Having a brainwave. I had assumed that, since he was captured in France in 1940, that he must've traded someone for those FFL photos but I have since discovered that his brother (see Michael Conway thread) was in the desert between 40-44 - I wonder if maybe he sent them to John?
It could be but l would have thought them a bit sensitive to send through German hands. In many cases, these books were added to on the journey and when they got home so they could have been put in then.
Hi Bill, thank you so much for sharing photos, I think the photos of the Foreign Legion were made on the border between Syria and Trans-Jordan. Syria at that time was under the protectorate of France and the Trans-Jordan under British protectorate. best regards Mathieu
Hey Mathieu, thanks for your input. I have linked to your post in the other thread I posted these photos in.
Quick update Nick. The boxing photos are apparently from Oflag 6B Warburg. Got the following from a guy on the Stalag Luft 3 Facebook page. " In terms of the boxing photos I recognize Sidney "Wank" Murray and Bob, "Gonga" Coste. You will see one photo of Coste, a big guy, with a very tiny man in the ring. The tiny man wins, but is was a joke bout. All others were serious. Another fighter at this match was A.B. Thompson, but I have not spotted him yet. Thompson was the pilot of Wank Murray, both shot down Sept. 1939." EDIT: I have since identified the camp in these boxing photos as Stalag XXA - Thorn (or sometimes Torun and also later Stalag 357) It was an old Polish fort and some of the structures are visible in the pictures). Many of the other photos are from Oflag XXI Schubin.
Found out a little more about Major General Solon Kaffatos - apparently he shared a room with Major Alexis Theodore Casdagli. According to this page http://www.christopherlong.co.uk/gen/maximogen/fg25/fg25_068.html it was Kaffatos who provided the wool for his famous "fuck Hitler" sampler.
Just a quick update... Was searching through newspaper archives today and found a few articles relating to my great grandfather in The Stirling Observer. The first is from July 1940 and declares him missing The next is from September 1940 where he is now listed as a POW This one is from 26th April 1945 - it's the leader from an article on returning POWs which featured my great grandad Here is the interview squib Finally, from 15th May 1945 news of a dinner to celebrate the return of 50 POWs (including my great grandad) to Stirling
I noticed the Dropbox link was out of action - i recently bought a new laptop and the files got put into a different directory during the shuffle. Should be able to view all the pics now although I think I've ended up with a few duplicates. Also in there at the moment are my great Granddad's service records, the War Diary for the 7th Argylls and the Missing Men file which Drew recently copied for me from the archives at Kew.
Incredibledisc, L/Cpl. Casson, is William Coldwell Casson from the 13th Parachute Battalion. He took off from Brize Norton on the 5th June 1944 and was taken prisoner with most of his stick of paratroopers on the 6th June he was at Limburg transit camp and then Stalag 4b and worked at the Stone Quarry Stalag 4G Oschatz from August 1944. His POW No. 82134. His other address was 38 Heald Street, Earlestown, Newton Le Willows, Lancashire brithm
Interesting. So far I've no evidence that my great granddad was in Stalag 4B or 4G. Was L/Cpl Casson liberated from one of those camps? My theory is that my great granddad was last in Fallingbostel as the newspaper report on his liberation mentions him being freed from a camp in the Hannover area round about the date Fallingbostel was captured.
Just spotted something in that newspaper article that I never noticed before - it mentions him flying over the roads in France he'd driven trucks down. His records show him as in no. 6 platoon and his employment was Admin Pl. (which I'm guessing was Admin Platoon). New mysteries to solve!
Did a search of the British Newspaper Archive and found two very brief mentions of William Casson Heald Street. He is the only W Casson listed on Ancestry: W Casson Rank: Lance Corporal Army Number: 3653446 Regiment: Army Air Corps POW Number: 82134 Camp Type: Stalag Camp Number:IV-G Camp Location: Oschatz, Saxony Record Office: Army Air Corps and Army Catering Corps Record Office, Drill Hall, East Claremont St., Edinburgh 9
These are brilliant. I find the very existence of these YMCA log books fascinating. Every time I peer at PoW stuff it's got so much more depth to it than I think.
Looking for photos of my great uncle Corporal E W Symons Wx1982 POW murdered by Italian Guard during a cricket match. Buried at Udine War Cemetery. Thankyou
Sorry Toni. As your great Uncle was killed in Italy it is unlikely there will be any photos of him in this collection.
What an absolute immense collection of War time History and Memories about your Grandfather I only wish I had a small percent of what you have My Father was a P.O.W.in Italy in 1942 Camp 53 Sforza Costa near Macerata he escaped in 1943 and spent 2 years with the Partisans before reconnecting with Allied Forces and getting back to the UK Great share Michael
Just seen this post Have you seen this thread - The Murder of Corporal Edward Symons, 2/32 Australian Infantry Battalion. there are quite a few documents which may contain a photo and usually there is a photo in his service records so try there as well TD I see you have posted on that thread -