Prisoner of War and next of kin

[groom]

I have found the POW records of my great uncle, Robert Howell, who was captured on the first day of the battle of the Aisne on 27th May 1918.

On his enlistment papers he gives his next of kin as his sister, my grandmother, as he lived with her and my grandfather from the age of 14. However, the strange thing is that on the POW records he gives his brother, Edward Howell as his next of kin. Edward was also fighting in France at that time. The address he gives is not Edward's address but is my grandparents' home. Could this be because my grandmother had a German surname as my grandfather's parents were German? Would he have wanted to hide this connection?

[Treetotal]

It sounds to me like he was trying to protect them once he became a POW Groom..Bless.
Carol

[groom]

That was my thought as well, Carol. He would have regarded my grandmother as his mother as she virtually brought him up from the age of 3 when their own mother was drowned. My great grandfather remarried, but I know all the children hated their stepmother and left home as soon as they were able. Uncle Bob survived the war and I always remember him as having pure white hair. I made contact with a second cousin and the first thing she asked was whether I remembered his hair.