Category Archives: prisoner of war

Meet Eric

14 Tuesday Jun 2022

Posted by in apparently unrelated Champion de Crespigny, prisoner of war, World War 1

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On 28 April 1916 a man calling himself Eric Claude Champion de Crespigny married Eileen Barbara Lamport by licence at Holy Trinity Church in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London. He stated that he was a soldier, age 22 [so born about about 1894], the son of Claude de Crespigny (deceased). He gave his address as 13 Stafford Road, Stockwell.

Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns: Holy Trinity, Vauxhall Bridge Road City of Westminster Archives Centre; London, England; Westminster Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: HTVBR/PR/2/5 retrieved through ancestry.com

On 25 September 1917, Private Claude E de Crespigny, presumably the same man, of the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment, B Company, was captured by German forces at Ypres [the Third battle of Ypres is also known as the Battle of Passchendaele].

A duckboard track passing through Chateau Wood, near Hooge in the Ypres salient, 29 October 1917. Photograph by Frank Hurley. Australian War Memorial collection number E01220.

On 5 December 1917 he was at reported to be a prisoner at Dulmen, he had previously been in Dendermonde camp; Dendermonde is a city in east Flanders and Dülmen is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia. Records of the International Committee of the Red Cross give de Crespigny’s service number as 10882, stating that he was born 1 February 1894 at Maldon. His next of kin was recorded as his wife, who lived at “Wyvern House”, Llandrindod Wells, Wales.

Prisoners Of War record from FindMyPast
Dulmen camp during World War 1. Image from https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/274508-dulman-town-pow-camp-german/

In a report of 8 February 1918 he was stated to be in 1 Münster having previously been in Lager Dülmen (Camp Dulmen) which was just over 30 kilometers south-west of Münster. There was a slight variation in some of the details reported. He was captured 10 September 1917. He was wounded: “Kugel 1 Bein und Schamleiste” or “Ball [bullet] 1 leg and groin”. His birthdate was given as 1 February 1893 and place of birth London.

Prisoners Of War record from FindMyPast

Eric de Crespigny is recorded on Medal Index Cards, compiled towards the end of the war, as ERIC C C D’CRESPIGNY. I cannot find any earlier military records that name him.

Eric Claude Champion de Crespigny was recorded on the 1918 electoral roll for the City of Westminster as living at 48 Eaton Square.

Eileen remarried on 10 November 1919 to a man called Cyril Wardale King, giving her name as Kathleen Barbara Lamport. I have found no record of a divorce, nor have I found any other record naming Eric de Crespigny before his marriage in 1916 or after the 1918 electoral roll.

So who was Eric Claude de Crespigny?

The only man who fits the surname, was possibly the right age in 1892 or 1893 to father a child, and who in 1916 was describable as ‘deceased’ is Claude Champion de Crespigny, who was born in 1873 and died in 1910. Claude did not marry. He possibly fathered an illegitimate son, and this may be the man who called himself Eric de Crespigny.

However, I think that Eric Claude simply assumed the identity and then, from 1919, reinvented himself as Edmund Alexander Champion de Crespigny, adopting the name of a dead child who had died in 1905, the youngest child of Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny (1850-1912). ‘Eric Claude’ later called himself Claude Edmund Alexander Champion de Crespigny.

His signature on the 1916 marriage record of ‘Eric Claude Champion de Crespigny’ bears a strong resemblance to the signature of Claude Edmund Alexander Champion de Crespigny on 1923 and 1927 petitions for United States naturalization.

Eric’s signature in 1916
Claude Edmund’s signature in 1923
Claude Edmund’s signature in 1927

Why assume somebody else’s surname and then their identity? I think Eric/Edmund/Claude gained a social and perhaps some financial advantage by pretending to be connected to the Champion de Crespigny family.

He did get somewhat out of his depth though when in 1930 in Chicago he claimed to have a PhD and joined the faculty of Loyola University. (A significant shift from his occupation as typewriter salesman reported on the census of 1 April 1930). As Professor Claude Champion de Crespigny, he gave a talk on “Britain in India today”. Professor de Crespigny was said to have ‘served with the British Legation in India’. Since India had not yet gained independence, the term ‘British Legation in India’ makes no sense. Perhaps no one noticed the slip.

Nothing was heard of ‘Professor’ de Crespigny after this. When he died in 1967 his occupation was hotel clerk, of Houston, Texas.

Claude had come down in the world, poor chap. In the long run, stealing another man’s name didn’t do him any good.

