German POW sketches discovered

Antipodean Andy · Oct 23, 2008

German POW sketches for an English friend found in drawer - Telegraph

A collection of seven sketches drawn by a German prisoner of war for a British veteran who befriended him have been discovered in a bedroom cupboard.

The artist, known only as S Arnolds, was one of 6,000 POWs detained at Colchester barracks in Essex from 1944 to 1947.

During that time former World War One bomber pilot Arthur Woolsey struck up a friendship with Arnolds. He was the head of the town's cemetery and helped arrange funeral for German prisoners from the camp.

Now Woolsey's daughter Cynthia Russell, 76, has unearthed the stylish black and white sketches in a drawer after having a spring-clean.

They include pictures of the gateway to St John's Abbey, the Royal Grammar School and 'Theater Camp 186' where Arnolds lived.

As a girl Mrs Russell met the artist and a friend, Bernhard Dieters, who were let out of the camp and allowed to draw Colchester's landmarks.

She said: "I was about 11 years old and I remember my father met up with two trustees who were prisoners of war.

"They had been trusted to leave the camp and speak to him about funeral arrangements. He became friends with them which is remarkable really.

"He always invited them into the living room rather than the office and my mother would make them a cup of tea."

On being repatriated in 1947 they handed over the sketches as a small thank you present, she recalled.

Her father, who had 10 children, kept them until his death in 1993. Mrs Russell then took possession of them and put them in a drawer, only to be forgotten for 15 years.

She said her father was injured twice in World War One, once by a bayonet in the foot and the second time when a shell hit his head.

He was later seconded to the RAF and flew bombing raids over Germany in bi-planes.

But she said he never forgot his enemies were human. She said: "My father was an incredibly compassionate man. He saw the prisoners as men who had been fighting for their country the same as him, and who had been captured. They were human beings to him."
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

German POW sketches discovered

Antipodean Andy New Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

German POW sketches discovered

Thread Tools

Antipodean Andy New Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches