Included in this section are stories relating to men of the Worcestershire Regiment who became prisoners of war. These include personal accounts of individuals from both the First and Second World Wars.

In addition, at the bottom of this page there are links to lists of Worcestershire officers and other ranks who were POW's in both the First and Second World Wars.
The lists for officers for both wars is complete. Information on other ranks is based on information available from public records and other sources and will be added to as more details come to light.

If any one has any other POW stories which they would like to include in this section then please provide your details in the FORUM section of this website or send information by email to Webmaster.

Additional information will be added to this section as it becomes available.

Friedrichsfeld POW Camp

An account by a soldier of the 10th Battalion;
"After being repulsed twice, the German attack on the 21st March, 1918, was successful and Bapaume was captured.
I had received a bullet in the thigh, and remained where I fell in the road; there were no such things as stretcher-bearers during this 'hit and run' period.
The Ambulance train, with about fifty or sixty British prisoners on board, arrived at Friedrichsfeld at about 6.0 p.m. We were met by a stretcher party of prisoners, who carried us to the hospital."

CLICK HERE OR THE ADJACENT CAMP IMAGE TO READ HIS FULL STORY

Captain C. V. Beresford taken prisoner at Caudry (August 1914)

Captain Charles Venalee Beresford was the Adjutant of the 3rd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment and sailed from Southampton on the 14th August 1914 in SS “Bosnian” arriving at Havre on the morning of the 15th August 1914.
By the 24th August 1914 the 3rd Battalion were in the front line just a few miles south of Mons. On the morning of the 26th August the 3rd Battalion were at the northern end of Caudry, at which point battalion H.Q. moved to a new location in a building near the railway embankment. Unfortunately a large German shell hit the building and burst, killing or wounding many of H.Q. personnel. Captain Beresford was severely wounded and was sent to a small temporary hospital at Caudry. On the 28th August the Germans, who were then in occupation of the place, came into the hospital and sent all the wounded to Cambrai.

Captain Beresford was taken prisoner and was eventually sent to a POW camp at Mainz. On arrival at the camp he was put into a small room with three beds in it. He remained there until the following May. About the 12th May 1915, everyone in Mainz was sent north to another POW camp at Stralsund on the Baltic. Still suffering from his wounds he was sent to Constance in July 1916 for review by a second board of doctors. Due to his wounds he was selected by them to be sent to Switzerland for prisoner exchange. There was a delay in the exchange of prisoners and he sent back to Heidelberg, where he remained until the 11th August 1916.

CLICK HERE OR THE CAMP IMAGE OPPOSITE TO READ HIS FULL STORY

POW Camp Huts

Pte. P. J. England

Private Percy John England - 3rd Worcestershire Regiment (August 1914)

Percy John England was wounded and with other casualties who were sent to a small temporary hospital at Caudry (Courdrai). However, he was taken prisoner on 27th August by the Germans, who were by then in occupation of the place, and he was sent with other wounded to Cambrai.

He was then sent to a Prisoner of War camp at Limburg (Lahn), Germany No. 863. This was one of the Registration Camps which also had a camp hospital. In the summer of 1915, when he was then transferred to Giessen Camp in the Province of Hesse.

During 1916 Private England was transferred from Giessen to Cellelager and then on to Vehnemoor Camp (also known as Cellelager 6), which was west of the town of Oldenburg. In June 1917 he was transferred again to Konigsmoor Camp west of Bremen near the town of Saltau. But he only stayed there a few weeks before moving again.

CLICK HERE OR THE ADJACENT PHOTO OF HIM TO READ HIS STORY AND VIEW CAMP PHOTOS AND LETTER

Private William Reader Riley 2/8th Worcestershire Regiment (March 1918)

Wounded by a grenade in his right thigh and a bullet in the leg, also gassed. Capture at St. Quentin on the 21st March 1918.

He was treated at a French Hospital before been put in a cattle truck and sent to a POW camp at Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich, where he arrived on the 1st April 1918 and were put into the reserve lazarette which was the hospital for the camp. It was a properly equipped hospital, and medicines were short. Medicine for malaria (quinine) was the only medicine they appeared to have. The food diet was bad and there was no milk food. The German wounded were also in the same hospital, and they received the same treatment as the British.

CLICK HERE OR THE POW HOSPITAL IMAGE FOR FULL STORY

POW Hospital

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS OF PRISONERS OF WAR TAKEN IN 1940 AT DUNKIRK
7th and 8th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment men

Fossoli POW Camp 73

Adventures of Corporal Hughes MM as a POW (1942-1944)

Corporal Hughes joined the Worcestershire Regiment at Norton Barracks, Worcester in 1938. After thirteen weeks of training he joined the 1st Battalion and was sent first to Egypt, and on to Port Sudan, where he was allotted to “D” Company. On June 10th, 1940, Italy decided to come into the war and the 1st Battalion moved up to Cassalla on the Eritrean border, where he experienced his first actions of fighting. By Christmas 1941, was in Mena, near Cairo. In February 1942, now a lance Corporal he found himself in a defensive box near Acroma, about 20 miles east of Tobruk. After some heavy fighting the British position became omposible to hold any longer and Corporal Hughes was captured and became a POW.
CLICK HERE OR THE ADJACENT POW CAMP IMAGE TO READ HIS FULL STORY

Escape of Captain Desmond Haslehust (1942-1944)

Desmond Haslehust trained at Sandhurst as an infantry officer and was commissioned in to the Worcestershire Regiment as a Second Lieutenant. Soon after joining the Worcesters in 1938 he was posted with the 1st Battalion in Palestine. On the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 his battalion was moved to Sudan to counter the potential threat of the Italian Army in Eritrea. When Italy entered the war on the 10th June 1940, the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment played a major role in the heavy and bloody fighting and fought the battle for Keren. For his efforts Lieutenant Haslehust received a Mentions in Despatches. After Addis Ababa fell on the 3rd April 1941 his battalion were moved to the Western Desert in Lybia to oppose Rommel’s Afrika Korps. Desmond was promoted to captain and played an active part in penetrating the enemy positions for which he received a second Mentions in Despatches.