Related posts:

Wikitree:

Trove Tuesday: remembering the Fall of Singapore

15 Tuesday Feb 2022

Posted by in Champion de Crespigny, prisoner of war, Trove Tuesday, World War 2

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Today is the 80th anniversary of what came to be known as the Fall of Singapore. On 15 February 1942, 130,000 British-led forces surrendered the island to the Imperial Japanese Army. 15,000 8th Division Australian soldiers were taken prisoner; half of these were killed, starved, abandoned to disease, or worked to death by their captors.

Front page of The Age 17 Feb 1942 from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/19384337

Singapore in its possession, the Japanese Army continued its advance, and a few weeks later, on 9 March, my grandfather’s cousin John de Crespigny (1908-1995) became a prisoner of war with the surrender on 8 March of all Allied forces on Java.

John Chauncy Champion de Crespigny, then 31, had volunteered for military service on 29 February 1940. At the time of his enlistment he was employed as an advertising manager. He lived with his mother in Caulfield. de Crespigny had trained as a cadet and had had the rank of lieutenant in the officer reserve. He was first posted to Syria, where he served as a lieutenant. In May 1941 he was promoted to captain and in February 1942 to temporary major.

photos taken on enlistment from National Archives of Australia B883, VX253 CHAMPION DE CRESPIGNY JOHN CHAUNCY : Service Number – VX253 : Date of birth – 25 Aug 1908 : Place of birth – MELBOURNE VIC : Place of enlistment – SOUTH MELBOURNE VIC : Next of Kin – CHAMPION DE CRESPIGNY BARBARA https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6231381

On 1 February 1942 John de Crespigny sailed from Suez on the SS Orcades with his unit, a Guard Battalion of the 7th Division, now re-deployed for the defence of Java. They disembarked at Batavia 18 February. A few weeks later the island fell to the Japanese and the battalion was ordered to capitulate. He became one of 2736 2nd AIF prisoners of the Japanese on Java.

He was first interned in the Dutch Army barracks at the No 12 Bandoeng camp, West Java. A fellow prisoner was Lieutenant Colonel Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, who later achieved a high reputation for his selfless dedication to the welfare of the suffering troops.

John de Crespigny was reported missing and there were reports he had been killed. In September he was reported to be a prisoner of war:

Maj John C. Champion de Crespigny reported missing is believed to be a prisoner of war in Java. He is the younger son of Mrs Champion de Crespigny of Balaclava rd. E St Kilda, and the late Phillp Champion de Crespigny, AIF, killed on active service in 1918. Maj de Crespigny was educated at Camberwell Grammar School. Before enlisting he was advertising manager at Ronaldson Bros and Tippett, Ballarat, and was an officer in the 8th Battalion. He and his elder brother Lieut Philip de Crespigny, embarked for the Middle East early in 1940.
(SERVICE CASUALTIES (1942, September 1). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11993260)

In November 1942, 1000 Australian prisoners, including Dunlop and de Crespigny, were moved to a camp at Makasura, Batavia where they shared quarters with British prisoners.

In the camp John de Crespigny worked with his fellow officers to keep morale up and the inmates busy. John taught art classes and lectured on various aspects of advertising. He helped produce hand-drawn posters advertising camp activities. The camp magazine, ‘Mark Time‘, was produced and illustrated under his guidance.

One of the copies of Mark Time with a cartoon of John de Crespigny from the collection held by the Anzac memorial (NSW). Flight Lieutenant Sid Scales of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, was a gifted caricaturist and illustrated the covers of the camp magazine ‘Mark Time’ with cartoons of the senior officers.

Early in 1943, many Australian prisoners, including Dunlop and de Crespigny, were moved to Singapore and from there to the Konyu-Hintok Area near the Burma-Siam border. Those below officer rank were forced to work on the construction of the infamous 260-mile railway linking Thailand and Burma.

The Hintok-Tampi trestle bridge located ninety kilometres south of Kinsayok. This was one of the bridges built to complete the Thailand-Burma railway for use by Japanese military forces during the Second World War. Construction was carried out by Allied prisoners of war including many Australians under supervision by Japanese engineers. The height of the bridge at this spot was 100 feet and rough scrub timber from the surrounding area was used in the bridge construction. Image from the Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C47450

Following the Japanese surrender in September 1945, John de Crespigny was ‘recovered from the Japanese at Siam.’ He sailed for Melbourne via Singapore on 17 October 1945 and was discharged as an Honorary Major in December. On his return, he provided a sworn statement to the inter-Allied team investigating Japanese war crimes.

In 1997, twenty-four POW camp posters from Bandoeng and Makasura, numerous copies of ‘Mark Time’, John de Crespigny’s wartime diaries, and many pieces that had been penned and drawn for the planned souvenir Memorial Book were donated to the New South Wales Anzac Memorial by one of his step-sons.

