4188865 Guardsman William Henry CLEMSON, MiD, 2 Welsh Guards: POW

Date of Enlistment: 24 January 1931
Army Number: 4188865
Rank: Guardsman
Name: William Henry CLEMSON, MiD
Unit: 2 Welsh Guards

Date of Birth: 17 January 1913
Place of Birth:

Date of Capture: 25 May 1940
Place of Capture: Boulogne, France

POW Number: 15046
POW Camps: Stalag 344, Stalag XIIID

 

WO 344-65-2

PART I
General Questionnaire for British Ex-Prisoners of War

1. No.: 4188865
Rank: Guardsman
Surname: CLEMSON
Christian Names: William Henry
Decorations: -
2. Unit (Army): 2nd Battalion WELSH GUARDS
3. Division (Army): -

4. Date of Birth: 17 January 1913
5. Date of Enlistment: 24 January 1931
6. Civilian Trade: Aircraft worker
7. Private Address: 23 Hamilton Street, Hoole, Chester

8. Place of Capture: Boulogne
Date of Capture: 2 May 1940

9. Were you Wounded when Captured:
-

10. Main Camps or Hospitals in which imprisoned
Camp No. Location From & To
Stalag 344 Lamsdorf 26 June 1940 - 3 February 1945
Stalag XIIID Nurmberg 3 February 1945 - 14 April 1945

11. Were you in a Working Camp?
Location From & To Nature of Work
Bolton June 1941 - 11 June 1941 Stone Quarry
Odray 10 November 1941 - 10 March 1942 Forestry
Gleiwitz 20 May 1942 - 30 May 1942 Farm
Guersdorf 2 December 1942 - 26 January 1943 Stone Quarry
P.8. August 1943 - 8 December 1943 Farm
? 2 July 1944 - August 1944 Shoe Factory

12. Did you suffer from any Serious Illnesses while a P/W?:
Nature of Illness Cause Duration
Multiple fracture on left foot While working on Stone quarry 26 January 1943 Nine Weeks Hospital

Did you receive adequate Medical Treatment?:
Yes


PART II

2. Lectures before Capture
(State where, when and by whom)
(a) Were you lectured in your unit on how to behave in the event of capture?:
No
(b) Were you lectured on escape and evasion?:
No

3. Interrogation after Capture
(State where, when and methods employed by enemy)
Were you specially interrogated by the enemy?:
No

4. Escapes attempted.
Did you make any attempted or party successful escapes?
(Give details of each attempt separately, stating where, when, method employed, names of your companions, where and when captured and by whom. Were you physically fit? What happened to our companions?)
11 June 1941 from Bolton. Captured one week later at Blumenbach
10 March 1942 From Odrau. Captured one week later at Olmutz
July 1944 From Goglin. Captured six days later on Swiss frontier at Feldkirch.
30 May 1942 from Gleiwitz. Captured ten days later at Vienna
*Escaped 14 April 1945 from Nurmberg. Captured three days later outside Nurmberg.
[Asterix placed as start of last entry and entry highlighted. Annotated “Cas. P.W.” ]
[Details added by Guardsman CLEMSON at end of last page follow below, also annotated “Cas. P.W.”]
Companion on Escape - Sergeant BOYLE of Seaforths POW 12602
last heard of him is that he is on the loose in Sudentenland. Signed W.H. Clemson

5. Sabotage.
Did you do any sabotage or destruction of enemy factory plant, war material, communications, etc., when employed on working-parties or during escape?
No
(Give details, places and dates).
-

6. Collaboration with enemy.
Do you know of any British or American personnel who collaborated with the enemy or in any way helped the enemy against other Allied PoWS?
No
(Give details, names of person(s) concerned, camp(s), dates and nature of collaboration or help given to enemy).
-

7. War Crimes.
If you have any information or evidence of bad treatment by the enemy to yourself or to others, or knowledge of any enemy violation of Geneva Convention you should ask for a copy of “Form Q” on which to make your statement.
-

8. Have you any other matter of any kind you wish to bring to notice?
-

SECURITY UNDERTAKING.
I fully realised that all information relating to the matters covered by the questions in PART II are of a highly secret and official nature.
I have had explained to me and fully understand that under Defence Regulations or U.S.A.R. 380-5 I am forbidden to publish or communicate any information concerning these matters.


Date of Signature: 4 May 1945

 

M.I.9/19(g)/1363
To: 4188865 Guardsman CLEMSON, W.H.
23 Hamilton Street, Hoole, Chester.

M.I.9/Gen/101977
The questionnaire completed by you on 4 May 1945 has proved inadequate for our purpose and it would be appreciated if the additional information indicated could be provided.

Full description and dates of each attempted escape showing how you left the camp and from which camp each attempt was made.
If an escape was made from a train, the approximate speed and how it was guarded at the time of your escape should be indicated.

Regimental particulars of anyone who accompanied you.

(c ) Experiences during periods of freedom, including how you were recaptured, and approximate date.


Names and addresses of any helpers, including a note of what assistance they rendered, and on what dates.

An envelope is enclose for your reply.

