Archive Collection

Title : A Wartime Log
Description : A notebook given to prisoners of war during World War Two entitled ‘A Wartime Log’. The book was published by the War Prisoners’ Aid of the YMCA, and distributed through the Canadian YMCA. This copy belonged to Petty Officer Harry Taylor, who served as a Stoker on the Armed Boarding Vessel, HMS Vandyke. The ship was sunk by the Germans near the Norwegian port of Narvik and many of the crew were taken as POWs. The ‘Marlag und Milag Nord’ camps were used to incarcerate Royal Naval and Allied Merchant seamen. It was initially located in the Sandbostel concentration camp in northwest Germany. Following protests from the Red Cross, the prisoners were moved during 1941-42 to their own self-contained camps, located near Westertimke. The POWs had to build their own huts and construct a perimeter wire fence. Taylor’s book contains drawings completed by various POWs, as well as newspaper clippings relating to the war. The selected images include: A sketch of a sail boat named HMS Marlag, with various Royal Naval seamen positioned over its deck and sails. A black ink sketch of the POW camp, showing two huts and a wire fence surrounding the camp. A photograph of the Roman Catholic chapel at Marlag, Sandbostel, taken in 1941. A cartoon of a football player, representing the camp’s football league – the Marlag League. A drawing of the huts and fence at 'Marlag ‘M’. A poster design for a Royal Navy Sports day, held on 6th July 1941 at Stalag XB. This was the original name of the Allied Merchant seaman’s compound at Sandbostel. A cartoon entitled ‘The Ration Racket’. A hand drawn programme for an amateur dramatic production of ‘Treasure Island’ preformed at the camp in 1941. The show included the performance of various sea shanties, as well as several POWs impersonating ‘hula girls’. A cartoon of several POWs playing bridge, including a signalman armed with a pair of signal flags. A cartoon of a POW being wheeled away in cart to the camp’s sick bay.
Creator : Royal Navy Submarine Museum,
Accession Number : V35/03/1995