Some of the posters in the collection of John de Crespigny now held by the Anzac memorial (NSW)

Further reading:

Wikitree: John Chauncy Champion de Crespigny (1908 – 1995)

Major William Duff 1754 – 1795

18 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by in Canada, Duff, illegitimate, military, prisoner of war, Skelly

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One of my fifth great grandfathers was William Duff (1754–1795), the second natural son of James Duff, later Earl Fife of Banffshire (1729–1809).

William Duff was baptised on 16 March 1754 at Fordyce. His mother, Margaret Adam of Keith, was the personal maid of the Countess Fife, the mother of James Duff, that is, the mother of William’s father.

James Duff acknowledged William and his brother James and sister Jean as his children and all three received a good education at his expense. Care of the children was entrusted to William Rose, the factor (agent) of Lord Fife . The correspondence on this matter between William Rose, Lord Fife, and the three Duff children is extant, some being published in the 1925 book Lord Fife and his Factor.

William Duff was educated at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich in southeast London, a training college for commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. There is a letter from William in 1770 when he was about 16 years old describing his course of studies:

Rise at 6 and go for a walk. Breakfast 7.30. Study from 8 to12. After dinner, military exercises. 3 to 6 study.

The book of the Duffs Volume 2 page 516

The Old Royal Military Academy, in use 1741–1806. The cadets were taught in the left-hand half of the building, the right providing a Board Room for the Ordnance Board. Image by George Rex – Image from Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/rogersg/5198302406/, CC BY-SA 2.0

On 11 December 11 1770, William obtained a commission as Lieutenant in the 7th Royal Fusiliers, and in September 1771 he wrote from Chatham Barracks to his father at Duff House :

Since I wrote your Lordship last I have been detailed, with twenty men, for a week, to Upnor Castle, a place about four miles from here. This is a duty we take by turns. All this marching about of late has been very expensive to me, and within these two months (during which time I have never been settled in one place) it has cost me upwards of eighteen pounds. Our regiment, I believe, will remain as it is for the winter, but it is generally thought we shall march some other way before February next. My brother sets off for Scotland, with the first ship. I wanted to get to London, for a day or so, to see him before he went, but I really could not get leave. We are now so thin, that I have the Sash every other day almost. I understand your Lordship is killing the Deer just now, and I dare say you will have good diversion. I have just got another step in the Regt., so that there is now five under me.

The book of the Duffs. Volume 2 page 517

Eighteen pounds in 1771 is probably equivalent to more than 30,000 pounds today. The website MeasuringWorth states to compare the value of a £18 0s 0d Commodity in 1771 there are four choices. In 2020 the relative:

  • real price of that commodity is £2,413.00
  • labour value of that commodity is £32,180.00
  • income value of that commodity is £35,310.00
  • economic share of that commodity is £273,500.00

On 15 April 1773, William Duff embarked with his regiment for Canada, the journey taking 11 weeks. He was still in Canada in 1775, when the American War of Independence broke out. He wrote to his brother, Sir James Duff of Kinstair, on 21 May 1775 from Quebec. The 7th Royal Fusiliers were stationed with the 26th Foot in Lower Canada; the two regiments were loosely scattered among frontier posts, and both were at very low strength, together mustering only seven hundred men.

At the time of the American invasion of Canada in 1775, most of the regiment was forced to surrender. The 80 man garrison of Fort Chambly, Quebec, attempted to resist a 400-man Rebel force but ultimately had to surrender in October 1775 and the regiment lost its first set of colours.

The King’s Color of the British Seventh Regiment of Foot. It was captured by American forces at Fort Chambly, Canada, in October of 1775. As the first flag captured by the new American Army it was sent to Congress as a trophy. and is now in the West Point Museum. (Photo from West Point Museum Facebook page).

William Duff was taken prisoner by the Americans, probably at Fort Chambly in October 1775. Though it was hoped he might be returned in an exchange of prisoners, he was not released until early 1777.

In February 1777 he wrote to his father from Staten Island about the purchase of a company in the Regiment. William foreshadowed the expense stating “There is not a Company that has sold for less than Seventeen hundred pounds.” He asked his father to confirm that his father would purchase it for him and requesting security.

Seventeen hundred pounds in 1777 was probably equivalent to three million pounds today . From the website MeasuringWorth:

  • real price of that commodity is £224,600.00
  • labour value of that commodity is £2,858,000.00
  • income value of that commodity is £3,110,000.00
  • economic share of that commodity is £22,870,000.00

William left the 7th Regiment and was promoted to captain in the 26th Foot on 9 April 1777.

On 4 January 1786, William Duff now Captain of the 26th Regiment of Foot was promoted to Major; at the time he and the regiment were serving in Ireland.

