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- Soltau POW Camp during the Great War -


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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment

Soltau POW Camp



If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.





Want to know more about Soltau POW Camp?


There are:0 items tagged Soltau 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.


Those known to have been held in

Soltau POW Camp

during the Great War 1914-1918.

  • Bowman Matthew Nielson. Cpl. Royal Scots Fusiliers
  • Cork Horace Stanley. Pte. Rifle Brigade
  • Gill Ernest. Pte. East Yorkshire Regiment
  • Hope John Henry. Pte. Cheshire Regiment
  • Hufton John Ernest. Pte. Northumberland Fusliers
  • Kirton Arthur Edgar. Pte. Leicestershire Regiment
  • Till Robert. Cpl. King's Royal Rifle Corps
  • Watford William. Sgt. The Queens Regiment
  • Wixted Michael. Pte. Royal Dublin Fusilliers

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. Add a Name to this List

Records from Soltau POW Camp other sources.


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  • 1st of September 2023 marks 24 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.

Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.



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  • 22nd April 2024

        Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263973 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.

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      World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
      Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.






263365

Pte. Michael Wixted 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusilliers

Michael Wixted was born in January 1889. He joined the British Army in mid 1915 and was allotted to the 7th Royal Irish Rifles. There is evidence of a Leinster Regiment being formed around this time and it is probable that along with thousands of other young Dubliner's, he enlisted. From his Medal Roll Card, we know he arrived in France with a Draft in early 1916 He had been transferred to the 8th Royal Dublin Fusiliers by late 1917, having left his original Regiment for reasons and a date unknown but likely to be due to a wound or sickness

He was posted to the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers in February 1918 when the 8th Battalion was disbanded. In total 400 men were absorbed into both the 1st and 2nd Royal Dublin Fusilier Battalions on the 10th of February 1918. 200 men being absorbed into each Battalion.

Michael was captured by German forces on the 21st of March 1918 in the town of St. Quentin in France. This was during a very heavy offensive of 500,000 German Troops against some 200,000 Allied Troops. Sometime after his capture, Michael had been transferred to Soltau Prisoner of War Camp, Germany. He was repatriated to England in January 1919.

Brian Connolly




257626

Pte. Arthur Edgar Kirton D Coy. 6th Btn. Leicestershire Regiment

My Grandfather, Arthur Kirton, of the 6th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, was badly wounded and subsequently captured on the morning of the 21st of March 1918 at Epehy, the very morning of the beginning of the German Spring Offensive of 1918. A search of the ICRC records revealed that he was at Soltau POW Camp when the ICRC visited the camp in August of 1918 and the records show that at that time he was still suffering with his shoulder as a result of his severe wounds.

My Grandfather lived until 1986 dying at the age of 87.

Dave Dunham




246463

Cpl. Robert Till 6th Btn. King's Royal Rifle Corps

Captured gassed, wounded and buried in mud; dug out of a shell hole by advancing German troops and sent to Soltau. Was never able to return to his career after the war due to the after effects of the gas and died in 1949.

Robert Jones




232111

Pte. Horace Stanley Cork 9th Btn., A Coy. Rifle Brigade

Horace Cork was conscripted in 1916. In early 1917 he was moved to France. The unit was in action during April and May at Arras. On the morning of 3rd May the unit carried out a pre-dawn attack which was to follow a rolling barrage, the objective was Triangle Wood. It was a disaster. "A" Company suffered 75 per cent losses, with Horace Cork being taken prisoner at some point during the battle. He was moved to Dulmen POW camp via Douai, and at a later time moved to Soltau POW camp, where he spent the rest of the war.

Pete Cork




223181

Pte. John Henry Hope 1st Battallion Cheshire Regiment

Jack Hope was taken prisoner on 24th of August 1914 and held at the Soltau German prisoner of war camp in Hanover for four years. He had a wife, Blanche, and three children at home, one dying while he was a captive.

He returned to England after the Armistice and received the lithographed commendation letter from King George V, which is still in possession of his descendants. He became a postal carrier after the war.





208902

Pte. John Ernest Hufton 2nd Battalion Northumberland Fusliers (d.29th Oct 1918 )

My Great Grandfather, Private John Ernest Hufton 16997, was captured by the Germans on Saturday 8th May 1915. He was with 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers. It is easy to understand that he was captured during the defence of the lines at the Battle of Frezenberg. Documentation kept by my Great Grandmother Florence Hufton, show that he was taken POW, and that he subequently was marched or tranferred to the POW camp at Soltau, near Hamlen in Germany.

Post cards, letters, photgraphs and official documents from the Army show that he was in fine health albeit bruised and having a black eye from the recent battle. He is shown with fellow captives and a few other photos show German guards with fixed bayonets. He was eventually set to work in a local sugar factory. Later photographs show him in poor health, and just less than two weeks prior to Armitice he died on 29th October 1918. He is buried at Neiderzwehren War cemetary near Kassel, Germany.

I paid homage and visited my great-grand father's war grave in September 2008 with my mother (who is his grand daughter) and my step father.

Alan Bell




208313

Sgt. William Watford 2nd Btn. The Queens Regiment

My grandfather was William Watford, he served as a Private & Sergeant in The 2nd Battalion, Queens Regiment. I also know that during the 1917 ‘Battle of Arras’, France he was captured and became a Prisoner of War. I have recently found some group photographs which I believe were taken during his capitivity. All the photographs were taken by ‘Frau Anna Nieworth, Gamsen Kastorp, Kr Gifhorn’. One photo refers to "S Thomas 14th Battn A.I.F" On the reverse of another postcard is written “With Best Wishes for 1918 Sgt 106970 Harry Bra(u?)ce, 27853 Matthews, 9863 Leonard C Brown, 6551 George (William J) Quinnell. If anyone recognises these names please contact me.

Phil Watford




205107

Cpl. Matthew Nielson Bowman 2nd Btn. D Coy Royal Scots Fusiliers

Matthew Nielson Bowman of Irvine Scotland was born in 1883, was a corporal in the 2nd Battalion, Company D of the Royal Scots Fusiliers during WWI. On his arrival in France he was attached to the 9th Infantry Brigade which in turn was subordinate to the 3rd Division. He was captured by the Germans and spent time in a POW camp. The Red Cross Archives in Geneva attest that he was captured March 23, 1918 at Ham, France. He was a prisoner of war in German hands, present in the camp of Soltau coming from Aachen (according to a German list dated 23.9.1919). Family anecdotes say that he was captured when he was shot in the knee and that he was made to work in the salt mines while he was a prisoner. Like many veterans, he never liked to talk about his wartime experiences.

Eleanor Clouter






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