Genealogy Chat

I have a relative who died while a WWI prisoner. The record is available and says "Gest. am 5.9.18 auf A.K. 60 verunglückt". I have worked out that he died by accident on 5.9.18, but the "A.K. 60" bit has me beat. Any ideas?

Do you know where he was held? Just in case relevant, though it looks like this place was for Poles. Just wondering if S.K. is an abbreviation for location??

;AK: Armia Krajowa - Polish Home Army in the occupied Poland. Autumn 1939 - January 1945.'

Or??

AK = Armeekorps (army corps)

Jan

auf AK 60 may have refered to the camp..as in Stalag,,,,,,auf,,,, has more than one use,

The camp was Klein Wittenberg, the page with my relative was filled with English prisoners, and most died "auf AK 60 verunglückt". The others died "an Lungentuberkulose". Maybe K was for Krankenhaus (hospital)? Thanks for your suggestions. Someone will figure it out.

http://www.circlecity.co.uk/wartime/board/index.php?pag

Roger,try Allan on the link above he has a very good knowledge of WW1.

Could it be Arbeits Kampf, i.e.work camp?

????????? there was / is an AK 60 gun ???????????????


but it may have been developed later than WW2




and an accident with an AK 60 gun could make strange sense



"an Lungentuberkulose" is of course tuberculosis of the lungs, or pulmonary tuberculosis as we would say today

I have left a query on Alan Greveson's forum mentioned by Kay. I will let you know if I find anything. "Arbeits Kampf" sounds like a good guess. Thanks.

Alan Greveson is a marvel. He answers huge amounts of questions. He had the answer to my question too. He says:

"AK would be Arbeits-Kompanie (work company) and 60 the number of the work company. Each prison camp would have a number of work companies, sometimes stationed away from the main camp, at a mine, for example."

thank you for letting us know the answer!

try googling

Klein Wittenburg Arbeitskompanie 60


I got some results ......... mainly in German, but some had a note "Translate this page"



you might be able to find out where that works company was and / or what the men were doing



I also found something by googling

Klein Wittenburg POW camp



you may have seen this site on the Klein Wittenburg Memorial .......

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=120976

Glad he was able to answer Robert ,I thought he would know,yes hes brilliant at WW1 ,

Thanks for the links. I will see if there is anything about work companies. One report mentions workshops. There are also reports of many deaths from typhus in 1915. The relative I was researching was Robert Thornton from Thixendale in North Yorkshire. I have now found that in Thixendale church there is a plaque commemorating those from the village who were lost in the war. It actually says "died by accident while a prisoner of war" for Robert.

This Robert Thornton from Thixendale died in 1916????



UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 about Robert Thornton

Name: Robert Thornton
Birth Place: Thixendile, Yorks
Residence: Fernhill Heath, Worcs
Death Date: 1 Dec 1916
Death Place: France and Flanders
Enlistment Place: Worcester
Rank: Private
Regiment: Somerset Light Infantry
Battalion: 7th Battalion
Regimental Number: 37949
Type of Casualty: Died
Theatre of War: Western European Theatre
Comments: Formerly 190, Royal Army Veterinary Corps
Other Records: Search for 'Robert Thornton' in other WWI collections



was there more than Robert Thornton from the village?

Hello Sylvia,
I have come across this confusion before. I have seen the details you posted, and yet the war graves commission have an entry that states his death as one day before the entry in the camp records. I have a record from a previous camp that says he entered there during 1918 after capture at St. Simon. It is the same person, because the service number is the same. I have his medals, which have the number round the edge. I have never figured out why there are different dates. There was only one Robert. The family was George, Robert, Lillie, William (my father) and Rose. On the war graves commission page the address given for his parents' address is my father's new address in Thornholme village. They did move here, and I still live here. It is all very confusing. Here's the link for his grave:
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/896134/THORNTON,%20ROBERT

that is weird!