On 9 April 1787 at Redmarshall, Durham, Major Duff of the 26th Regiment married Miss Skelly, of Yarm, daughter of the late Gordon Skelly Esq., Captain in the Navy. The book of the Duffs describes Dorothy as niece of Lord Adam Gordon, and the third Duke of Gordon; her grandmother Lady Betty Skelly (1717 – 1769) was sister to Cosmo, 3rd Duke of Gordon (1720 – 1752. Dorothy’s great uncle, Lord Adam Gordon (1726-1801) was colonel of the 26th Regiment of Foot from 1775 – 1782.

In May 1787 William wrote to William Rose from Cork :

We expect to sail to-morrow for Quebec. After various delays we reached this place a fortnight since. I am, as you often told me I should be, happier than ever in possession of a real, confidential friend. Everyone likes her. Were we richer it would be better.

The book of the Duffs. Volume 2 page 522

The headquarters of the regiment in July 1787 at Quebec was under the command of Major William Duff. The regiment moved to Montreal in 1789, and then to the frontier posts along the Niagara River in 1790. It moved to St. John in 1792.

William took his wife Dorothy to Canada. They had one daughter, Sophia Henrietta, born about 1790. It seems likely she was born in Canada.

William Duff retired from the army in March 1793.

William Duff, major in the 26th foot, died on 5 July 1795 at Fulford near York. He has a memorial in the Duff House Mausoleum at Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The inscription reads:

Sacred to the memory of William Duff of the 26th Regiment, a meritorious officer, a most sincere friend, an affectionate husband, an indulgent parent. He lived esteemed and respected. He died regretted and lamented in the 41st year of his age in the year of the Lord 1795.

“The Annals of Banff.” New Spalding Club, 1893, Issue 10, page 369.
Duff House Mausoleum retrieved from geograph.org.uk/p/5701382

William’s daughter Sophia was about five years old when her father died. Sophia and her mother stayed in contact with William’s family.

Sources

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Wikitree:



S is for Suky

21 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by in A to Z 2018, Chauncy, Corrin, Isle of Man, La Mothe, Liverpool, prisoner of war

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One of my fifth great grandmothers was Susannah Lamothe née Corrin (1741-1803).

Susannah was the daughter of Henry Corrin (1713-1769) and Susanna Corrin née Quay (1713-1784). In 1763 she married Dominique Lamothe (1731-1807), a former French prisoner-of-war.

Lamothe Corrin wedding 1763

The marriage record of Dominique Lamothe and Susannah Corrin at St George’s Liverpool on 6 April 1763 retrieved from Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1659-1812 Reference Number: 283 GEO/3/1 through ancestry.com

Lamothe had been a surgeon on the St Lawrence, a privateer  brig, which was captured by the English and brought to Douglas, the Isle of Man, on 31 October 1760. England and France were at war, in what was later known as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). After their capture the officers and men of the St Lawrence were held in Castle Rushen as prisoners of war.

Two weeks after their capture the French officers of the privateer St Lawrence applied to the Governor of the Island for their liberty, and joined themselves in a bond to Messrs. Ross, Black, and Christian, of Douglas, merchants.  They were freed from gaol on parole.

In January 1761 the Lords of the Admiralty sent a British ship to take the prisoners of war off the island. All prisoners were delivered up except for Lamothe and Lieutenant Lessenne, who were exploring the island. Lessenne turned up on the evening of the next day, Lamothe later that night, but the tender for the boat had gone so Lamothe was placed back in Castle Rushen. Because of adverse winds the ship had been unable to wait. It seems that Lamothe was again freed from Castle Rushen, though there is no detail as to how this came about. There is a family story that Lamothe “attended the Governor’s wife as her medical man, and acted with great skill, and was thereupon released.”

In a letter of 30 September 1763 to Basil Cochrane, Governor of the Isle of Man 1751-1762, John Quayle ( Clerk of the Rolls for the Isle of Man and the Duke of Atholl’s Seneschal), reported on some local Manx happenings  :

the French Doctor was no sooner released from being a prisoner of war than he became captive to Suky Corrin (the daughter of his landlord, Hall Corrin). He went to France for his prize money, bought a cargo of Brandy to Dublin & this day returned to his spouse.

Dominique Lamothe and Susanna had eleven children. They lived in Castletown, Isle of Man, where he practiced medicine for 47 years.

Susanna died on 9 November 1803, aged 62. Dominique on died 8 January 1807 aged 74. They are buried at Castletown.

Their youngest daughter Rose Therese Lamothe (1784-1818) married William Snell Brown later Chauncy. She had three children:

  • Theresa Susanna Snell Chauncy 1807-1876
  • Martha  Maria Snell Chauncy 1813-1899
  • Philip Lamothe Snell Chauncy 1816-1880 my 3rd great grandfather.

