany, I think Bremen.

Sometime in the early 20th century he changed his surname from "Maass" to "Moss", obviously to appear less German. However on his death certificate he and his wife are "Maass" once more.

During WW1, he was the victim of Germanophobia. According to my late great grandmother, his wife owned a dairy shop and its windows were smashed in during the war. The family home was raided because of accusations from John's neighbours that he was a "spy". He was apparently arrested and I think interned. Its the last part I would like to confirm or deny if possible.

I would LOVE than to be able to find out more about his experiences during the war. He died in March 1916. 

After the First World War my great uncles visited their relatives in Germany and kept in touch via letters right up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Matt

[KGarrad]

Do you know where he was interned?

For Isle of Man Internment Camps see this site:
http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/famhist/genealgy/intern.htm

There are some links there, too.

[loo]

If you go to the Imperial War Museums website, http://iwm.org.uk/collections/search , and search for internments, Alexandra Palace, Knockaloe, Wakefield, Dorchester, or other relevant terms, you can find a lot of interesting images. 
Some of the prisoners whose names are mentioned are:  A. Moro, George Mayer, C. Kurz, Steuer, von Boyneburg, Koehn, Riessner, Dr. Lutz, Fiegel, Prof. Feuerberg, Gunisch, Postel, Kapitan Tarnow, Lodter, Kupfer, Meister, Grusovnik, Faust, Schreiber, Schiller, Haeusler, Kuenzemueller, Fabian, Kapitan Karbiner,  Bruegelmann, Wolters, Scuhmacher, Kapitan von Freeden, Kapitan Schlueter, W Schlundt, O Heyn, H.B., St Diet, J Sedlmayer, K Streitzig, K Richter, G Haering, H Kupfer, Hauptmann Bewer, Kreutzer, Froitzheim, Mayr, Wolters, Major Scmidt-Reder, Eduard Krohn.  There are likely others as well.  Some of these may have been POWs - unclear - but I think most were civilian internees.
There are numerous water colours of Alexandra Palace, by George Kenner, internee.
Not all entries have images, but presumably you could go to the Museum in question to see the item.
Another item which is probably very revealing but must be viewed in person at this time, indexed here, is English transcript of Kenner's internment journal with related photographs and ephemera, Catalogue number Art.IWM ARCH 27. 
Some fascinating images here, worth a look! 

[johnbhoy]

This is the reply I received from the Red Cross a few years ago.

[Matt62]

This is the reply I received from the Red Cross a few years ago.

Amazing that you have an ancestor who was a German living in Britain during WW1 as well.

How should I go about contacting the Red Cross?

Our Great Uncles were both in the 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers and lived in Glasgow too.

I'm finding some interesting parallels between our family histories

[johnbhoy]

This is the reply I received from the Red Cross a few years ago.

Amazing that you have an ancestor who was a German living in Britain during WW1 as well.

How should I go about contacting the Red Cross?

Our Great Uncles were both in the 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers and lived in Glasgow too.

I'm finding some interesting parallels between our family histories

Matt the German ancestry is only through marriage, so not really an ancester on my side. I'll get back to you mate on the address for the Red Cross, but be prepared to wait for a long time for a reply from the RC, as they are generally snowed under with requests

[cutlerydig]

Tom Wood, "The internment of enemy civilians in wartime Britain", Family Tree Magazine (UK), v.15, 1998, Nov., p. 51-52.  I have a copy of this.
Continued below.

Hi Loo,  I don't suppose you have your copy scanned in and wouldn't mind sending it over? Would be greatly appreciated! thanks, E

[clearly]

Just as a little aside I have come across the Hubner family in the UK.

In 1939-40 Rudolf Hubner (the elder) was interned by the British as he was born in that part of Austria which became Czechoslovakia after WWI. He was also interned (twice) in WWI.

His son, also called Rudolf, who was born in Britain, had married a French woman and was working for Reddifusion Francaise in France in 1940. He was interned by the Germans.

I just wondered if this was a unique occurrence with father and son being interned by two different sides.

[loo]

Another book that has come to my attention:

Panayi, Panikos.  Prisoners of Britain: German civilian and combatant internees during the First World War.   Manchester University Press, 2014.  360 pages. 
The book covers the three different types of internees in Britain in the form of: civilians already present in the country in August 1914; civilians brought to Britain from all over the world; and combatants. Using a vast range of contemporary British and German sources the volume traces life experiences through initial arrest and capture to life behind barbed wire to return to Germany or to the remnants of the German community in Britain.

The WW1 internment records of the International Red Cross can now be searched online, and you can see the original index cards!
http://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en

I found my guy.  Turns out he was first interned at Alexandra Palace, then Spalding (Lincs) and repatriated 18 April 1918.  Great progress on a very old mystery, as I was reluctant to pay the fee.