Alan Russell Dickinson, Friends Ambulance Unit, Died Conradstein

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by chrisharley9, Sep 10, 2015.

  1. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    I am attempting to put Alan Russell Dickinson, a member of the Friends Ambulance Unit forward to CWGC for war grave status.

    What I have so far are the following facts taken from a Red Cross death certificate found on ancestry.com

    Captured Greece 27th April 1941.

    Occupation Civilian Medical Orderly (The Brief History of the Friends Ambulance Unit In WW2 by A Telga Davies contains a brief history of his time in the unit).

    Died at Conradstein, Stargard 23rd December 1943 cause sepsis following decubitus.

    Buried at Institution Cemetery Conradstein grave No 371.

    What I would like help with please are the following questions

    Which camp would this have been. The FAU history seems to point to Stalag XX A 5?

    Would anyone know of any other British POW deaths at this location? If I can find out what become of their graves it may give me a pointer to where Alan is buried.

    Cheers

    Chris
     
  2. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

  3. Lindele

    Lindele formerly HA96

  4. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

  5. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    Dave,

    Just had a read up on the cause of death which effectively is bed sores. So what the heck caused him to be bed ridden to cause the bed sores??

    I bet he is still buried there

    Chris
     
  6. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    Sorry got overtaken here by your answers & thanks so far.

    Chris
     
  7. DaveB

    DaveB Very Senior Member

    "Buried at Institution Cemetery Conradstein" - it is possible that was a burial site for POWs that died in the nearby Stalag II-D Stargard, but the word institution in there makes me think more of the grounds of the psychiatric facility:

    Cmentarz przy szpitalu psychiatrycznym w Kocborowie
     
  8. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    You may have 16 more to work on!!
    http://www.exacteditions.com/read/the-friend/8-october-2010-7730/2/3/
    Corrections: In the issue of 3 September it was stated that thirteen members of the FAU lost their lives during the second world war (page 7) In fact seventeen died in service, as stated in the Clifford Barnard article (13 August).
    Raymond Pasteur Alderson; Norman Lewis Booth; John Clifford Bough; Quentin Douglas Boyd; John Stephen Briggs; Alan Russell Dickinson; Joseph Denis Frazer; John Douglas Hardy; Albert Thomas Ross Hogg; Peter Joseph Hume; Dennis Edgar Mann; Norah Evelyn Loyd Protheroe; Louis Rowan Rivett; Thomas Lesley Tanner; James Philip Tonks; Clement White and William Allan Wyon.
     
  9. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    Kevin,

    already ahead of the game there

    Other than Alan Dickinson the only other one I can put forward at present is Raymond Pasteur Alderson. He was serving with the FAU attached French Army when killed in the Western Desert. He lays in a French War Grave in Knightsbridge War Cemetery in Libya. IFCP may be able to make a case for civilian war dead status.

    I have accounted for all of the rest except for Albert Thomas Ross Hogg.

    Raymond Pasteur Alderson NWWD ATTD FRENCH ARMY POSS CIV WAR DEAD
    Norman Lewis Booth CIVILIAN WAR DEAD AIR RAID LONDON
    John Clifford Bough CWGC BRITISH RED CROSS
    Quentin Douglas Boyd CHINESE RED CROSS DIED INDIA
    John Stephen Briggs CHINESE RED CROSS DIED CHINA
    Alan Russell Dickinson POSS NON COMM BRITISH ARMY
    Joseph Denis Frazer CWGC BRITISH RED CROSS
    John Douglas Hardy CHINESE RED CROSS DIED CHINA
    Albert Thomas Ross Hogg
    Peter Joseph Hume CIVILIAN WAR DEAD SS CERAMIC
    Dennis Edgar Mann UNRRA RRU GREECE
    Norah Evelyn Loyd Protheroe NWWD UNRRA RRU GREECE
    Louis Rowan Rivett CHINESE RED CROSS DIED CHINA
    Thomas Lesley Tanner CIVILIAN WAR DEAD SS CERAMIC
    James Philip Tonks ATTD FRENCH ARMY ROAD ACCIDENT
    Clement White CHINESE RED CROSS DIED CHINA
    William Allan Wyon CIVIL CLINIC SYRIA DIED SYRIA

    Those attached to civilian aid agencies do not qualify for CWGC war grave status. 3 are already on the CWGC civilian ROH. 2 marked NWWD are already in CWGC Cemeteries in Non World War Dead graves in the care of CWGC. J C Bough is already a war grave as is J D Frazer.