Rose died shortly before her son’s second birthday. In his memoirs, Philip Chauncy wrote  “Having always resided at a distance from the Isle of Man, I have never known much of my Mother’s relations.” He knew his grandfather had been a prisoner of war and had been in correspondence with his cousin John Corlet LaMothe who had compiled the history of Dominique and Susanna from the records in the Rolls office of the Isle of Man.

Sources

Jacobites in skirts

05 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by in 52 ancestors, Johnstone, Kinnaird, prison, prisoner of war, Scotland

≈ 2 Comments

Toad as washerwoman

Illustration by Arthur Rackham of Mr Toad escaping prison dressed as a washerwoman from Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

In The Wind in the Willows the irrepressible Mr Toad escapes from gaol by dressing as a washerwoman. My 7th great aunt Margaret Lady Ogilvy is said to have escaped from Edinburgh Castle, where she had been confined after the failure of the ’45, in much the same way, disguised as a washerwoman.

It happened like this.

Margaret (1724-1757) was one of 14 children of my seventh great grandparents Sir James Johnstone (1697-1772) and his wife Barbara née Murray (1703-1773). In 1745 Margaret married David, Lord Ogilvy (1725-1803), who had raised a regiment in support of the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart. Margaret accompanied her husband during the rebellion.

Ogilvy’s clansmen were cut to shreds at Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746, and in the aftermath Margaret Lady Ogilvy was captured and kept at Edinburgh Castle. In November 1746 she escaped, “disguised as a washerwoman”.

Margaret Ogilvy made her way to France where she was reunited with her husband, who had survived Culloden and fled to Paris. He later became a general in the forces of the French king.

Lady Ogilvy

Margaret, Lady Ogilvy from “Illustrations of people and events relating to the Jacobite Rebellions in Scottish history (1715 and 1745-46)” in the collection of the National Library of Scotland

So the story goes, but it is suspiciously similar to a tale told about David Ogilvy. He too had been captured after the failure of Culloden and is said to have escaped St Andrews Castle dressed as a woman, in his sister’s clothes.

My sixth great grandfather, Charles Kinnaird (1723-1767), brother-in-law of Margaret Ogilvy née Johnstone was also imprisoned during the rebellion. In November 1745 Kinnaird was committed to prison by the solicitor of His Majesty George II for holding treasonable correspondence with the Highlanders at Carlisle, but was released a few weeks later on 19 December 1745. He is described in family stories as having “eaten his commission in prison”, destroying in this way the documents and correspondence he was carrying. Kinnaird was imprisoned with Walter Scott, a  servant of his future father-in-law, Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall, Dumfries.

In 1748 Charles Kinnaird married Barbara Johnstone (1723-1765), Margaret’s sister. I am descended from Charles and Barbara Kinnaird through Charlotte Dana (1820-1904), my third great grandmother.

References

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Trove Tuesday: Mother’s Day 1943

05 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Champion de Crespigny, prisoner of war, Trove Tuesday, World War 2

≈ 1 Comment

In 1967 the Australian Women’s Weekly held a Mother’s Day story-writing competition, for ‘The Best Mother’s Day I’ve Had’.

The contest prompted many letters to the editor. One, from Harry Thorpe,  a former Army Padre, wrote about a Mother’s Day he had spent in a Japanese POW camp.

His letter caught the attention of my grandfather’s cousin John de Crespigny (1908-1995).

de Crespigny, who in 1943 had been a Major interned in the same camp, wrote to Thorpe recalling the occasion.

His letter was reproduced in the Women’s Weekly a month later.

 

Prizewinning letters in our “Best Mother’s Day” Contest. (1967, May 17). The Australian Women’s Weekly (1933 – 1982), p. 55. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47121756

 

AN ECHO FROM MOTHER’S DAY, 1943— IN A POW CAMP. (1967, June 28). The Australian Women’s Weekly (1933 – 1982), p. 14. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42114056

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E is for Exile

05 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by in A to Z 2015, Cudmore, prisoner of war, World War 2

≈ 3 Comments

George Napier Sprod (1919 – 2003) was my second cousin twice removed on the Cudmore side of my family, one of my grandmother’s many second cousins. His grandmother Sara Cudmore was the sister of James Francis Cudmore, my grandmother Kathleen’s grandfather.

George Sprod in 1945 from CARTOONS OF LIFE IN PRISON CAMPS. (1945, November 17). The Australian Women’s Weekly (1933 – 1982), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55465755

 George Sprod enlisted in the Australian Army in 1940. He put his age up by one year. His mother was his next of kin. He served as a gunner with the 2/15 Field Regiment.

