2733655 Guardsman Herbert Alfred CHANDLER, 1 Welsh Guards: POW

Date of Enlistment: 17 July 1933
Army Number: 2733655
Rank: Guardsman
Name: Herbert Alfred CHANDLER
Unit: 1 Welsh Guards, H.Q. Company (Driver of Ration Truck)

Date of Birth: 26 June 1914
Place of Birth: Bletchley

Date of Capture: 29 May 1940
Place of Capture: Dunkirk, France

POW Number: 248021
POW Camps: Stalag IVB

 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16667227
Reference: WO 416/62/181
Name: Herbert Chandler.
Date of Birth: 26/6/1913.
Place of Birth: Bletchley.
Service: British Army.
Rank: Guardsman.
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: [Welsh Guards].
Service Number: [2733655].
Date of Capture: [unspecified].
Theatre of Capture: [unspecified].
Camp Name/Number: Stalag IVB Muhlberg.
PoW number: 248021.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 0.
Number of Fingerprints: 0.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 1.

 

View Record via Ancestry

WO 344-59-2

WO 344-59-2

PART I
General Questionnaire for British Ex-Prisoners of War

1. No.: 2733655
Rank: Guardsman
Surname: CHANDLER
Christian Names: Herbert Albert
Decorations: None

2. Unit (Army): 1st Battalion WELSH GUARDS
3. Division (Army): Not Known

4. Date of Birth: 26 June 1914
5. Date of Enlistment: 17 July 1933
6. Civilian Trade: Chaffeur - Valet
7. Private Address: 2 Sandringham Place, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England

8. Place of Capture: Dunkirk, FRANCE
Date of Capture: 29 May 1940

9. Were you Wounded when Captured: Not

10. Main Camps or Hospitals in which imprisoned
Camp No. Location From & To
Military Internment (St. Hippolyte-du-Fort) Gard France April 1941 - March 1942
Military Internment (Fort de la Revere) Nice France March 1942 - September 1942
Military Internment (Camp Chambarin) Isere France September 1942 - November 1942
P.G. 73 Carpi Italy November 1942 - September 1943
Stalag IV D (W. 604) Nudersdorf Wittenberg Germany September 1943 - April 1945

11. Were you in a Working Camp?
Yes
Location From & To Nature of Work
Nudersdorf - Glass - Sand Works
near Wittenberg 15 October 1943 - 13 April 1945 (Working in Pit)

12. Did you suffer from any Serious Illnesses while a P/W?:
Nature of Illness Cause Duration
Crushed finger Work at above Working December - January 1944

Did you receive adequate Medical Treatment?:
Yes


PART II

2. Lectures before Capture
(State where, when and by whom)
(a) Were you lectured in your unit on how to behave in the event of capture?:
Not lectured
(b) Were you lectured on escape and evasion?:
Not lectured

3. Interrogation after Capture
(State where, when and methods employed by enemy)
Were you specially interrogated by the enemy?:
Not by Germans. Interrogated after Escape and subsequent capture by Intelligence Officer (French) at Marseilles, France (False Papers)

4. Escapes attempted.
Did you make any attempted or party successful escapes?
(Give details of each attempt separately, stating where, when, method employed, names of your companions, where and when captured and by whom. Were you physically fit? What happened to our companions?)
Escaped 10 June 1940 Alone. Recaptured 16 June 1940. Doullens, France
Escaped 20 June 1940 (With Lance Corporal HOUSTON, 2nd Battalion WELSH GUARDS) Reached West France (Berck-Plage). Recaptured and escaped 2 days later.
Made several attempts to leave country (with N.C.O. above)
Escaped to Free France, April 1941. Interned by Free French.
Escaped June 1941. Recaptured on Pyrenees July 1941.
Physically fit.

5. Sabotage.
Did you do any sabotage or destruction of enemy factory plant, war material, communications, etc., when employed on working-parties or during escape?
(Give details, places and dates).
Cutting of communication wires whilst attempting to leave Northern France.

6. Collaboration with enemy.
Do you know of any British or American personnel who collaborated with the enemy or in any way helped the enemy against other Allied PoWS?
Nil
(Give details, names of person(s) concerned, camp(s), dates and nature of collaboration or help given to enemy).
-

7. War Crimes.
If you have any information or evidence of bad treatment by the enemy to yourself or to others, or knowledge of any enemy violation of Geneva Convention you should ask for a copy of “Form Q” on which to make your statement.
-

8. Have you any other matter of any kind you wish to bring to notice?
I wish to bring to notice Madame Lucien Leprette, 60 Rue Guesquieres, Hellemmes, Lille, France, who for 9 months of freedom in Northern France kept me and Lance Corporal HOUSTON in food and clothing, and gave us much help and advice in our attempts to escape the country.
[Handwritten annotation: IS9 (AB ) Paris advised. P.S.M. 10 May 1945]

SECURITY UNDERTAKING.
I fully realised that all information relating to the matters covered by the questions in PART II are of a highly secret and official nature.
I have had explained to me and fully understand that under Defence Regulations or U.S.A.R. 380-5 I am forbidden to publish or communicate any information concerning these matters.


Date of Signature: 2 May 1945

 

See also:

• 2733729 Corporal Robert Edgar HOUSTON, 2 Welsh Guards: POW - escape companion, unsuccessful attempts