M.I.9/19, War Office, Room 327 Hotel Victoria, Northumberland Avenue, LONDON, W.C.2. Tel. Whitehall 9400 Ext. 1295/7.
16 February 1946

==========


W.H. CLEMSON, Welsh Guards, 4188865, P.O.W. 15046
23 Hamilton Street, Hoole, Chester.

Taken Prisoner of War 25th May 1940 and escaped from the line of March 29th May at 15 Kilometers from Doullens with Guardsman J. BROCKBANK, Welsh Guards - Recaptured on 31st May by German Field Police

August 1941. Sawed through Bars at night and made an escape from a working party at Bolten with Sergeant H. BOYLE, Seaforth Highlanders P.O.W. 12602, Corporal W. TUFT, Welsh Guards P.O.W. 15054 and Private I SPRING, Royal Engineers P.O.W. 17350. Went through Czechoslovakia. Tuft and myself were caught a fortnight afterwards while crossing the Czecho border at Blumenbach, kept a fortnight in a Concentration Camp at Brunn, then taken back to main camp Stalag VIIIB by Police.

February 1942 at Odrau. One Monday morning J. SPRING, Royal Engineers P.O.W. 17350 was returned to Main Stalag for Sabotaging trees on a forestry job. So Sergeant H. BOYLE P.O.W. 12602 Corporal W. TUFT, Welsh Guards P.O.W. 15054 and I made it up to escape. At night I made my bed up to look as if I was in bed, but instead I hid in the lavatory outside the billet. When the Officer and German Sergeant had checked the men and locked the 3 doors I cam out and forced the 3 doors for Sergeant H. BOYLE and Corporal W. TUFT. We walked 17 Kilometers to Weiskirchen (Ranice) and jumped two different trains and eventually got to Prague, where we were chased from a cattle truck round the station by a Czech Police and when caught he (Czech Police) said he would have let us go if only he had known we were British. But too late we were taken to Stalag VIIIB.

April and May 1942. BOYE, TUFT, SPRING and myself escaped from a Working Party 10 Kilometers from Gleiwitz. Jumped a German troop train at Gleiwitz, stayed on train all day and at night we got off at Petvokovitz, Poland by Krakow. Met a Polish partisan underground movement who gave us money, papers and food and instructed us the way to Vienna. Travelled by passenger train, stayed in Vienna a week trying to get in touch with other partisans, but couldn’t. So made our way to Yugoslavia and captured by Railway Gestapo at Baden and taken back to Stalag VIIIB. We dyed our Battle dress navy blue.

Was on a Working Party from December 1943 to February 1944 at Neutetschein in Sudetenland. We were in touch with a Czech partisan by breaking out of a Working Party at nights by sawing a bar. He was going to fix us up with passports and money to go to Marseilles but we were found out a week before we were due to escape - by the Gestapo raiding the partisans house and find our photos on passports. (Partisan would not give us any name) We heard a month later he was shot. We were then put under escort to Main Camp where we were due to be put in Jail, but escaped in the camp by changing names and hid in the Camp until May 1944, changing over with two other men who were going out on a Working party to a shoe factory outside Oppeln. Stayed on job 10 days and escaped at dinner hour in civil clothes given to us by a Tailor name WARNING, Gloucester Regiment. Walked 3 miles and bought a train ticked to Ratibor - bought a ticket from there to Vienna. Stayed in Vienna 2 days then bought tickets to Innsbruck. Bought tickets to Feldkirch on Swiss frontier. Recaptured while attempting to go over the Swiss border by Border Police. Sent back to Landeck to an Interrogation Camp. Kept there a fortnight in solitary confinement every day. They questioned us, they saying we were English Parachutists. Eventually they sent us back to Stalag VIIIB where we served our usual 28 days. This escape was with Sergeant H. BOYLE only. We got our passports from the escape committee at Stalag VIIIB.

March 1945 was with the last 400 - 500 left in Stalag who were sent to Nurenberg. At the end of April we had to march from Nurenberg to Munich but after 4 hours marching, escaped into the woods with Private BRAYBROOK, Cameronians and Private WRIGHT (East Lancs?), Private JORDAN, K.R.Rs. Recaptured after 3 days by German Field Police and put on march with ? captured Americans and at a place by Oflag 7 A or 7B. We managed to get into hospital with me speaking German and next day Americans over ran the town on 25 April.

While on a Working Party by Auschwitz the Jewish Concentration Camp, I was given a piece of soap by a German Sergeant. The soap was made in the Concentration Camp from the bodies of Jews. I still have the soap in my possession. I am wiling to give it up if anyone wants it to be analysed. *

I am not quite sure of the dates so I have put the approximate.

I am Sir,
Your obedient servant
W.H. CLEMSON
Welsh Guards.


____________
* Soap made from human corpses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Recommendation for Award for Clemson, William Henry Rank: Guardsman Service... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 373/103/197
Name Clemson, William Henry
Rank: Guardsman
Service No: 4188865
Regiment: Welsh Guards
Theatre of Combat or Operation: The London Omnibus List for Gallant and Distinguished Services in the Field
Award: Mention-in-Despatches
Date of announcement in London Gazette: 14 February 1947

 

London Gazette : 14 November 1946

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37787/supplement/5605/data.pdf


https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37787/supplement/5606/data.pdf