World war 2 nominal roll entry for George Sprod retrieved from http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=A&veteranId=152553

 The 2/15th Field Regiment were in Singapore from mid 1941. They served in Malaya and in January 1942 provided artillery support for the infantry withdrawal along the Malayan Peninsula towards Singapore. In February 1942 the British forces in Singapore surrendered to the Japanese. Members of the 2/15th were imprisoned at Changi. The War Memorial’s history records

members of the 2/15th found themselves members of parties bound for the camps along the Thailand-Burma Railway and in Borneo, Japan, French Indochina, Java, Sumatra, and Malaya. These men endured the worst horrors of Japanese captivity. Of the 556 officers and men who became prisoners, 294 died. The surviving prisoners were liberated in late August 1945 and began returning to Australia almost immediately.

As a child George Sprod submitted drawings, stories, and short articles to the Adelaide Mail newspaper. For example,

Fairyland of the Fungi. (1933, July 8). The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 – 1954), p. 2 Supplement: SUNBEAMS. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58623064

Old Ship. (1933, July 22). The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 – 1954), p. 3 Supplement: SUNBEAMS. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58626325

He went to Sydney to try his luck as a cartoonist , riding his bicycle as far as Hay, New South Wales, a distance of about 400 miles (660 kilometers ). There he sold his bicycle and continued the rest of the way by train. He had various jobs before enlisting in the army.

As a prisoner in Changi Singapore, Sprod met the English cartoonist Ronald Searle (1920-2011). In September 1944 they founded and produced the fortnightly magazine “Exile“. There were ten issues. After a few numbers of the Exile Sprod decided that he would like to produce a journal with Australian appeal, which he called”Smoke-Oh” which ran for two issues only.

Illustration by Ronald Searle from the FEPOW (Far East prisoners of war) magazine ‘Exile’, September 1944. Image retrieved from http://ronaldsearle.blogspot.com.au/2008/02/changi-gaol-2.html

Cover of the second edition of “Smoke-Oh” from February 1945 with three candles representing the three years that they had been held prisoner of war. From Smoke-oh. (1945, November 17). The Australian Women’s Weekly (1933 – 1982), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55465753

One of the cartoons that appeared in Smoke-Oh and was reproduced in the Australian Women’s Weekly from CARTOONS OF LIFE IN PRISON CAMPS. (1945, November 17). The Australian Women’s Weekly (1933 – 1982), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55465755

 Sprod and Searle also painted murals in a club within the Sime Road camp.

SECRET WIRELESS SET. (1945, October 12). Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42454880

 When he returned from the war George Sprod and his brothers made a short film called Christmas Crackers, re-enacting the family reunion when George and his brothers and brother-in-law returned from the war. The film is now held by the National Film and Sound Archive.

George Sprod in a screenshot from Christmas Crackers

George also gave an interview to the Australian Women’s Weekly and wrote about his experiences for the Sydney Morning Herald, both articles illustrated with some of his cartoons.

After the war George Sprod was a successful cartoonist, eventually working for Punch magazine.

Nearly forty years after his experiences as a prisoner he wrote a memoir which again looked at the humorous side of life as a prisoner, though it did not overlook the misery and cruelty.

Sprod, George (1981). Bamboo round my shoulder : Changi, the lighter side. Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst [N.S.W.] copy held by the State Library of Victoria

George Sprod died in Sydney in 2003.

Sources

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A is for aviator: Ernest Osmond Cudmore

31 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in A to Z 2015, aviation, Cudmore, prisoner of war, World War 1

≈ 5 Comments

Several of my relatives joined the Royal Air Force, or Royal Flying Corps as it was called during World War 1. I have written previously about Hugh Vivian Champion de Crespigny. Two other relatives, cousins of my paternal grandmother joined up: Frederick Cudmore Andrews and Ernest Osmund Cudmore. They both were captured and both became prisoners of war in the same camp, Holzminden in Lower Saxony.

Ernest Osmond Cudmore was born 2 July 1894 at Glen Osmond, South Australia. He was the second of four sons of Milo Robert Cudmore (1852 – 1913) and Constance Cudmore née Alexander (1858 – 1913). Milo was the brother of James Francis Cudmore, my great great grandfather and Ernest was the cousin of my great grandfather Arthur Murray Cudmore.

Ernest Cudmore in 1917 at the time he was issued with his flying licence (certificate) by the Royal Aero Club. Ancestry.com. Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

When Ernest was fourteen his leg was broken when he was thrown from a horse. The bone did not set and his leg had to be amputated below the knee.

Wentworth (1908, July 16). The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 – 1929), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60318056
Wentworth (1908, September 10). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5181294

After the death of their parents in 1913, the four Cudmore boys were cared for by their aunt Lilian Alexander (1861 – 1931), a pioneering woman doctor. She became a noted surgeon in Victoria.

