WW1 Internee - Prof G. A. Bredow

Introduction

The account can be found in FO 383/143 in UK National Archives at Kew: Many internees were taken off neutral ships stopped by British warships.

Text

Prof G.A.Bredrow No. 4020 Douglas I.O.M.
January 18th 1916.

To the Secretary, Foreign Office, White Hall, London S.W.

Sir
May I be permitted to draw your attention once more to my case, having had no answer to my application of Ocrt 23rd 1915.

My hopes that you will consider my case favourable are augmented by the fact that the Foreign Office in Germany have taken the matter in hand, and I have been given to understand that negotiations on my behalf are actually taken place.

I respectfully beg to give you herewith once more a brief outline of my case, vizt:-
Being a Sculptor of renown I was commissioned by the Argentine Government in 1910 to execute a monument for the Centenary Festivities at Buenos Aires. This monument is not yet completed, and utilising the postponement of the unveiling ceremony it was my intention to visit Spain in order to persue special studies in Art enabling me to carry out further commissions already received in the Argentine.

I was arrested on board the Neutral Steamer 'Tomaso di Savoya' and interned at Gibralter on June the 7th., 1915. The date of my departure from Buenos Airies was May the 20th. 1915.

In support of the above statements I also beg to refer to His Excellency Dr M[], the Argentine Minister for Foreign Affairs at Buenos Aires and his Minister, Marcos Avellanada at Madrid, who will corroborate my claims.

In conclusion I beg to add that I am able and willing to give you on parole an undertaking of Neutrality on the understanding that I shall be allowed to return to Germany.

I have the honour to be .. Prof G A Bredow

He would appear to be Gustav Adolf Bredow (1875-1950), there is a note of his work being exhibited in a Munich Exhibition - Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung - from June 1941-1942. Bredow was just one of many taken off Neutral ships and taken to the UK for internment, also, like many others, his requests for release or repatriation were generally ignored. He is noted as having been transferred from Knockaloe to Douglas, along with many others,on the 9th November 1915, probably for the Privilige Camp and transferred to Spalding, for internment in Holland on 9th March 1918 which departure date would place him as included in the first list of internees to spend time in a Dutch internment camp. His PoWIB number was 166641 which high number generally indicates a renumbering from a Colonial List number (possibly given on his transfer to Gibralter) into the general list of those held in British Camps, which renumbering usually happened when the internee was treated in a camp hospital - ICRC record D-185-1 gives his new registration at Spalding and quotes colonial serial number 11250C but his name is not on those either repatriated or transferred to Holland - possibly he spent time in the hospital and was transferred on a later departure than the others from Douglas camp.

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Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2019