    Chris
     
  10. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Ah! I did wonder, it's unusual to get one step ahead of you!
     
  11. StalagXXA

    StalagXXA New Member

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  12. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi Chris

    I have a slight connection to this thread as my sister in laws parents were Quakers and served in China. Have you tried contacting - http://www.quakersintheworld.org/docs/contact-us.html

    The above contact details I found at the bottom of this page http://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/292 which also includes a quote from you man
    "In December 1943, Alan Dickinson, one of the leading members of the group, died in the prison hospital. He had written, "I wanted to be in the section of the Unit that would have the best opportunities of proving its mettle. I wanted to live vividly for my ideal and if necessary die for it."

    TD
     
  13. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    TD

    I have tried contacting the Friends Library on Euston Road through their contact form on line as that appears where the records are kept, but at present no reply. Did pick up on Alan's quote, but thanks for pointing it out to me.

    Cheers

    Chris
     
  14. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    Finally received his record card from the Friend's Library. He will be submitted for war grave status.

    Chris
     
  15. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    CWGC added the following casualty to the WW2 Commonwealth War Dead Roll today.

    DICKINSON, Alan Russel
    Volunteer
    Friends Ambulance Unit
    Died 23.12.43 Age 28
    Commemorated: United Kingdom Book of Remembrance

    This was an In From The Cold Project Case
    - Volunteer Dickinson died of a sceptic ulcer whilst a PoW in Poland (Volunteer: Chris Harley)

    It is known that he was buried at Conradstein Institute Cemetery, Poland & this is under investigation by CGWC.
     
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  16. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    CWGC added the following casualty to the WW2 Commonwealth War Dead Roll today.

    DICKINSON, Alan Russel
    Volunteer
    Friends Ambulance Unit
    Died 23.12.43 Age 28
    Commemorated: United Kingdom Book of Remembrance

    This was an In From The Cold Project Case
    - Volunteer Dickinson died of a sceptic ulcer whilst a PoW in Poland (Volunteer: Chris Harley)

    It is known that he was buried at Conradstein Institute Cemetery, Poland & this is under investigation by CGWC.

    Accepted today.
     
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  17. Steve Mac

    Steve Mac Very Senior Member

    *
    Hello Chris,

    Albert Thomas Ross Hogg was known as 'Ross Hogg'.

    Found this reference to him:
    A. Tegla Davies. Friends Ambulance Unit. 1947. Hospitals and Training in Britain. Civilian Relief in Europe.

    Best,

    Steve.
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2018
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  18. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    Thanks for that Steve. All are accounted for now.
     
  19. Drayton

    Drayton Senior Member

    Belated thanks for your work on this, but there are a couple of loose ends.

    CWGC have recorded him as Alan Russel, rather than Alan Russell. A small point, perhaps, but since CWGC is intended to be accurate and definitive, it requires correction rather than causng confusion. There is no other reference to Alan Russell Dickinson using the strange form Russel.

    The other point is that he could not in law have been a prisoner of war. Under international law, a prisoner of war is a member of the armed forces of one party to a conflict taken captive by another party, and the conditions for their treatment are governed by prisoner of war conventions.

    Alan Dickinson was not a member of the armed forces of any country and was at all relevant times a civilian. There are provisions under international law for taking captive civilians of an apposing party found in occupied territory, but their status is detained civilians, to be held in civilian internment camps, not prisoners of war, to be held in PoW camps. There seems to be some doubt as to the precise status of the camp where Dickinson was held.

    That apart, Dickinson had a special status under international law. As a member of the Friends' Ambulance Unit, he was recognised by the International Committee of the Red Cross as a non-combatant medical orderly. This meant that he, and the other fifteen of the FAU group who were taken captive in Greece on 27 April !941, were eligible for repatriation under the supervision of the ICRC. In the event, six of the 16 were repatriated to the UK in October 1941, and three more were repatriated in late 1942, but there was never any explanation of the German refusal to repatriate the remaing seven, including Dickinson, who died in 1943. The other six remained in captivity until liberation by Allied forces in 1945.
     
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  20. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    I will submit the correction to Russell today. His German death cert shows occupation as civilian medical worker. I was somewhat confused as to his status so thanks for pointing this out.
     
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