Bill Hudson: A WW1 Prisoner of War

The following is an interview given to a local newspaper by my great uncle William Hudson, about his experience as a German prisoner of war during 1918. The interview took place in 1942 when he was 55 years old. William, who was better known as Bill or Billy to his family and friends, was serving as a private with the 9th Manchester regiment when he was captured. He was held at Gustrow camp in Mecklinberg, Germany for the last 6 months of the war.

"Mr Hudson [referring to William's older brother,Tom, who had recently passed away] was one of three unmarried brothers who with the means and opportunity for academic advancement, might very well have a squired to professors' chairs. One of them Mr. William Hudson, (55) has mastered three languages in addition to his own - German, French and Spanish - without the assistance of a tutor. The desire to learn foreign languages came to him when he was working as a prisoner behind enemy lines in France in 1918. They had a stream to cross and a big burly German asked "Konnen Sie nicht Schwimmen?" and that did it. Not more than six months later the Armistice came, but in the meantime he had acquired a conversational knowledge of the enemy's lingo. This accomplishment enables him to listen with interest to foreign broadcasts.

Mr Hudson's experiences as a prisoner of war provide a remarkable story which, but for the present conflict might have been considered outdated. Something of the privation he endured maybe gathered from the fact while in enemy custody he was reduced in weight from 12 stones to 7 stones and has never recovered. Actually he has only worked two and a half years since the last war. He said "I was two months and never had a taste of fat. Our fellows were collapsing all round through  sheer exhaustion, due to lack of food. We had one loaf of bread per day for four men and the man who cut it had last pick - so you can guess it was cut correctly."

Remarking that there are good and bad even among Germans, Mr. Hudson said one ran great risks to get him food from a dump. On the other hand another German N.C.O was in the habit of cutting a switch from the hedge and striking them across the face with it, calling them "English pigs." When he asked the guard why this man was so cruel he replied he alleged he had seen his brother shot after putting his hands up to surrender.

Bill's grave in Wombwell cemetery.

Mr. Hudson was not at all reproachful. He said the German soldiers were faring little better and had no food to spare. By way of authentication  he went to a cupboard and pulled out a small loaf of very dark and husky bread. This was his last ration given to him while he was a prisoner . He has kept it 24 years and it still looks eatable!

This is the end of the transcript. The anti - German tone of the article is very apparent, describing them always as 'enemies' and adding an air of disbelief to the tale of the German soldier being shot while surrendering by  using the word 'alleged' This is no doubt because it was written during the second world war.

Prior to the war Bill had been employed as a railway porter, however, after he was discharged from the army he found himself unable to return to full time work due to the physical and psychological trauma he suffered as a prisoner of war. This next bit is the part of Bill's story that I like the most and I think its also says a lot about the type of person he must have been; During the second world war he used to visit a nearby interment camp to converse with the German pows held there. He obviously knew what it was like to be a captive in a foreign country, hundreds of miles from home and loved ones, in a place where you couldn't speak the native tongue . It was very moving to learn that his experience had made him more compassionate and understanding, rather than bitter and hateful. Bill never married or had children, he died at Beckett Hospital on the 15th January 1953 aged 65.