Cheltonians Who Were Taken As Prisoners of War In The Great War

This page is under construction – work in progress

LEAVING CHELTENHAM …………..and all that was dear

Cheltenham Borough Coat of Arms

Cheltonian Prisoners of War

Introduction During the Great War of 1914-1918 some 7,335 officers and 174,491 other ranks of the British Army were captured by the enemy. Of these, about half fell into captivity between 21st March and 11th November 1918. Unfortunately, for those wishing to research men who became prisoners, there are relatively few sources of information about what happened to them. There is no comprehensive list covering all of these PoWs, and any documents which are known to survive only cover a fraction of those who were captured. An officer or soldier taken as a prisoner of war (PoW) would almost always at first be declared as missing in action. His family would be informed and would then endure a period of uncertainty during which official and private enquiries were made. This would include a check of all British medical units in the area and in many cases questions being asked of survivors of the action in which the man was lost. Formal enquiries and an exchange of information between Britain and her enemies would be made via neutral powers. Eventually, information would be received that the soldier was in enemy hands. In some cases, the family heard news from letters from the man himself or his comrades well before the official information was confirmed. British soldiers taken prisoner in France and Flanders were usually moved to Germany and incarcerated in a PoW camp, although large numbers were also retained in the rear areas of the battlefield to provide manual labour. Once in a camp, the man was likely to be sent out on work teams known as kommando and employed in quarries, mines, factories or farms. In some cases the man was out on such work teams for an extended period of time, so even if you find that a soldier was held at a particular camp there is a chance that he was not physically there for some of the time. Officer PoWs invariably were not put to work but incarcerated in camps in Germany especially built for officer PoWs. A complete list of German PoW Camps can be viewed here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prisoner-of-war_camps_in_Germany Searching for PoW Records The National Archives state in their website here (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-prisoners-of-war-1790-1919/) that there are no known official or published sources to help determine whether an ordinary serviceman or Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) was a PoW but in the Ancestry website, payment can be made to search theBritish Officer Prisoners of War, 1914-1918 database. The records of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) . After decades where these records were only available on application, on 4th August 2014 the International Committee of the Red Cross released a fully digitised set of POW records from the First World War. See this page for full details and links.
Cheltonian PoWs. The exact number of Cheltonians taken prisoner is difficult to establish but contemporary estimates put the figure at around 180 men. Listed in the panels below are the names of those who are known to have been taken prisoner. The photograph posted here was published in the “Cheltenham Chronicle and Gloucestershire Graphic” on Saturday 28th December 1918. The full list of those returned PoWs named are listed below (additional personal and regimental details has been added where known). Back Row (left to right) LCpl Henry W Cleveley, 9833 – 1st Bn Glos Regt Pte Ernest E Green, 1681 – 3rd (Res) att 1st Bn Glos Regt Pte Ernest R Woodward, 241202 – 2/5th Bn Glos Regt Pte H Thompson – 70th Coy MGC Pte Allan W J Houghton, 11382 – 13th (or 8th) Bn Glos Regt Pte Charles E Moore, 30716 – 10th Bn Worcs Regt Pte Frank Thomas Denley, 241624 – 14th Bn Glos Regt Pte Thomas Barnfield, 240383 – 1/5th Bn Glos Regt Pte Francis W Cox, 28313 – 8th Bn Glos Regt Second Row (left to right) Pte Christy W Holder, 46805 – Kings Own Scottish Borderers Pte Barry Brown – 5th R Berks Regt Pte William John Wixey – 2nd RM Bn RMLI * Pte A Blackwell – 1st Bn Devon Regt Rfn Roberts – Rifle Bde Pte William A Venn, 29090 – King’s Shropshire Light Infantry Pte W Wheeler – 6th Bn Somerset Light Infantry Third Row left to right) LCpl Frank R Buckingham, 235440 – 2nd Bn South Lancs Regt Pte Charles E Greening, 9766 – 1st Bn Glos Regt AB W J Harris – 63rd Royal Naval Division Rfn E W Ingram, 45340 – 12th Bn Royal Irish Rifles Pte Charles Halling, 240213 – 1/5th Bn Glos Regt Pte Alexander H Ryder, 27278 – 1st Bn King’s Shropshire Light Infantry Pte F E Lloyd – Glos Regt Pte W Fry – 5th Bn Yorks Regt Pte F E Marshall – Army Service Corps Sitting (left to right) Pte Howard B Hobson, 9947 – 1st Bn Glos Regt LCpl Edward Wright, 15570 – 8th Bn Glos Regt Pte E A Hicks – Norfolk Yeomanry Pte Reginald Agg, L/13103 – R West Kent Regt AB T Curten – 63rd Royal Naval Division Sgt William Whitcombe, 12676 – 9th attached 13th Bn Glos Regt Pte J L Smith – 2nd Bn Essex Regt Pte Victor D Field, 241093 – 2/5th Bn Glos Regt Notes: 1. Wixey is commemorated in error on the Cheltenham Parish Church Boy’s School War Memorial.
