Has anyone any info on the St Denis Civilian Internment Camp near Paris? I have found Frank Valla's account of the Channel Islander's interred there. He says that the records were lost or destroyed post war. Did anyone on this forum have a relative there who has spoken about the camp? I am trying to trace an Mrs E A Barnshaw, she was my Dad's adopted Mum. She and her husband owned flower fields outside of Paris and lived in Paris. My Dad came here to fight in 1939, he was born in Cambridgeshire in 1918. He served as Field Security Service in Africa, Italy et al. He died in 1960 when I was 4. His life was lost in alcoholism and depression my Mum has told me. He refused to take up the family business post war. Mrs Barnshaw survived and asked him to return. I can find no trace of her or any Barnshaw's in France. I have used Ancestry and other engines. Frank Valla: Saint-Denis Internment Camp | Frank Falla Archive.
There are some files at The National Archives - Kew, which may or may not help expand your knowledge of the internment camp https://discovery.nationalarchives....is+internment+camp&_dss=range&_ro=any&_p=1925 As an outside possibility there may be files of interest for you in the Channel Islands - some archive etc - I have never needed to find an answer to that so couldnt help in finding a starting point TD
Thanks, Frank Falla wrote about the St Denis camp, in context to the CI. I linked the article. He says the names were lost post war, either by accident or purposefully.
Lost by who, it is possible that list of internees still exist in the CI who perhaps made their own lists - possibly even post war - I dont know just guessing or lateral thinking perhaps TD
I have no idea who lost them. Frank Falla says that the records 'were lost post war'. I have no other info apart from his essay on the camp. Perhaps the internees, like so many, wish to forget their ordeal and as such never spoke of it. It was an outside chance that someone on here may have a relative in the camp.
Until the questions are asked the answers wont be known, as I was wondering if the Germans lost the records, the French lost the records, maybe the records still exist on the CI's (either German ones copied and kept or post war records by the CI's themselves complied from returning internees) It was just a thought and perhaps another avenue to explore TD
I have contacted a couple of people with excellent connections to the Channel Islands. Let's see what they know. Stefan.
Thank you. My person was NOT a Channel Islander, she was a Parisian flower grower. Frank Falla's article was the only connection I could make to the camp itself. However, they MAY know of my Mrs E A Barnshaw! Many thanks!
Do you have any further details on Mrs Barnshaw - names instead of initials, approx date of birth, date she died, where she died, where she was born, husbands name, etc etc TD
I have nothing on her. She is elusive. It took years to find her name. There are no records on her. That is my dilemma. My Dad did not speak to her after the war. She offered her family business to him. I found an Ethel Adelaide Barnshaw in Berkshire, but she died in Berkshire. The family business was in Paris.
Because my Aunt had scant contact with her. She has told me that she stayed in France. All contact was lost.I have found tracing Dad's real parents easier! Oh and...I contacted the person who was running the Barnshaw family tree she was part of: His reply was 'Don't know' when asked him for help.
Would these details fit the bill? England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 Name: Ethel Adelaide Barnshaw Registration Year: 1897 Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep Registration District: Maidenhead Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District Inferred County: Berkshire Volume: 2c Page: 408 Does the name Jarmaine mean anything ?? TD
Hello Archaepon, Your quest as it currently stands is a bit of the proverbial "needle in a haystack" search unfortunately, but notwithstanding that I hope the following may help rather than hinder. If your dad's adopted mum was a British subject (citizen) and interned in France there may be a list containing her details within the French Archives Nationales, and The International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC) should also have a record of her. You could contact both/either of these organisations requesting details (e.g. Using the name details TD has kindly provided in his post above, if you have been unable to discover anything more certain in the meantime). She may (quite likely) have been interned elsewhere other than at Saint-Denis, so please don't discount other camps. Also, if your dad's name was John Samuel Barnshaw you might be interested in looking at the lists of folks registered at the French/Swiss border during the Second World War. Re all of the above, have a look at the attached pdf. (below) that I've put together for you. Apologies for most of the stuff being in French (which works for me) but I hope that if the links within work for you then Google translate or the like may be an option you can use. If the links will not "open" for you from the pdf just "copy" and "paste" into the address bar of your chosen browser. Good luck with all. Kind regards, always, Jim.
Just adding info Web: France, Death Records, 1970-2018 Death, burial, cemetery & obituaries Record information. Name John Samuel Barnshaw Birth 21 juil. 1925 (21 Jul 1925) Hartford Cheshire, Royaume-Uni (United Kingdom) Death 25 oct. 2004 (25 Oct 2004) Bourg-En-Bresse, Ain, France TD Web: France, Death Records, 1970-2018 Name: John Samuel Barnshaw Gender: homme (Male) Death Age: 79 Birth Date: 21 juil. 1925 (21 Jul 1925) Birth Place: Hartford Cheshire, Royaume-Uni (United Kingdom) Death Date: 25 oct. 2004 Death Place: Bourg-En-Bresse, Ain, France Certificate Number: 425 Fichier des personnes décédées (Décès) - data.gouv.fr
My Dad was born a Willis, Walter Kenneth Willis in May 1918. I had found that E A Barnshaw, also John Barnshaw et al. He is too young to be my Dad's adopted Dad, though he could be the son of E A B. My father refused his inheritance to go back to France and take up the family business, there may be some bitterness in the family about that. That business may have failed because of that, a shortage of labour. The Branshaw's might have emigrated to the UK because of that. Though John Samuel was born in the UK...he would have been born in Paris surely? As to St Denis: the Barnshaw family villa still exists in Paris, 16 Rue Labouret, Colombes. So I assumed they had been put in St Denis as the nearest internment camp. Dad died in 1960 and I was 4. He died an alcoholic and of cancer. He did NOT speak of his work and rarely spoke of his childhood. Though there was an earlier camp set up as France was taken. I will look into that camp too. Thank you for all the work you have done on this!
EAB looks likely to be a candidate for Dad's adopted Mum. The dates are right..Jarmaine I have seen in records, it is not a familiar name. My Dad died in 1960, I was 4. He died alcoholic and of cancer. He never spoke of his work or parents. My aunty found out his adopted Mum name.
A Barnshaw in Paris would have been an oddity. It is such an unusual name. I agree, perhaps they retired post war after my Dad's refusal to go back to France.
