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Gustrow POW Camp
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Want to know more about Gustrow POW Camp? There are:1 items tagged Gustrow POW Camp available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have been held inGustrow POW Camp during the Great War 1914-1918. - Benge William Edwin. Gnr. Royal Field Artillery
- Bridges Fred William. Pte.
- Bryan William. L/Cpl. Kings Royal Rifle Corps
- Burrows R.. Cpl. Royal Scots Fusiliers
- Butcher W.. Pte. Royal West Surrey (Queen's) Rgt.
- Caffrey Christopher. Pte. Leinster Regiment
- Caine E.. Pte. Dorset Regiment
- Casterton Percy Thomas Frederick. Pte. Manchester Regiment
- Cole Johnny. Pte. Rifle Brigade
- Eaglefield . Drmr. Grenadier Guards
- Elvin W.. Pte. Royal Fusiliers
- Farrant James. Able Sea. Division (Infantry)
- Huison George Christopher . Cpl. West Yorkshire Regiment
- Johnston Joseph. Pte. Highland Light Infantry
- Judge Robert Charles. Pte. The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
- McGraa William. Pte. Coldstream Guards
- Mills Archibald. Pte. Machine Gun Corps
- Mills Archibald. Pte. Machine Gun Corps
- Mitchell David. Pte. Royal Scots Fusiliers
- Norgate Percy Douglas. Gnr Royal Garrison Artillery
- Peake Leonard. Pte. Leicestershire Regiment
- Reeve Herbert Ernest. Pte. 9th Queens Royal Lancers
- Roat Clifton Harold. Pte. Essex Regiment
- Robinson R.. Pte. Lincolnshire Rgt
- Walker . Cpl. Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
- Walker Charles Henry. Pte. Leicestershire Regiment
- Williams Maurice Fleetwood. Sgt. Royal Engineers
- Wilson . Pte. Royal Scots Fusiliers
- Worsfold . Pte. Queen's Royal West Surrey Rgt.
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please.
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Records from Gustrow POW Camp other sources.
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264456 Pte. Herbert Ernest Reeve C Sqn 9th Queens Royal Lancers My Grandfather, Herbert Reeve was reported missing and then captured on the 22nd of March 1918 after fierce fighting in the Brown Line at Hesbecourt, Somme, France.
He was repatriated on the 25th of November 1918. I have two letters sent home to my Grandmother from Gustrow prisoner of war camp dated June and August 1918. He had gone out with the 9th Lancers on the 15th of August 1914.
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261445 Pte. Archibald Mills D Coy., 8th Btn. Machine Gun Corps  Apparently, Archibald Mills originally enlisted (or maybe was conscripted – it’s unclear) as No. 21475 in an unknown battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. His birthdate is shown as 3rd January 1898 at Stenhouse. He would have completed his basic military training with that unit, and might have expected to join one of the active service units of the Argylls but instead, between 23rd and 26th of September 1917, he was compulsorily transferred to the Machine Gun Corps.
The MGC had a presence in every brigade of every division serving overseas since the beginning of 1916. At that time, each brigade comprised 4 infantry battalions, each of up to 1,000 men, plus a pioneer battalion, artillery units, a trench mortar company, medical units, Royal Engineers, and Royal Signals. It also had a dedicated machine gun company which took its designation from the brigade in which it served. The company was about 140 strong, fielding 16 Vickers Mk 1 heavy machine guns, manned 6-men to each, plus a transport section of horse- or mule-drawn wagons to bring up fresh supplies of ammunition and spare parts from dumps to the rear of the front line.
The duties of a machine-gun company were: to go forward if the infantry was attacking (usually in the second or third wave) to provide fire against counter-attacks; then to defend at all times the infantry and artillery positions; and finally, in the event that the infantry had to withdraw in the face of attack by the enemy, the gunners were expected to remain to the last, to give everyone else time to get out in good order. Hence, MGC casualties were always on the high side. Not for nothing were they known by the squaddies as The Suicide Club.
There were three brigades in each division and, therefore, three MG companies in each division. In the spring of 1917, the War Office responded to requests to beef up the fire power by sending out a fourth company that would be independent of the brigades and under the direct control of the brigadier, to be used wherever he saw fit.