	2Lt Frederick Rylands was commissioned into the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion Wiltshire Regiment from the General Reserve of Officers on 8th August 1914. He was most probably serving with 1st Bn Wilts Regt at the time of his capture during the Battle of Le Cateau. Full details of his capture and subsequent repatriation will be published here in due course. Mr R J Rylands was residing at the School House, Cemetery Road, Prestbury, in 1917. Frederick Rylands survived the war and went on to be an Army teacher in the Army Education Corps.
The following were reported as returned PoWs in the Gloucestershire Echo published on 5th December 1918: Sgt William Whitcombe, 13th Bn Glos Regt, of West Cottage, St George’s Place, High Street, Cheltenham Pte Howard B Hobson, 10th Bn Glos Regt, of 3 Newent Place, March Lane, Cheltenham. Pte William John Wixey, 2nd Royal Marine Battalion, of 6 Henrietta Street, Cheltenham. Rfn Ernest William Ingram, 12th Bn Royal Irish Rifles, of 17 Russell Street, Cheltenham. Pte Ernest J Pass, 2/6th Bn Glos Regt, of Delholme Cottage, High Street, Prestbury. Whitcombe, Hobson, Wixey and Ingram were reported captured during the German Offensive on and after 21st March 1918. Pte Pass was captured in December 1917 in the La Vacquerie area, near Cambrai. In the same issue of The Echo, Pte Harry Brown, Royal Berkshire Regiment, of Withyholt Farm, Charlton Kings, was reported to be on his way home after being captured by the Germans at Beaumont-Hamel in April 1918.
	This picture of Bdr Arkell was published in the Cheltenham Chronicle and GloucestershireGraphic on 24th October 1914. He was serving with 46th Battery, 39th Brigade at the time of his capture on 1st September 1914. The Brigade were in support of the 1st Division who were retreating from Le Cateau and preparing for the Battle of The Marne. Edwin Arkell was born in Cheltenham in late 1894 and enlisted as a regular soldier prior to the war. He was serving as a Bombardier, number 67352. It is not known where he spend his captivity as he is not recorded in the list of British POWs held in Catalogue WO/161 at the National Archives and it is unclear exactly when he was repatriated to the UK. His brother, Pte Percy Arkell, was killed in action in Belgium on 26th April 1918, serving with 13th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment. Another brother, Pte Alfred William Arkell, was wounded in action on 30th October 1914 whilst serving with the 9th Lancers.
This picture of Pte Dodwell was published in the Cheltenham Chronicle and Gloucestershire Graphic on Saturday 14th December 1918. He was serving with 1/5th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment (145 Brigade/48 Division) at the time of his capture, probably on 21st July 1916 when the battalion attacked German positions near Pozieres during the Battle of The Somme. William Ernest Dodwell was born in Cheltenham in early 1883. He may have been related to LCpl Henry Richard Dodwell who died of wounds in France on 12th September 1918 serving with 8th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment. He is not recorded in the list of British POWs held in Catalogue WO/161 at the National Archives and it is not known exactly when he was repatriated to the UK.
	Graphic 5 Aug 1916
This picture of Pte Frank Marshall was published in the Cheltenham Chronicle and GloucestershireGraphic on Saturday 14th December 1918. He was serving with 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment (23 Brigade/8 Division) at the time of his capture on 25th March 1918 during The Battle of St Quentin (first phase of the First Battles of the Somme 1918). was born in Cheltenham in late 1894 and enlisted as a regular soldier prior to the war. He was serving as a Bombardier, number 67352. It is not known where he spend his captivity as he is not recorded in the list of British POWs held in Catalogue WO/161 at the National Archives and it is unclear exactly when he was repatriated to the UK. His brother, Pte Percy Arkell, was killed in action in Belgium on 26th April 1918, serving with 13th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment. Another brother, Pte Alfred William Arkell, was wounded in action on 30th October 1914 whilst serving with the 9th Lancers.
Graphic 12 June 1915