Ernest took up racing motorbikes. In August 1916 he participated in a 24 hours’ reliability trial riding a 7 horsepower Indian in the sidecar class of over 600c.

24 HOURS TRIAL. (1916, August 16). Referee (Sydney, NSW : 1886 – 1939), p. 13. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121180077

Ernest Cudmore sailed for England and acquired his aviation certificate at Bournemouth on 26 April 1917.

Ancestry.com. Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

Until 1911 the British military did not have any pilot training facilities. As a result most military pilots of the period were trained by members of the Royal Aero Club. By the end of World War 1, more than 6,300 military pilots had taken RAeC Aviator’s Certificates.

On 6 June 1917 Ernest Cudmore enlisted in the Royal Air Force. On 23 August 1917 he was discharged as a 3rd class air mechanic as he had received a temporary commission on probation as a 2nd lieutenant in the General List for duty with the Royal Flying Corps. He was described at this time as 6 foot tall, keen and efficient with good military character.  No descriptive marks were noted; the wooden leg was not mentioned.

His next of kin to be informed of casualties as recorded on the service records was Mrs D. H. Cudmore, Union Bank of Australia, Cornhill, London. This is probably Mrs Martha Cudmore, the widow of Ernest’s uncle Daniel Henry Cashel Cudmore (1844 – 1913). She had sons fighting in the war, including Collier Robert Cudmore and Milo Massey Cudmore, cousins of Ernest.

Ernest was confirmed in his rank of 2nd Lieutenant with effect from 13 November 1917. (London Gazette 15 December 1917). He was mentioned in dispatches gazetted 30 May 1919.

On 5 February 1918 Ernest Cudmore went missing and was taken prisoner of war. He was transferred to Holzminden.

 
card compiled by the Prisoners of War International Agency retrieved from http://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Details/3059076/3/2/
Prisoner of war record retrieved from http://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/List/3059076/1872/20434/

Ernest had been captured at Jabbeke, about 17 kilometres west of Bruges in Belgium. Sergeant Leslie Bains was captured at the same time. They were probably in the same plane.

A family story has that Ernest tried to escape while a prisoner so the Germans took away his wooden leg.

The story of Ernest’s life is continued at ‘B is for Buick‘.

Additional Source

  • British Royal Air Force, Officers’ Service Records 1912-1920 retrieved from FindMyPast.com.au 

Related posts

Philip de Crespigny in the French Revolution

01 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in Champion de Crespigny, France, Napoleonic wars, prisoner of war

≈ 6 Comments

 
I came across a mention of a Philip de Crespigny being a prisoner of Napoleon Bonaparte in the 1889 book Englishmen in the French Revolution:
Philip Champion de Crespigny, brother of the first baronet—he was married at the Danish Embassy, Paris, in 1809, his bride having apparently gone over to share his detention—escaped from St. Germain in May 1811. He lived to be eighty-six, dying in 1851. ( From Alger, John Goldworth & Robarts – University of Toronto (1889). Englishmen in the French Revolution. London S. Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington Page:Englishmen in the French Revolution.djvu/295. (2011, April 1). In Wikisource, . Retrieved 23:10, August 31, 2013, from http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Page:Englishmen_in_the_French_Revolution.djvu/295&oldid=2641334 )
 
The first baronet was Claude Champion de Crespigny (1734 – 1818). His siblings, the children of Philip Champion de Crespigny (1701 – 1765) and his wife Anne nee Fonnereau (1704 – 1782), were:
  • Susan (1735 – 1766)
  • Anne (1736 – 1738)
  • Philip (1738 – 1803), my fifth great grandfather
  • Anne (1739 – ?)
  • Jane (1742 – 1829)
  • a child of whom I do not know the name, born 1733 and presumably died young
 
Philip, the brother of the first baronet, had died in 1803, so who was the Philip who was imprisoned? My family tree currently has ten Philip Champion de Crespignys though many of these are quite obviously not the man referred to in this book. My fourth great grand uncle Philip (1765 – 1851), son of Philip the brother of the first baronet seems to be the right man.
 

Philip married Emilia Wade on 21 October 1809. She died in 1832.

