Photographs I've gleaned from flea markets, junk shops and sometimes ebay. The cheaper the better. Anything with a story that can be extracted from hand written notes, location research, local histories, census records......anything. A small band of fellow enthusiasts worldwide have helped me with many of these. Of course there are always mysteries that defy research, but there's even a story inside these. All images can be viewed at super-size on Flickr.

Thursday 19 April 2012

Captured British seamen aboard German raider 'Pinguin'. 1940.

Captured crew and passengers of the merchant ship 'Port Wellington', on board German auxilliary cruiser (hilfskreuzer) 'Pinguin'. November 1940.

One of my colleagues at work, Roy Johnson, knows that I collect old photos and just mentioned in passing "Oh, I have a photo of my father on board the German raider that sank his ship and captured him during the war". I had to see this! Thanks Roy for letting me use these scans. Roy's father, Albert, was a member of the crew of the Port Wellington, which was attacked by the German auxiliary cruiser (hilfskreuzer) 'Pinguin' on 30th November 1940. Most of the crew and seven female passengers were captured. Here we see them all on the deck of the Pinguin. The first officer of the Pinguin was kind enough to go back on board the Port Wellington before she was scuttled to retrieve clothes for the women. The Pinguin herself was sunk by the Royal Navy the following year. Below is Albert in 'Marlag und Milag Nord' POW camp in Germany. That's him on the front row at the far right.

British merchant navy POWs. Marlag und Milag Nord POW camp, near Westertimke, Germany.

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