Archibald underwent a six-week gunnery and tactics course at Belton Park, Grantham and on completion would have been sent out to France, probably by the end of November 1917. He joined No. 218 Company (the "fourth" MG company), which was part of the 8th Division. He may have joined just in time to see his first action at the assault on the Southern Redoubt, Passchendaele on 2nd of December 1917, which marked the end of serious fighting that year, as winter conditions prevented either side from continuing.
All then went fairly quiet, and on 20th of January 1918, in common with other divisions of the Western Front, the four machine gun companies in the 8th Division amalgamated to form the 8th Battalion MGC, which was now about 750 strong and fielding 64 machine guns. The old 218th Company became D Company in the new organization. The Division was to remain in the Ypres sector around Passchendaele until 12th of March 1918, when it was relieved in the line and sent to the Somme sector near Longuenesse. Its strength at that point was 37 officers, 777 other ranks, plus 258 horses and mules. The make-up of the 8th Division was then nine infantry battalions: 2nd Devons, 2nd West Yorks, 2nd Middlesex, 1st Worcesters, 1st Notts & Derbys, 2nd Northamptons, 2nd E. Lancs, 2nd R. Berkshires, and 2nd Rifle Brigade, with 22nd Durhams as Pioneers.
The situation in the Somme sector was disquieting. In March 1918, the Germans had finally knocked the Russians out of the war, forcing an armistice of the Eastern Front. This enabled them to transfer about 1 million battle-hardened troops to the West, which they concentrated in the Somme. The British Army was under-strength there. Political considerations at home had starved the units of reinforcements. There was a general election due and the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, withheld many young trained soldiers in the hope of keeping the electorate on his side. It was a decision which nearly lost the war.
The Germans now outnumbered their opponents at a ratio of about 3:1 and they were about to launch a massive offensive, trying to drive a wedge between the British and French armies, pushing through to the Channel ports and thus knocking Great Britain out of the war before the American Army, now arriving in huge numbers, could tip the balance against them. The 8th Division (with Archibald in D Company, 8th Battalion MGC) was at Harbonnieres, behind the Somme Canal, when the first assaults commenced on 21st of March 1918. All defending divisions were pushed quickly back all along the Somme frontage and by the 29th April the 8th Battalion MGC had lost 23 officers and 410 other ranks. Many of these were initially listed as missing and subsequently found to be POWs. The 8th Division was relieved by the 4th Australian Division.
It was clear that the whole Division was in a very poor state and needed to be rested and strongly reinforced. Along with the 21st, 25th, and 50th Divisions, all in a similar state, the 8th was sent to a "quiet" spot in the French lines farther south in the Aisne sector where a build-up of strength and recuperation could take place. The 8th arrived at Fere-en-Tardenois where they were packed like sardines into French trenches on the ridge of high ground known as the Chemin-des-Dames (The Ladies Road), which the French had taken from the Germans at enormous cost in 1917 and was the cause of the near-mutiny in the French Army.
The British were of the opinion that the positions held were very bad. They were on ground with a river to the rear and there was no strength-in-depth, a tactic used very successfully by the Brits in March/April on the Somme. There were no trenches further back and no reserve artillery points, but the French would not hear of establishing that system - they would not yield a single yard, although they told the British that there was nothing to fear anyway, that it was a very quiet spot! Unknown to the French and British, the Germans had decided to make an all-out effort to break through to Paris since they had been stopped on the Somme, well short of the Channel ports. They also knew the British were "resting" there and had decided to head straight for them, engaging 12 whole divisions.
When the battle started on 27th May 1918, the British units stood no chance. They were quickly overwhelmed and outflanked, and were forced into a headlong retreat in which thousands were killed or taken prisoner. The heaviest blows fell upon the 8th Division, and poor Archy was "in the bag" by the next day, the 28th May 1918. The overall offensive failed after the Germans had captured much ground, but at fearful cost. It would be their last gamble of the war. Fewer than half of the strength of 8th Battalion MGC escaped capture. The POWs from this period were spread among many different camps. Archy was sent to Gustrow Camp, south of Rostock on the Baltic coast.
