The year was - 1898

Since I am doing some research about my grandfather, John Wilson Hall, I thought I would take a look at the year of his birth - 1898. My grandfather was the second of six siblings, all of whom were born at the Schoolhouse, Drymen, Stirlingshire. His father John, was the schoolmaster and local registrar.

This photograph from my grandfather's WWI personal book shows his 4 sisters. Surprisingly there was no photograph of his parents or his brother. (Maybe they got separated since the pages are loose.)

Other family births in 1898 were few i.e. James McGeachie McEwan (brother-in-law of JWH) and Frances S. Hall (1st. cousin to JWH) and so far I have no deaths.

World Events
Royal Army Medical Corps formed within the British Army
Henry Lindfield - first fatality in a car accident on a public motorway.
Spanish-American War
First official game reserve established - Sabi Game Reserve in South Africa
First Italian Football League games played
Joshua Slocum completes a 3 year solo circumnavigation of the world
Pepsi-Cola given it's name
Marie & Pierre Curie announce discovery of radium
meat slicer invented by Wilhelm van Berkel
Will Kellog invents corn flakes
Klondike Gold Rush
Neon, Krypton and Xenon discovered

Some famous births
Alvar Aalto - Finnish architect
Dorothy Gish - actress
Golda Meir - PM of Israel
Norman Vincent Peale - minister
Henry Moore - sculptor
Peggy Guggenheim - art collector
George Gershwin - composer

Some famous deaths
Lewis Carroll - British writer
Charles Pelham Villiers - longest serving MP in British House of Commons
Aubrey Beardlesy - artist
Gustave Moreau - artist
William Gladstone - British PM
Otto von Bismarck - German statesman
Wilford Woodruff - 4th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I have almost finished the first proof of grandpa's WWI POW memories. There's a few areas I would love to know more about but info "out there" is somewhat slim. My grandfather also wrote about a memorial visit the British Legion made to Europe so maybe I might find some information in there on my next trip to Scotland. (We did not have time to scan/copy all of that story.)

"Walking" in the footsteps of a POW

I've enjoyed reading my grandfather's POW story in a bit more depth and am looking forward to putting his whole story together. I hope I can find out more about the places he stayed and the people he knew.

Here's a brief timeline of events.
Sunday, December 30th 1917
early morning taken prisoner near La Vacquerie (Cambrai)
taken from the front line to the reserve line then to the collecting stations (cages)
About mid-day escorted by military
5.00 p.m. stopped to eat (first meal as prisoners)
9.00 p.m. arrived at Caudry - had dinner
Continued on to Le Cateau.

January 3rd. 1918
left by train for Le Quesnoy -  a disinfecting and distributing station.

January 6th 1918
left in cattle trucks for Dulmen, Westphalia (passed through Belgium)

January 9th 1918
walked two miles from the train station to Dulmen Lager POW camp.

February 11th 1918
Left Dulmen for Kommando 40 in Lunen
Remained here till after the armistice and "worked"in the coal mine.

Saturday November 23rd. 1918
Marched to Munster Camp from Lunen

Monday November 25th 1918
walked to wayside station then took train to Enchede

Friday November 29th 1918
train from Enschede to Rotterdam via Utrecht. Marched to the docks.

Saturday November 30th 1918
boarded SS Londonderry and sailed down river. Anchored overnight.

Sunday December 1st 1918
Crossed the North Sea and anchored off the Cromer Light.

Monday December 2nd. 1918
Sailed up the Humber to Hull, (received a huge welcome home greeting), ate and left by train for Ripon.

Wednesday 4th December 1918
train from Ripon to Glasgow and home.
(some of the regular soldiers had not seen home for 10 years.)

10 US military were amongst the POW's taken with my grandfather to Le Cateau. He mentions their photograph being taken, probably for German propaganda purposes.