P01981.053 Accession Number: P01981.053

Description

Outdoor portrait of a group of allied Prisoners of War (POW) dressed for a concert party. The sign under the gramophone reads “The Arcadians” and the other props include a pick, a rake, a coffee pot, a frying pan made into a fiddle, a tea urn, a broomstick and a tray holding a wine bottle and a glass. The POW on the far left is wearing an iron saucepan on his head and a bib inscribed “Baby Bliss”. The POWs in the foreground are wearing large wooden clogs. Members of the group are also holding a dog and a rabbit, presumably the group’s mascots or pets. The POW sitting on the far right has his foot on a football inscribed “432 F.C. 1918”.

Identified standing in the back row, on the far left is 3339 Pte John Francis Killalea, 53rd Battalion, from Surry Hills, NSW, who enlisted at the age of 43 on 15 August 1915 and embarked for overseas on 2 November 1915 aboard HMAT Euripides. He was captured at Fleurbaix, France, on 20 July 1916 and held as a POW in Germany. Pte Killalea was repatriated to England on 14 December 1918 and arrived back in Australia on 26 March 1919.

Identified standing in the back row, second from the right is 3536 Pte Charles Joseph McCue, 53rd Battalion, from Manly, NSW, who enlisted at the age of 20 on 18 August 1915 and embarked for overseas on 2 November 1915 aboard HMAT Euripides. He was also captured at Fleurbaix, on 20 July 1916 and interned at various German POW camps. He was repatriated to England on 14 December 1918 and arrived back in Australia on 26 March 1919. He re-enlisted in the Army in the Second World War and served from 13 December 1939 to 29 September 1943.

Identified standing in the back row on the far right is 3563 Pte Herbert George Lohmann, 54th Battalion from Balmain, NSW, who enlisted on 2 November 1915 and embarked for overseas on 12 December 1915 aboard HMAT Berrima. He was captured at Laventie, France, on 20 July 1916 and was interned in at least two POW camps in Germany. He was repatriated to England on 14 December 1918 and arrived back in Australia on 26 March 1919.

Identified sitting, second from right and holding the tray is 3219 Pte Raymond Edward Stevens, 54th Battalion, from Bega, NSW, who enlisted at the age of 21 on 2 August 1915 and embarked for overseas on 20 November 1915 aboard HMAT Suevic. He was captured at Fleurbaix, on 20 July 1916 and held as a POW until repatriated to England on 14 December 1918. Pte Stevens arrived back in Australia on 4 March 1919.

Identified sitting in front with the frying pan fiddle is 3067 Pte James McCullock Galloway, 55th Battalion, from Balmain, NSW who enlisted at the age of 20 on 4 August 1915 and embarked for overseas on 20 December 1915 aboard HMAT Suevic. He was captured on 20 July 1916 during the fighting around Fromelles on the Somme, France. He was held in German POW camps until he was repatriated to England in December 1918. Pte Galloway embarked to return to Australia on 2 March 1919.

Identified sitting first from left in the middle row, holding the dog, is 4532 Pte Frederick John Land, 54th Battalion, born in Dulverton, Somerset. He enlisted on 23 August 1915 and embarked for overseas on 16 February 1916 aboard HMAT Ballarat. He was captured on the night of 19-20 July 1916 at Fleurbaix, France and spent the rest of the war in German POW camps. He survived, was repatriated to England in December 1918 and arrived back in Australia in March 1919.

Identified sanding in the back row, 2nd from the left, is 2062 Pte Frank Augustine Lamprey, 32nd Battalion, from Gawler, SA. Pte Lamprey enlisted at the age of 20 on 18 August 1915. He embarked for overseas on 7 February 1916 aboard HMAT Miltiades. He was captured at Fleurbaix, on 20 July 1916 and interned at various German POW camps. He was repatriated to England on 16 December 1918 and arrived back in Australia on 31 March 1919.

These same POWs appear in image number P01981.046 in prison uniforms. 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 338.