He was released immediately after the Armistice and arrived back in the UK, at Dover, on 1st of December 1918. All returned POWs were given immediate leave unless they required hospital treatment. Archibald Mills was discharged from the Army on 28 March 1919 and went to Class Z Reserve. That meant that the Army regarded him as fit, and liable for recall in an emergency.
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261418 L/Cpl. William Bryan 1st Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps My great-great-uncle William Bryan. William fought in the Boer War and India prior to WW1. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has his date of death as 27th of October 1914. I visited Ypres and the Menin Gate last year to pay my respects to Bill, who was in the 1st Battalion KRRC. Incredibly, I have just found out that he is listed as a prisoner in Red Cross records dated 2nd of November 1914 and later in Güstrow POW Camp records dated 2nd of December 1914. After all these years, nobody alive today realized that 27th of October 1914 was not in fact his actual date of death.
So from today begins more research in the hope that we can now find out what really did happen to our Bill.
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257731 Pte. Leonard Peake 6th Btn. Leicestershire Regiment (d.23rd October 1918) Leonard Peake served with the 6th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment in WW1. He was held as a POW in Germany and died three days after his 20th birthday on 23rd of October 1918 and is buried Niederzwehren Cemetery at Mederzwehren, Stadkreirs Kassel, Hessen, Germany. Son of Leonard and Priscilla Peake of 7A, Crealock Street, Wandsworth, London. He was born at Watford, Herts.
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257026 Gnr Percy Douglas Norgate 233rd Siege Bty Royal Garrison Artillery (d.10th August 1918) Percy Norgate did not join up until he was in his late thirties, in the last year of the war. He served with the 233rd Seige Battery Royal Garrison Artillery in WW1.
He was captured by the Germans on 2nd of March 1918 and taken to their POW camp at Gustrow, Northern Germany. The well-remembered story is that while there, Percy managed to send a letter home. The family steamed off the stamp and found written underneath the sentence "Don't throw out the bacon rinds."
This reference to the tough part of the bacon normally cut off and discarded told the family something about the conditions under which their beloved boy was living.
He died in hospital later that year on 10th of August 1918, 3 months before the Armistice.
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256127 Pte. Fred William Bridges My grandfather Fred Bridges was held as a prisoner of war and I have postcards of Gustrow which he bought and photographs.
I understood he was forced to work in a salt mine and was liberated through Sweden at the end of the war.
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255466 Gnr. William Edwin Benge 505th Howitzer Battery Royal Field Artillery Ted Benge was reported as missing to his parents on the 22nd of March 1918, along with Gunner G R Peacocks and Lieut J C L Parsons. He was their only surviving child so they were extremely pleased to have received correspondence from Ted on Gustrow camp paper, dated 19th of May 1918 explaining where he was, what had happened to him and asking for something to smoke and a sewing kit. This letter was sent to his commanding officer by Ted's parents to prove that he was no longer missing and the Army returned it to them with their thanks.
Ted was a carpenter by trade and once he was at Gustrow, he had to put up shelves in the camp commander's office.
Like so many WW1 men, Ted told very little to his family, of his experiences apart from that above.
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254642 Pte. Charles Henry Walker 6th Btn. Leicestershire Regiment My Grandad Charles Walker spoke little about his wartime experiences. He did tell me he was taken prisoner and I have since found an entry for his capture on 22nd of March 1918 at Epehy and taken to POW camp Gustrow.
His story was that the German soldiers left the gates open and they made their own way to Belgium and sheltered in a Belgium house.
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254170 Pte. Archibald Mills 8th Btn. Machine Gun Corps I have very few memories of my grandfather, Archibald Mills. When he died I was given mementoes of him. I was 3 years old so did not hold any interest.
As an adult I started to wonder how he has survived WWI. I knew he had served in the Argyll & Southern Highlanders as I had his dog tag. I also had an other dog tag with MGC stamped on it.
To cut the story to the end, I found out from Machine Gun Corps records he had been compulsorily transferred to the MGC.
He was taken prisoner during the spring offensive March 1918 and was at Gustrow Camp until his release.