Thoyts
Caldwell Rivers Regan
*Published in the Gloucestershire Echo* on 24th April 1917:** Rfn Percy Peachey, Rifle Brigade, Hambrook Street, Charlton Kings Rfn Walter James Mitten, Rifle Brigade, 2 Loughborough Place, Cudnall Street, Charlton Kings Pte Rudge, Lancs Fusiliers, 7 Bayshill Parade, St George’s Road, Cheltenham

Cheltonians Who Died in the Great War Whilst Prisoners of War

Ref	Name	Rank	Number	Unit	Date Died	Cause	Loc	Age	Memorials
1	BRAIN, John Edward Bennett	Cpl	2497	Royal Glos Hussars	4th December 1916	DOW	TU	22	CH GR SJ (Note 1)
2	BRIGGS, Eric William	Gnr	61700	102nd Siege Bty, RGA	26th December 1917	DOW	FR	24	CH (Note 2)
3	BROOKS, Ernest Walter	Pte	4664	2/5th Bn Glos Regt	21st March 1918	DOW	FR	30	CH HT (Note 3)
4	BRYANT, John Thomas	Pte	24204	6th Bn East Kent Regt	2nd October 1918	DOI	GE	29	CH JN (Note 4)
5	CALDWELL, William John Robert	Pte	23598	13th Entrenching Bn	2nd October 1918	DOI	FR	41	CH PA (Note 5)
6	CASSIDY, Herbert Owen	Pte	16903	1st Bn East Lancs Regt	16th July 1918	DOI	FR	39	CH SS (Note 6)
7	DENNIS, Cecil	Pte	2716	XIX Corps Cyclist Coy	21st April 1918	DOW	FR	39	CH LU COL SJ (Note 7)
8	DUTFIELD, Ernest	Pte	9700	1st Bn Glos Regt	31st October 1918	DOI	GE	23	CK CKC (Note 8)
9	GILL, Frank William	Tpr	3020	Royal Glos Hussars	29th September 1916	DOI	TU	20	CH EPA HC (Note 9)
10	GURNEY, Kenneth Gerrard	2Lt	–	2/6th Bn Glos Regt	17th December 1917	DOW	FR	30	CH PA HC (Note 10)
11	MACKAY, Duncan Ronald Gordon	Capt	–	55th Sqn RAF	11th November 1918	DOW	FR	23	CH COL (Note 11)
12	MARSHALL, Harry Alfred	Pte	240925	2/5th Bn Glos Regt	24th October 1918	DOI	GE	23	CH MK (Note 12)
13	MOURBEY, Arthur James	Tpr	3057	Royal Glos Hussars	14th May 1916	DOW	PA	19	CH PJ (Note 13)
14	NESBIT, Maurice Sidney	Civ		Schoolmaster	5th October 1914	D	GE	34	CH (Note 14)
15	OAKEY, Harry	Pte	M2/176874	Army Service Corps	3rd November 1918	D	GE	31	BC GO (Note 15)
16	PARDINGTON, Reginald Walter John	Tpr	23584	Royal Glos Hussars	14th December 1916	D	TU	23	CH HT (Note 16)
17	PULHAM, Arthur William	Pte	9831	1st Bn Glos Regt	24th December 1918	DOI	GE	24	CH EPA (Note 17)
18	REGAN, William	Pte	1371	1/3rd Bn Monmouth Regt	22nd May 1915	DOW	BE	22	CH PA SM (Note 18)
19	RIVERS, Ernest William George	Pte	9387	1st Bn Ox & Bucks LI	31st May 1916	DOI	TU	25	CH PA SM (Note 19)
20	SHELLAM, Charles	Pte	9306	1st Bn Ox & Bucks LI	16th June 1916	DOI	TU	25	CH MA (Note 20)
21	STROUD, William Charles	LCpl	241050	2/5th Bn Glos Regt	21st June 1918	DOW	GE	30	CH SA (Note 21)
