A worrying time
In this month’s snippet Keith Gregson looks at the plight of families of prisoners of war back home
Keith Gregson
Snippets of war
A card relating to the Liverpool prisoner of war committee
In my article on the German Spring Offensive of 1918 (FT May), I referred to the large number of Allied soldiers who fell into captivity and remained there until the end of the confiict. Documents discovered among my great-aunt’s effects back up the contention that this was a worrying time for families back home. My great-uncle John was in a Liverpool Regiment and his wife joined a local organisation dedicated to finding prisoners of war and providing them with food and other articles where possible. A considerable amount of time, effort and money went into such organisations but success was limited. This is hardly surprising as many prisoners ended up in a Germany, which descended into chaos during the last months of the war. John received none of the food parcels or any of the letters sent to him and his own correspondence arrived with the family after his release. In fact there is some uncertainty as to whether the family even knew that he was still alive.