No one in the family knew this and I feel my search has only stared to get to know him.
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253948 Pte. Percy Thomas Frederick Casterton 2/6th Btn. Manchester Regiment Percy Casterton was captured at Hargicourt on the 21st of March 1918 by a German Officer who had been educated at Oxford University.
He was taken to Gustrow POW camp and was there by 20th of June 1918.
Being very short, he was often sent under the fence at night to raid turnips from the German's vegetable garden.
After the war he was repatriated and landed at Dover on 2nd of December 1918.
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253917 Pte. Joseph Johnston 10th/11th Btn. Highland Light Infantry My Grandfather, Joseph Johnston, for whom I am named, joined the 10th/11th HLI just before his 18th birthday. He was captured by German troops on 9th of April 1918, two days after his 19th birthday. He was engaged in the Battle of the Lys, part of the German Spring Offensive.
He was captured at Fleurbaix in Northern France, a village 13 miles west of Lille. By that time his HLI Battalion had become, firstly on the 1st February 1918, with the 119th Brigade of the British Army's 40th Division, and subsequently on the 16th February 1918 with the 120th Brigade of 40th Division.
He had sustained a gunshot injury to his left hand, and remained in hospital for 19 days, after which he was transferred to Gustrow, a German POW Camp approximately 120miles from Hamburg. From there he would be allocated a position as a joiner in the docks in Hamburg, where he remained until he was repatriated at the beginning of December 1918
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248884 Pte. Christopher "Christy" Caffrey 7th Battalion Leinster Regiment  Christopher "Christy" Caffrey, was my great grandfather. He was born Q1 1891 Navan Hospital, Navan, County Meath and died 13 Nov 1922 Navan, County Meath, Ireland of pneumonia.
He was never the same after coming back from the trenches and taking in the gas which weakened his lungs. He married Annie Brady Q4 1914 Navan. He had 4 children, the eldest was my grandmother born 4th May 1915 followed by her brother Christopher "Christy" 2nd October 1917 (but who sadly died of pneumonia, 12th May 1935, after going fishing with friends and getting wet and then going on to a football match so the story goes). Annie was born and died in Q4 1919 Navan and finally Patrick "Mannix" arrived 23rd July 1921 (d 2004). The family lived at 18 St Finian's Terrace in Navan.
I have two letters Christy sent when he was held at Gustrow POW camp in 1918 which are lovely but ever so fragile. I have totally transcribed one of them but not so the other as it appears to be written in pencil. They were sent by Christy to his sister Bridget who was a nurse and living in Chester, England.
I was always told he was given a large military funeral when he died and I have a picture of it although there was also another member of the family who died in 1923 and this may have been their funeral as I know that was large. I am guessing there would be a newspaper article on it?
It's a very sad story as Annie had to bring up her three children on her own and then her eldest son dies when he is 17. Annie gets a war pension which is decreased when she remarries in 1938. Annie lived until 1981 in 18 St Finian's Terrace. Christy Snr is buried in St Mary's Cemetary in Navan. I don't ever see his name anywhere which is a real shame so it would be good for him to be recognised somewhere.
He did not die directly in the war but indirectly so in many ways was a casualty which letters on file attest to from people who knew him at the time. There are lots of letters on file back and forth for years while Annie Caffrey fights relentlessly to get her husband's pension as he died in service but they said he died of double pneumonia so he was not killed or died due to anything military related. She mentions she is destitute in one letter and it is heart breaking. It's an interesting story as I am sure you come across many.
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244961 Pte. Johnny Cole 6th Btn. Rifle Brigade (d.15th April 1915) Johnny Cole was a Prisoner of War in Gustrow (prisoner 1315) he died on 15th of April 1915.
He had sent a letter to his sister Ellen on 30th of March 1915 asking for bread and dripping to be sent to him but he died before it reached him.
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244473 Pte. David Mitchell Royal Scots Fusiliers David Mitchell of the Royal Scots Fusiliers was in 1915 captured and held at Suder Zoll Haus POW Camp and Gustrow POW Camp.
