Military Prisons

[dixie]

Hello-

Does anyone know a good reference on the military prisons of WW1.  Our family has an uncle who was court martialed in Sept of 1918 for striking a superior officer and was sent to Military Prison #10 (Le Havre?) for 9 months and then returned to home/Glasgow in July of 1919.  We are trying to find out more about the conditions and punishments' he might have gone through. 

Thank you for any information or leads.

Dixie and John

[FROGSMILE]

15 hours ago, dixie said:

Hello-

Does anyone know a good reference on the military prisons of WW1.  Our family has an uncle who was court martialed in Sept of 1918 for striking a superior officer and was sent to Military Prison #10 (Le Havre?) for 9 months and then returned to home/Glasgow in July of 1919.  We are trying to find out more about the conditions and punishments' he might have gone through. 

Thank you for any information or leads.

Dixie and John

Unfortunately very little has been published in the public domain about the detailed conditions and activity within military prisons and this situation stretches right back to when the Military Prisons Staff Corps (as it was originally called) was first formed to replace the civilian manned, but quasi military system that existed previously.  From my own tentative and relatively superficial research I believe that the best potential source might be any thesis written within academe.  The University of Birmingham specialises in military subjects and you could inquire there.  Also the British Military Historical Society and National Army Museum might give leads, but don’t expect too much.  It seems to be a deeply unattractive subject that few have attempted to delve into.  It’s extremely telling, for example, that despite its existence since the 1890s, the now titled Military Provost Staff Corps, have yet to make any meaningful attempt to have their history published.  I suspect that you will need to be very persistent to dig anything of any granularity up.  I wish you well.

Edited 17 November , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[kenf48]

This article is concerned with the AIF Detention Barracks at HMP Lewes I doubt it differed much from British Army prisons, a point made in the article

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+prison+of+our+own:+the+AIF+Detention+Barracks+1917-1919-a0134162657

and it does cover the period during which your uncle was detained.

As far as the BEF is concerned the late Charles Messenger in 'Call to Arms - The British Army 1914-1918' discusses discipline in the British Army.  He notes there were initially two prisons in France, one at Le Havre and one at Rouen.  They were in fact 'prison ships' and the prisoners were used to unload ships in the harbour.  As the Army grew the number of prisons/detention barracks in France increased to ten.  It needs to be recognised the whole of Northern France became one vast military camp with all the associated military institutions located there, including detention barracks. As the size and structure of the BEF developed there was a reluctance to send men home to the UK for many different issues, including punishment.

There was of course the conundrum that offenders in front line infantry would be incarcerated out of danger, this meant that many sentences meted out to front line soldiers were often suspended or served within their unit.  'Defaulters parades' including the notorious Field Punishment No 1  - more notorious in myth rather than reality by the standards of the day and then the more unpleasant tasks that needed to be done within a fighting unit. 

This meant most of the prisoners held in detention barracks were from third echelon or line of communication troops.  I don't know but suspect those located at Havre continued to be used for labouring duties in the port.

The RMP Museum may have more information on the regime which like everything else in the Army was no doubt covered by King's Regulations as amended by Army Orders and War Office Instructions.

A forum search has a number of threads and the LLT has a list of detention barracks in the UK.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/military-crimes-1914-1918-british-army/british-army-military-prisons-detention-barracks-1914/

It is not, however something that is written too much about in the contemporary literature for reasons which are self evident, neither has it attracted the popular recognition of the harsh treatment of 'conscientous objectors' or those 'shot at dawn' and it would be difficult to draw any parallels with those cases.

[FROGSMILE]

I agree with Ken that the Australian Imperial Force military prison facilities would have been run along very similar lines to those established by the British Army, so the details that he linked will give you a good idea of the conditions within such institutions.

[dixie]

Thank you so much for the information and for responding.

My uncle was in the Royal Army Medical Corps, unfortunately he faded away off the radar and we cannot find any records of where he went after the war.  Another family member thinks he immigrated to Australia but we are still looking for evidence.

Thank you again,

Dixie