Family history notes compiled by Stephen de Crespigny state:

Philip was in France when Napoleon’s detenu order was signed in May 1803 and was held at the fortress town of Verdun for some years , then moved to St Germain from where he escaped in May 1811. But during the time he married Emelia Wade in Paris in November 1809, a lady with a considerable fortune. (photocopy of handwritten notes on the family history compiled by Stephen de Crespigny and in possession of my father)

The Treaty of Amiens had been signed on 25 March 1802 and meant peace between the French Republic and the United Kingdom.  The peace lasted only until 18 May 1803 when Britain declared war on France.  Issues leading to the recommencement of hostilities seemed to include the British not withdrawing from Malta in accordance with the treaty terms. The Wikipedia article on the recommencement of war between France and Britain states:

On 17 May 1803, before the official declaration of war and without any warning, the Royal Navy captured all the French and Dutch merchant ships stationed in Britain or sailing around, seizing more than 2 million pounds of commodities. In response to this provocation, on 22 May (2 Prairial, year XI), the First Consul [Napoleon Bonaparte] ordered the arrest of all British males between the ages of 18 and 60 in France and Italy, trapping many travelling civilians. This act was denounced as illegal by all the major powers. Bonaparte claimed in the French press that the British prisoners he had taken amounted to 10,000, but French documents compiled in Paris a few months later show that the numbers were 1,181. It was not until the abdication of Bonaparte in 1814 that the last of these imprisoned British civilians were allowed to return home.(Treaty of Amiens. (2013, August 28). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:15, September 1, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treaty_of_Amiens&oldid=570571270)

In 1851 Philip was recorded on the census as living at Harefield House in Middlesex with his half brother, my fourth great grandfather, Charles Fox. Charles Fox Champion de Crespigny was twenty years younger than his brother. Philip was described as a lunatic, by which I assume he was suffering from old age dementia.

 
Source Citation: Class: HO107; Piece: 1697; Folio: 376; Page: 35; GSU roll: 193605. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1851 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Stephen’s notes tell us a little more of Philip:

It was said of him that he was a gay fellow with a happy talent for drawing. He lived for many years in Harefield House, near Uxbridge, where he kept a dozen or more servants. Towards the end of his life he became a little senile, and his half brother Charles Fox looked after his estate for [him (remainder of note missing)] (photocopy of handwritten notes referred to above)

Philip died on 22 May 1851, only a few months after the census was taken. He died without issue.
Harefield House was used as a military hospital by the Australian Army in World War I.
ID number P02402.005 Photographer John H Avery & Co Description Harefield, England. c. 1915-06. Exterior of `Harefield House’ the former stately home taken over by the No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital (1AAH) in 1915-03. On the right is the corner of one of the first wards and hidden from view behind the shrubbery is the bay window of the first operating theatre (formerly the sitting room). (Original housed in AWM Archive Store) (Donor R. Brown).
Retrieved from http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P02402.005  1 September 2013

 

 

Sepia Saturday 192 : John Chauncy Champion de Crespigny (1908 – 1995)

30 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by in Champion de Crespigny, prisoner of war, Sepia Saturday, Wedding, World War 2

≈ 17 Comments

John C de Crespigny wedding 1947

From SATURDAY WEDDINGS IN TOWN AND COUNTRY CENTRES. (1947, June 9). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 8. Retrieved August 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22431673

This is my first post following the Sepia Saturday theme.  The prompt for this week was a photograph of musicians in 1947. While the musicians were in their shirt sleeves, I chose this photograph as it was taken the same year.
John Chauncy Champion de Crespigny was born on 25 August 1908 at Royal Park Melbourne to Philip, a journalist, and his wife Birdie. He was the youngest of four surviving children:
  • Annie Frances born 1903
  • Lorna Blanche born 1904
  • Philip George born 1906
There had also been a baby who died at birth in 1901.
John’s father enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1918 and was killed in Palestine in July 1918. (My earlier bog post from April 1913). John was only nine years old.
John enlisted in World War 2 and was a prisoner of war of the Japanese. He was captured in Java and imprisoned in Thailand where he was ADC to “Weary” Dunlop in camp number 4. Twenty years later John wrote about celebrating Mothers’ Day while a prisoner of war. (AN ECHO FROM MOTHER’S DAY, 1943— IN A POW CAMP. (1967, June 28). The Australian Women’s Weekly (1933 – 1982), p. 14. Retrieved August 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42114056 .)
Summary of service in World War 2 retrieved from http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/VeteranCertificate.aspx?VeteranID=416833 29 August 2013

 

The wedding pictured above is John’s second marriage.  His first marriage of 1932 ended in divorce in 1939. At the time of his divorce he was an advertising specialist of Dawson Street, Ballarat. ( DIVORCE COURT. (1939, April 6). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 2. Retrieved August 29, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12115198 ) John’s second wife, Margaret Nicol (1909 – 1998), was the widow of Esmond Bernard Serisier (1905 – 1945).
John died on 7 February 1995. His wife Margaret died three years later.
John does not look nearly as relaxed as the musicians: weddings are not relaxing and it is not long after his experiences as a prisoner of war.