They Went To War
The Ely Standard was used to collect the names of three, overlapping, groups of local men, namely: those who were awarded some form of military decoration; those who were captured and made Prisoners of War; those who were injured. These lists can be accessed below as pdfs. They are not guaranteed to be complete, as, nationally, approximately 30% of soldiers would not have figured in any such listings.
The Decorated Prisoners of War The Wounded
Nationally over 7,000,000 war medals were issued – 2,952, 240 British War medals in the UK - 30,665 MCs – 24, 021 DCMs – 27,649 MMs. All of those won by men from the Ely Urban Area are included here. Note, if a soldier did not survive the War you will find the full details under "The Fallen".
Below: a group photo of the team of volunteers who kept help flowing to the local POWS - scroll down for more about their work in Ely.
The Decorated Prisoners of War The Wounded
Nationally over 7,000,000 war medals were issued – 2,952, 240 British War medals in the UK - 30,665 MCs – 24, 021 DCMs – 27,649 MMs. All of those won by men from the Ely Urban Area are included here. Note, if a soldier did not survive the War you will find the full details under "The Fallen".
Below: a group photo of the team of volunteers who kept help flowing to the local POWS - scroll down for more about their work in Ely.
It was a strain on finances for Ely families to support their imprisoned men. Reports coming back at various times suggest that, in some camps at least, the prisoners were being given coffee made of burnt rye grains and were fed on thin soup consisting of beans and potato peelings. For all "luxuries" such as sugar, bread, jam, cigarettes etc the POWS depended on parcels from England. Some men received parcels from home and others were "adopted" by local people and organisations or, in the case of former Needhams pupils, by their old school. Nevertheless the strain on the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Prisoners of War Help Committee was significant - by the end of 1917 they were providing food parcels every five days (i.e. six parcels a month) for 275 men from the Cambridgeshire and Suffolk Regiments.
In April 1917 it was deemed necessary to form an Ely branch of the POW Help Committee, chaired by Archdeacon Hodges (Secretary Mr P S Allen, joint Treasurers Messers J P Macmillan and W A Stonebridge). The Committee was supported by a team of ladies who went house to house every fortnight collecting donations - and encouraging people to commit regularly to giving. The monthly cost for each of the twenty men that Ely was then supporting was 6 shillings for food and 4 shillings for tobacco - a total of about £30 per man per year (about £1450 per man per year today). The volunteers were thus looking to collect the equivalent of £500 a week from the citizens of Ely!
Each parcel sent out included a postcard which the man was to return to acknowledge receipt; there was a 94% return of these cards, reassuring families that their loved ones were well. If a card was not returned the committee would follow up with the Red Cross to see if the POW had been transferred, or worse.
By April 1918 the monthly cost of parcels to Ely men had increased from the original £13 to £20. Parcels were still sent out every five days and the Ely POW Fund was sending theirs to eleven different prisons in Germany. The number of POWs was also increasing.
The operation became very much more difficult in the closing stages of the War when many more prisoners were captured on both sides once the armies were on the move. Undoubtedly later prisoners were living in much harsher conditions than those captured in 1914-5 and many were close to starvation and without support. See the POW download above for an account of Albert Fitch's experiences.
After the War the POW Committee used their remaining finances to hold a dinner for the returning POWS in January 1919 and also gave them souvenir cigarette cases. After some delay, a second dinner was held in March 1922 for a last remaining ten POWS who had not been home in time for the first celebration; this was followed by a smoking concert for all the local ex-servicemen. This was the last activity of the Committee which then dissolved. The last of its £24 in funds was divided between the Ely Memorial Fund and the British Legion Unity Relief Fund.
In April 1917 it was deemed necessary to form an Ely branch of the POW Help Committee, chaired by Archdeacon Hodges (Secretary Mr P S Allen, joint Treasurers Messers J P Macmillan and W A Stonebridge). The Committee was supported by a team of ladies who went house to house every fortnight collecting donations - and encouraging people to commit regularly to giving. The monthly cost for each of the twenty men that Ely was then supporting was 6 shillings for food and 4 shillings for tobacco - a total of about £30 per man per year (about £1450 per man per year today). The volunteers were thus looking to collect the equivalent of £500 a week from the citizens of Ely!
Each parcel sent out included a postcard which the man was to return to acknowledge receipt; there was a 94% return of these cards, reassuring families that their loved ones were well. If a card was not returned the committee would follow up with the Red Cross to see if the POW had been transferred, or worse.
By April 1918 the monthly cost of parcels to Ely men had increased from the original £13 to £20. Parcels were still sent out every five days and the Ely POW Fund was sending theirs to eleven different prisons in Germany. The number of POWs was also increasing.
The operation became very much more difficult in the closing stages of the War when many more prisoners were captured on both sides once the armies were on the move. Undoubtedly later prisoners were living in much harsher conditions than those captured in 1914-5 and many were close to starvation and without support. See the POW download above for an account of Albert Fitch's experiences.
After the War the POW Committee used their remaining finances to hold a dinner for the returning POWS in January 1919 and also gave them souvenir cigarette cases. After some delay, a second dinner was held in March 1922 for a last remaining ten POWS who had not been home in time for the first celebration; this was followed by a smoking concert for all the local ex-servicemen. This was the last activity of the Committee which then dissolved. The last of its £24 in funds was divided between the Ely Memorial Fund and the British Legion Unity Relief Fund.