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240152 Pte. Clifton Harold "Lou" Roat 2nd Btn. Essex Regiment Clifton Roat joined the 1st Essex Regiment at the age of 22 years old. His first posting, on the 9th of October 1915 was to the Balkans, with the 2nd Battalion. On the 13th of January 1916 the Essex Regiment was evacuated from Gallipoli and moved to Egypt, where they stayed for 2 months. Later he was sent to France, where he was badly wounded, after he recovered in a military hospital he was sent back to the front line.
Then in April 1917 Clifton and his Battalion moved to Arras, where they were ordered to relieve the 87th Brigade at Monchy le Preux. On the 14th of April 1917, 208 men from the 1st Essex, including Clifton, were captured and taken prisoner. He then spent the rest of the war in a Prisoner of War camp at Gustrow in North East Germany.
On the 28th of March 1919 he was discharged as a class Z Reservist.
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239581 Pte. Robert Charles Judge 1st Btn. The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) (d.23rd February 1915) Robert Judge died whilst being held as a prisoner of war.
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236920 Cpl. George Christopher Huison 2nd Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment George Huison was captured on 27th march 1918 near Rosieres (Rosieres-en-Santerre) east of Amiens and south of the Amiens-St Quentin road. He was captured during the German spring offensive (Kaiserschlacht) and was sent to Gustrow. George was released in November 1918.
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235919 Sgt. Maurice Fleetwood Williams 104th Field Coy. Royal Engineers Sgt. Maurice Williams served with the Royal Engineers, 104th Field Company. He was taken prisoner on 22nd March 1918 and was imprisoned in Gustrow, Mecklenberg, Western Pomerania, Germany. Maurice left the camp on 11th January 1919.
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226818 Pte. Worsfold Queen's Royal West Surrey Rgt. Private Worsfold was a prisoner at Gustrow POW Camp, where he died, reportedly from eating bad food.
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226817 Pte. Wilson Royal Scots Fusiliers Private Wilson was a prisoner in Gustrow POW Camp, where he is reported dying as a consequence of eating bad food.
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226811 Cpl. Walker 1st Btn. Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders Cpl. Walker was a prisoner in Gustrow POW Camp.
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226804 Pte. R. Robinson 1st Btn. Lincolnshire Rgt (d.28th April 1915) Private Robinson was a prisoner at Gustrow POW Camp. He died when, because he was starving, he ate bad food. He is buried in Hamburg Cemetery, grave I.F.14.
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226782 Pte. William McGraa 1st Btn. Coldstream Guards (d.8th December 1914) Private McGraa was a prisoner in Gustrow POW Camp. He died on 8th December 1914 as a result of punishment he received. He is buried in Hamburg Cemetery, grave III.B.10.
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226748 Able Sea. James Farrant Division (Infantry) Able Seaman James Farrant was a POW in several prisons during WW1: Reiskatte, Gustrow and Doberitz, during which time he attempted to escape. He had been captured at the Battle of Antwerp in October 1914.
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226737 Pte. W. Elvin 4th Btn. Royal Fusiliers Private Elvin was a prisoner at Gustrow POW Camp.
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226736 Drmr. Eaglefield Grenadier Guards Drummer Eaglefield was a prisoner at Gustrow POW camp. He lost both feet through frostbite, caused by outside Appells held in all weather.
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226726 Pte. E. Caine 1st Btn. Dorset Regiment Pte Caine was a prisoner in Gustrow POW Camp.
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226692 Pte. W. Butcher 1st Btn. Royal West Surrey (Queen's) Rgt. Private Burrows was a POW at Gustrow POW camp in Mecklenburg. He was punished by the guards for stealing a loaf of bread. The punishment consisted of tying him to a post for three hours in the snow. This led to frostbite and amputations.
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226691 Cpl. R. Burrows Royal Scots Fusiliers Corporal Burrows was a POW at Gustrow in Mecklenburg and also at Suder Zoll Haus Camp. He recorded that at Gustrow men died from eating bad food because the Germans refused to give them adequate rations. Out of desperate hunger, soldiers ate food that had `gone-off'. Burrows mentioned that Privates Worsfold (Queens Rgt), Robinson (Lincolns), Poulton and Wilson (both Royal Scots Fusiliers) all died.
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