Northumberland Fusiliers soldiers, POW

Hi

In my research, I have come across a few names related to Northumberland Fusiliers. I don't have military numbers unfortunately but they were POWs in Italy and Germany.
The names are
Corporal Ridley,
Bob Hildreth,
Fred Wernley or Wennley
from Northumberland Fusiliers.
I wondered if anyone could help pls.
Thanks

 

Thread split and DLI query moved to

• Gordie TAYLOR, Durham Light Infantry: POW

Quite a few members with a specific interest in DLI

 

RIDLEY results from TNA WO 416 for RNF

Name: Thomas King Ridley . Date of Birth: 12/12/1909 . Place of Birth: Durham . ... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 416/307/27
Name: Thomas King Ridley.
Date of Birth: 12/12/1909.
Place of Birth: Durham.
Service: British Army.
Rank: Corporal.
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: [The Northumberland Fusiliers].
Service Number: 4265899.
Date of Capture: 03/04/1941.
Theatre of Capture: Bengazi.
Camp Name/Number: Stalag IVB Muhlberg.
PoW number: 220564.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 1.
Number of Fingerprints: 1.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 1.


========================

Name: John [I] Ridley . Date of Birth: 06/10/1918 . Place of Birth: Newcastle . ... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 416/307/20
Name: John Ridley.
Date of Birth: 06/10/1918.
Place of Birth: Newcastle.
Service: British Army.
Rank: [Fusilier].
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: [The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers].
Service Number: [427071]. [see Vitellino's post 7, 4270571]
Date of Capture: [unspecified].
Theatre of Capture: [unspecified].
Camp Name/Number: Stalag IVB Muhlberg.
PoW number: 251330.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 0.
Number of Fingerprints: 0.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 4.

Name: William [J] Ridley . Date of Birth: 19/12/1919 . Place of Birth: Longtown . ... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 416/307/29
Name: William [J] Ridley.
Date of Birth: 19/12/1919.
Place of Birth: Longtown.
Service: British Army.
Rank: Fusilier.
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.
Service Number: 4273399.
Date of Capture: 26/05/1940.
Theatre of Capture: Cambrai.
Camp Name/Number: Stalag XXA Thorn.
PoW number: 8219.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 0.
Number of Fingerprints: 0.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 1.

Name: Christopher Ridley . Date of Birth: 04/02/1907 . Place of Birth:... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 416/307/9
Name: Christopher Ridley.
Date of Birth: 04/02/1907.
Place of Birth: Chester-Le-Street.
Service: British Army.
Rank: Fusilier.
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.
Service Number: 4265337.
Date of Capture: 09/06/1940.
Theatre of Capture: Luciene.
Camp Name/Number: Stalag XXIB Schubin.
PoW number: 1696.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 1.
Number of Fingerprints: 1.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 3.

 

HILDRETH, the only result in the series for that surname/regt

Name: Robert [W] Hildreth . Date of Birth: 18/9/1914 . Place of Birth: Newcastle . ... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 416/175/431
Name: Robert [W] Hildreth.
Date of Birth: 18/9/1914.
Place of Birth: Newcastle.
Service: British Army.
Rank: [Fusilier].
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: [Royal Northumberland Fusiliers].
Service Number: 4270527.
Date of Capture: [unspecified].
Theatre of Capture: [unspecified].
Camp Name/Number: Stalag VIIA Moosburg.
PoW number: 130681.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 0.
Number of Fingerprints: 0.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 2.

 

Fred Wernley or Wennley,

Possible - found by searching for "Frederick" + RNF in WO 416 Series.
Name: Frederick Wernelly [Werndly] . Date of Birth: 06/07/1919 . Place of Birth:... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 416/385/418
Name: Frederick Wernelly [Werndly].
Date of Birth: 06/07/1919.
Place of Birth: England.
Service: [British Army].
Rank: [Fusilier].
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.
Service Number: 4270569.
Date of Capture: [unspecified].
Theatre of Capture: [unspecified].
Camp Name/Number: Stalag VIIA Moosburg.
PoW number: 124766.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 0.
Number of Fingerprints: 0.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 1.

 

Thanks dbf that was quick. I think you got Corporal Ridley as my grandads POW number was 220216 same theatre of capture. Very close POW numbers suggest they were together thank you.

 

J K Ridley 4265899 held in PG 78 Sulmona then Stalag 344 (WO 392/21 and WO 392/1)
J I Ridley 4270571 held in PG 70 Monturano then Stalag 344 (WO 392/21 and WO 392/1)
R W Hildreth 4270527 held PG 78 Sulmona then 7A (Moosburg) (WO 392/21 and WO 392/1) - however, Moosburg was more likely to have been one of his camps, as it was mainly, though not exclusively, used as a transit camp
F. Werndly 4270569 held 102 (Aquila) then Germany/Poland, no camp named in WO 392/1 (but see from German Record Card that at some stage he was in Moosburg). If no camp was given in WO 392/1 this ususally meant that the serviceman was in a working party.

Note that John Ridley's service number is one digit short on the German record card.

Vitellino

 

Thank you all very interesting results. I do believe the Corporal Ridley is Thomas King Ridley as evidenced by the German POW number being only 300 behind my Grandad's. Hildreth shown as Sulmona but appears an earlier transfer number. Happy with both results.

 

A word of warning. I read somewhere a few years ago that German POW numbers were not always in sequence. Will check on this.

 

There is a website that I have found where someone has listed all the prisoner numbers for Stalag IVB and given explanations. 220564 is accurate.
The website is circa 220600 Stalag4B numbers

 

Please tell me more about the explanations as I can't find them.

What we don't know is the date on which these prisoners were registered on arrival in Germany. That would be the only way of trying to find out who travelled together.

To quote an example, five submariners who travelled together to Moosburg (personal diary of one of them) were given POW numbers in sequence: Sheldon 1329, Neill 1330, Currie 1331, Shepherd 1333, Bell 1335.

Vitellino

 

The above link refers to someone who has created a dedicated page to Durham Light Infantry but a side list dedicated to Prisoners of War and has listed some of the numbers, from the lists it shows that the men were NOT numbered according to regiment and it was mixed. At the bottom of the page there is a home page which takes you to the main page.

 

He explains that the men with certain numbers around the 220000- went to Stalag VIIIB and a large amount of to E715. As you can see the list I have created showing my Grandfather at 220216, not all around him were RE as he was. But the vast majority were either RE or RA.

 

Here's a link. I think the website creator is called Thomas Tunney.
circa 220000 Stalag4B

 

Thanks. I do know this website and have used it in the past when looking for information on prisoners belonging to DLI.