Germany: Prisoners, including: British merchant seamen and officers interned in Germany,...

FO 383/296

1917

Germany: Prisoners, including:

British merchant seamen and officers interned in Germany, including

• Definition of ranks or ratings in the Merchant Navy which would qualify as having 'officer' status.
• Captain Buyers and Chief Engineer William Baser of SS Yarrowdale, interned in Germany: recommendation for their repatriation on grounds of health and age.
• Mr Thomas Burns, interned at Brandenburg Camp: request by his wife, Mrs A Burns, for his transfer to an officers' camp.
• Arrangements for payments to interned officers of the Mercantile Marine Service by the Netherlands Legation in Berlin.
• Advice from the Admiralty on allowances to be paid to British Mercantile Marine Officers, and confirmation of their non-combatant status.
• Mr D Y Muir and Mr W A J Welsh, interned at Karlsruhe Camp: payments to them from the British India Steam Navigation Company.
• The Imperial Merchant Service Guild: letter enquiring about the welfare of interned merchant seamen and officers.
• Captain Allenson of SS Goldmond, interned at Schloss Celle: claim by the British Government that his ship was not an armed liner.
• Cadet Akerman of SS Mount Temple, interned in Germany: decision not to agree to his release in exchange for six ships' boys interned in the UK.
• Mr R Cooper: request for the transfer of his son, a cadet from SS Otaki, to a camp containing other officers and cadets.
• Internment of the crew of the schooner Jean at Güstrow, Mecklenburg, with a list of names (in docket no.169205).
• Forced employment of British merchant seamen at Lubeck and Stettin: recommendation for a formal complaint to be made.
• Captain Robert Glasper and Chief Officer Alfred Hirst: arrangements for payments to them while interned at Brandenburg.
• Captain G A Mackenzie, interned at Karlsuhe, and Captain J Clarke, interned at Augustabad: request for subsistence payments.
• Captain William Oliver of SS Clan Mactavish, interned at Hameln Camp: enquiry about the possibility of his release, with a manuscript copy of his marriage certificate (in docket no.192511).
• Confirmation that payments would be made by the British Government to British Mercantile Marine Officers interned in Germany.
• Mr Whiting of SS Eskimo, interned at Altdamm Camp: enquiry from his wife about the possibility of his release.
• Enquiries about the transfer of Mercantile Marine Officers from SS Voltaire and SS Lestris, currently interned at Brandenburg Camp, to an officers' camp.
• Mr B A Shute, former Purser of SS Esmeraldas, interned at Brandenburg Camp: request for officer status to be granted to various ranks of prisoners from the Merchant Navy interned in the camp.
• Notification of the transfer of a number of Mercantile Marine Officers from Brandenburg Camp to officers' camps.
• Captain J Mathie, Captain William Oliver, Mr Robert Knox and Mr A G Macpherson: enquiries regarding their repatriation.
• Agreement by the German Government to proposals regarding rates of pay for certain ranks of the British Mercantile Marine Service.
• List (in docket no.213131) of merchant seamen and officers interned at Wahmbeck Camp.
• Enquiry about the status of British fishermen captured from unarmed fishing vessels.
• Captain Edgar Burke of the schooner Jean, interned at Brandenburg Camp: letter requesting his transfer to a neutral country.
• Captain J C Murray interned at Karlsruhe Camp: information that his allowance had been stopped.
• Conditions of internment of cadets and apprentices, and attempts to arrange the exchange of Cadet Akerman, interned in Germany.
• Enquiries regarding Cadet L Morrish, Cadet J Holman and Cadet H Brown, interned at Brandenburg Camp, with a printed circular produced by the General Post Office in March 1917, titled Communication with Prisoners of War Interned Abroad.
• Captain Moynihan and Captain J M Pearson, interned at Wahmbeck Camp: enquiries regarding payments and repatriation.
• Captain J E Williams: request for transfer to Switzerland on medical grounds.
• Correspondence regarding a proposal for the reciprocal exchange of all British and German merchant seamen.
• Agreement for reciprocal payments to be made to officers of the British and German Mercantile Marine Services.
• Captain J O Evans, interned at Brandenburg Camp: request for his transfer to an officers' camp.
• List (in docket no.238768) of officers of the Mercantile Marine Service eligible for transfer to officers' camps, giving details of name, rank, ship and place of internment.
• Captain A D Burroughs, interned at Stroken Camp: request for his transfer to a neutral country.

Dr Fritz Schyzer: appointment to a post in the Swiss Legation in London.

Support for Sir Roger Casement by certain British prisoners, including:

• Information that thirty British prisoners who had supported his cause had been transferred to Dantzig (Danzig), Germany.
• Gunner Carr: allegations that he received preferential treatment from the German authorities.
• Private P J Forde: allegations of his support for Sir Roger Casement.

Mr Watt MP: parliamentary question about an agreement between France and Germany on the transfer to Switzerland of prisoners who were fathers of families; related enquiry from the Australian Government on behalf of Oberleutnant Lothar Marcks, an interned German prisoner.

Mr Emil von der Osten, a Canadian subject interned at Crefeld Camp, including:

• Question of his possible transfer to a civilian camp.
• Mrs Lillian von der Osten: application for an emergency British passport (the form with a photograph is in docket no.165356).

Mr Edward Page Gaston, including:

• Letters from Mr Gaston offering his services to the British Government, with an article from The Literary Digest outlining his work on behalf of British prisoners in Germany.
• Correspondence concerning a proposed libel action by Mr Gaston against Mr Gerard, the American Ambassador in Berlin.
• Information that Mr Gerard had not withdrawn charges made against Mr Gaston; discussion with Sir George Lewis on arrangements for payment of the costs of the libel action.

Deportation of Swiss missionaries from German East Africa to India, including:

• Enquiry (French language) on their behalf from the Swiss Legation in London, giving their names and other information (in docket no.43000).
• Report that the missionaries were interned at Ahmednagar Camp, India; subsequent information that three of the missionaries were still in Africa, having been moved from Killindini-Mombasa Camp, Kenya, to Dar es Salaam, German East Africa.
• Father Liborias Leutenegger: report that he was resident at Namupa, Lindi, German East Africa.
• Dr Kastl: letter for transmission to the German Government requesting funds to be sent to him at Windhoek, German South West Africa.

Code 1218 Files 40483 (papers 141364-end)-43001.

Files 40483 (pp.141364-end)-43001.

Public Record(s)

Open Document, Open Description

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Internment

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Africa