Notes: 1. Brain was wounded and captured by the Turks at the Battle of Qatia on 23rd April 1916. Died of wounds and privation at a PoW Camp near Ankara. 2. Briggs was originally buried in Clary German Cemetery, west of Honnechy, France. 3. Brooks was wounded and captured by the Germans on 21st March 1918 at Holnon Wood. He died before he could be removed from the battlefield and his body was never found or identified. 4. Bryant was held at a camp in Northern Germany and is buried at Hamburg Cemetery. 5. Caldwell died of dysentery at Valenciennes and was originally buried in the German Cemetery there. 6. Cassidy died of pneumonia near Valenciennes. 7. Dennis was captured on 23rd March 1918 and died at Bohain, north-east of St Quentin. 8. Dutfield was held at Parchim Camp, Mecklenburg in northern Germany. He died of pneumonia and is buried in Hamburg Cemetery. 9. Gill was captured by the Turks at the Battle of Qatia on 23rd April 1916. Died of dysentery at a PoW Camp near Ankara. 10. Gurney was wounded and captured by the Germans on 2nd December 1917. He was admitted to a German Field Hospital at Selvigny, near Cambrai and died of his wounds on 17th December 1917. 11. Mackay was shot down and captured on 10th November 1918 and died the next day, Armistice Day, near Metz. 12. Marshall was captured by the Germans on 22nd March 1918 and held at Niederbuhl Camp, near Karlsruhe, until his death. 13. Mourbey was captured by the Turks on 23rd April 1916 at the Battle of Qatia and died at El Arish, Gaza, of wounds, on 14th May 1916. 14. Nesbit was a schoolmaster at Marburg when war was declared. He was arrested by the Germans as an enemy alien and put under house arrest. He took his own life at the River Lahn, Marburg. 15. Oakey was captured in March 1918 and interned in Germany until his death, probably from pneumonia, on 3rd November 1918. 16. Pardington was captured by the Turks at the Battle of Qatia on 23rd April 1916. Died of wounds and privation at a PoW Camp near Ankara. 17. Pulham was captured by the Germans and interned in Germany until his death, due to pneumonia, on 28th December 1918. 18. Regan was wounded and captured by the Germans at Frezenberg Ridge, east of Ypres, on 8th May 1915. He was admitted to a German Field Hospital at Liege but died on 22nd May 1915. 19. Rivers was captured with his Battalion by the Turks when Kut-al-Amara was surrendered on 29th April 1916. Marched to and Interned in Turkey until his death due to privation on 31st May 1916. 10. Shellam was captured with his Battalion by the Turks when Kut-al-Amara was surrendered on 29th April 1916. Marched to and Interned in Turkey until his death due to privation on 16th June 1916. 21. Stroud was wounded and captured in March 1918 and interned in Germany until his death, from wounds, on 21st June 1918.

Page last updated: 26th July 2018

Return to Memorials Home Page