P01981.050 Accession Number: P01981.050

Description

Group portrait of Prisoners of War (POW) standing beside a grave at the Alten Grabow POW camp, Germany. The elaborate headstone bears the inscription “Sacred to the memory of Frederick Osmond Laycock 48th Batt. Australian Imp. Force Aged 30 Years Died of Wounds 23.8.1918 Erected by Australian Comrades Alten. Grabow.” Inscribed in the circle around the cross is “And how can a man die better”. 3413 Private (Pte) Frederick Osmond Laycock, from Gawler, South Australia, enlisted at the age of 30 on 11 November 1916 and embarked for overseas on 10 February 1917 aboard HMAT Seang Bee. He was wounded and captured at Albert, France, on 3 April 1918 and held as a POW in Germany. Pte Laycock died on 23 August 1918 following an operation to remove a bullet from his back. In 1925 his parents were advised that his body had been exhumed from Alten Grabow POW Cemetery and re-interred in the Berlin South Western Cemetery with a permanent headstone of uniform design. Identified standing third from the right is 2694 Pte Robert Hugh Leister, 53rd Battalion from Parkes, NSW who enlisted at the age of 23 on 17 April 1916 and embarked for overseas on 7 October 1916 aboard HMAT Ceramic. He was reported wounded and missing on 31 March 1917 and later confirmed as a POW. After repatriation to England on 10 January 1919 he reported to the Red Cross "Awaiting transference to Southall. Suffering from gun shot wound in left leg. Up and about.” Pte Leister arrived back in Australia on 10 June 1919. One of a series of over 400 photographs sent by Australian POWs in German camps to Miss M. E. Chomley, Secretary, Prisoners Department, Australian-British Red Cross Society, London. Original album housed in AWM Research Centre at RC00864, Album image number 320.

Details

People

• Private Frederick Osmond Laycock

Rolls

• Laycock, Frederick Osmond

Conflicts

• First World War, 1914-1918

Places

• London
• Germany

Tags

• Funerals and burials
• Group portraits
• Prisoners of war camps