In June 1942 the British Army found itself surrounded and cut off around harbour of Tobruk and finally on the 21st June at 07.00 hours this strategic port fell into the hands of Rommel’s Afrika Korps with many thousands of British troops becoming prisoners of war.

Captain Desmond Haslehust was captured and with other offices he was transported to a POW camp in Italy. After 15 months he escaped from a train while been transported to another camp but was recaptured some 3 months later.

CLICK HERE OR ON HIS PHOTO OPPOSITE TO READ HIS FULL STORY

Capt. Desmond Haslehust
(later Major)

POW's who were working at the Cement Factory at Oppeln, Poland (1942)

The story of Private Joseph Hutt (5256193)

Private Joseph Hutt served with the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment from 1939 to 1942. He saw action in Sudan, Eritrea and Abyssinia. In June 1942 he was with the 1st Battalion holding an area about 25 miles south-west of Tobruk and established a box at Point 187 in the area Knightsbridge sector.

Private Joseph Hutt

On the 20th June 1942 a determined enemy attack opened on the outer defences and the next day the men of the 1st Battalion became prisoners of war and held in a P.O.W. cage holding some 30,000 men. Private Joseph Hutt found himself a P.O.W. and was subsequently shipped to Italy with other men to a prisoner of war camp. He was later moved to Stalag 344.

CLICK OR PHOTO ABOVE TO READ HIS STORY

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Corporal Gilbert William Wheeler (5250845)

Corporal Gilbert William Wheeler is far right, middle row in the adjacent photo taken in 1942 whilst a POW and working at the Cement Factory at Oppeln, Poland.

Corporal Wheeler was with 'C' Company, 8th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment. He was originally reported as killed in action, which was an error. In fact he had been captured about 12 miles from Dunkirk in a wheat field on the 29th May 1940 and ended up as a prisoner of war at Stalag VIIIB with other men of the Worcestershire Regiment.

For a time he was made to work at a Cement Factory at Oppeln on the Polish Czech border with other British prisoners of war.
(the adjacent photo was submitted by Suzanne Macklin, daughter of Cpl. G. W. Wheeler)

Click here or image to read Cpl. Gilbert William Wheeler's story and see his photos

Lieutenant Charles Napier Cross, M.C. - Captured in Libya, June 1942

This officer was a Platoon Commander in 'C' Company of the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment. He was captured at Rigel Ridge, Libya, on 14th June 1942 and was transferred to Italy and imprisoned in Campo 21 at Chieti from 4th August 1942 to 4th August 1943. During this time he was involved in three escape schemes.

On 4th August 1943, he was moved to Campo 19 at Bologna, whence he escaped on 12th September 1943, three days after the occupation of the camp by the Germans. With four other prisoners, Lieutenant Cross hid in an uncompleted tunnel which had been begun on 24th August 1943. He was the second officer to leave the tunnel and was able to climb out of the camp unobserved. In bare feet he followed the railway from Bologna to Castel S. Pietro where he obtained civilian clothes, food and 300 lire from English-speaking Italians. He then walked to Imoli and caught a train to Termoli where the train was taken over by the Germans. He evaded them and made his way from Termoli to Bari, receiving a good deal of help en route from Italians. At Bari he was able to contact British paratroops.

For his enterprise and determination to rejoin the Allied Forces he was awarded the Military Cross.

CLICK HERE OR HIS PHOTO OPPOSITE TO READ THE STORY OF HIS ESCAPE.

Lieut. C. N. Cross

Private Andrew Duggan - Captured at Dunkirk

At the end of May 1940 the British troops were retreating towards Dunkirk and it was during this rear guard action that Private Duggan was wounded in the head and shortly afterwards was captured and became a prisoner of war.

Over the next few years he found himself moving from one prisoner of war camp to another Oflag 64/Z, Stalag XXIA and Stalag XXID. He was given a POW number of 18043.

Due to his wounds Private Duggan was repatriated back to England on the 25th October 1943 as part of a prisoner of war swap and was finally discharged from military service on the 5th March 1944.

CLICK HERE OR ON HIS PHOTO OPPOSITE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS AND DETAILS

Pte. A. Duggan

L/Cpl Wilfred Slater

L/Cpl Wilfred Slater became a Prisoner of War at Tobruk (1942)

Wilfred Slater was born in 1913 and at the age of 20 he signed on as a regular soldier with the Worcestershire Regiment. After initial training at Norton Barracks, Worcester he was posted to the 1st Battalion. During his army service he served in Palestine, Sudan and Egypt.

In June 1942 he became a Prisoner of War at Tobruk, with others of the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment.

In 1992 Wilfred wrote down his memories so that one of his grandsons could use it as part of a school project. Wilfred died a few years later in 1998 at Dudley in the Midlands.

Below is a copy of L/Cpl Wilfred Slater's story which was kindly supplied to this website by his son Keith Slater.

CLICK HERE OR ON HIS PHOTO TO READ THE FULL STORY

OFFICERS
To view details of officers who were POW's simply click here

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OFFICERS
To view details of officers who were POW's simply click here

OTHER RANKS
To view details of other ranks who were POW's simply click on the surname group below

A to B

C to D

E to G

H to J

K to M

N to Q

R to S

T to Z