CRAFTSMEN IN CAPTIVITYMASONIC ACTIVITIES OF PRISONERS OF WAR Part II

By BROTHER A. R. HEWITT, Lodge 2076, E.C.

Librarian and Curator, United Grand Lodge of England

Part II: SECOND WORLD WAR—EUROPE

Information concerning the Masonic activities of brethren in prisoner of war camps in Europe in the Second World War has been gathered from correspondence with former prisoners, a minute book and other documents and relics in the Grand Lodge Library, and two printed and three unpublished papers, also in the Grand Lodge, by the following brethren: Bros. C. B. Selby-Boothroyd,[1] Sidney Brown.[2] D. P. Iggulden,[3] F. S. Payne,[4] and H. Wallwork,[5] all of which are quoted freely. These sources disclose activities of some kind in no less than fourteen camps in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe, the most extensive being in ‘lodges’ established in:

Where there was continuity in the work of a particular group of brethren transferred from one camp to another, a connected story of their activities has been set down as they moved from place to place. Activities in other camps are also noted in the paragraphs which follow.

LAUFEN (NEAR SALZBURG)

Brother Selby-Boothroyd was captured, after a brief battle, in May 1940, and found himself in a prisoner of war camp at Laufen. On 6th June of that year some 200 British officers and a few orderlies arrived there, including Brother Brown, but the paths of these two brethren did not meet (Masonically) in captivity. Practically every day more prisoners arrived, so that by the end of the month the camp, an old Palace once belonging to a Prince Bishop of Salzburg, was occupied by about 1,500 British officers and 150 men.

Overcrowding was extreme. Prisoners lived in rooms holding any number from 20 to 100, so that privacy of any kind was impossible. Selby-Boothroyd did not, it seems, discover other brethren, but Brown records that he recognised another prisoner as a brother Mason who, being a senior officer, shared accommodation with only one other. He and Brown decided to try and arrange some kind of gathering in his room of such members of the Craft as they could discover. Altogether, between fifteen and twenty brethren were identified and they held a meeting. A second projected meeting was never held, as the senior officer was moved to a larger room which he shared with others, so that privacy could not be ensured. Brown was shortly transferred to another camp at Tittmoning (to which reference is made later) and lost touch with his fellows. He learned later that no meetings were held in Laufen after he left, but records that a printed Emulation ritual had been found there. From Laufen, Selby-Boothroyd was sent to Warburg, where he discovered two other brethren, and thence to Eichstätt. Although he remained there from May 1942 to the end of 1943, he never learned of the extensive Masonic activities recounted by Brown, a fact which emphasises the great care taken to keep Masonic activities secret.

MAHRISCH TRUBAU (CZECHOSLOVAKIA) AND BRUNSWICK (GERMANY)

In January 1944 Selby-Boothroyd was transferred from Eichstätt to Oflag VIIIF at Mahrisch Trübau. Some months after his arrival, having made a casual remark, he was questioned by his hearer, from whom he learned that some forty brethren, transferred from an Italian camp, where they first met, were holding regular meetings. Selby-Boothroyd was accepted amongst them. At first these brethren had little more than the opening and closing ceremonies and the initiation, but a 'lodge' or society of improvement was formed under the Preceptorship of a Brother Clifford Downing, one of the few Past Masters in the camp. It was called a society as ' blind ', to mislead the enemy, so that the term could mean a society for the improvement of anything.

Bit by bit the ritual was put together, and by May they were able to work the three degrees more or less completely, as well as a shortened version of the lecture on the Second T.B. By this time Brother Iggulden also reached the camp. Within a few hours of his arrival he was contacted by Downing and invited to attend the ‘lodge’, after, of course, a very thorough proving. The Senior Chaplain of the camp was a member of the Craft, and he allowed the brethren to meet in the camp Chapel under the guise of attending theological lectures. It was a common practice at Masonic gatherings in camps for the Master, or someone else, to be ready to lecture on some pre-arranged subject at a moment's notice if an alarm was sounded. In May 1944 the whole camp was moved to Brunswick and there renamed Oflag 79. Being kept together in this way, the brethren were able to keep their ' lodge' intact and ready to function in the new camp. Although it was several weeks before they were able to meet again, it was at Brunswick that the ‘lodge’ became firmly established. In due time it included brethren from England, Scotland, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.

At first it met weekly in the air-raid shelters with which the camp was well supplied, it being a former Luftwaffe camp and airfield. Fitted with steel doors, secured on the inside, the shelters made admirable lodge rooms. They were lit by electricity, but during air-raids the power was cut off, so that they were obliged to resort to 'margarine lamps '. These lumps were made by purifying margarine (when available) and pouring the liquid into a cut-down tin, with a piece of string, or an old pyjama-cord, as wick. In winter the temperature in the shelters was around freezing point and all attending wore coats and gloves. Near the camp was a large aero-engine factory and, in consequence, they were frequently bombed. Selby-Boothroyd records sardonically that, after one raid, 'rough ashlars and emblems of mortality were plentiful '.

Working tools were made from wood stripped from sleeping bunks and tea chests, the chisel being fashioned out of a piece of reinforcing rod from a bombed building and rubbed, for many hours, on a stone. These tools were small enough to be instantly concealed in the pocket should a meeting be interrupted by the guards. Collar jewels were also made, but seldom used, as their nature could not have been disguised if they had been discovered. When the brethren met for the last time these tools were distributed; a set consisting of a square, compasses and gavel (used during rehearsals), together with a Master's ' jewel ', is now in the Grand Lodge Museum: the chisel in Canada; other pieces in South Africa and the United States.

Three small T.B.s were prepared by a young artist prisoner in charcoal wash of such design that they could be used during the rehearsals, yet disclosing nothing to the uninitiated. A copy of the Second T.B. is now in the Kent Provincial Museum and a photograph in the Grand Lodge Museum. Part of the camp equipment were four-legged stools, issued to each prisoner, which he took with him wherever he went, whether it was to church, to an entertainment or to a lecture. Brethren took these stools with them to their gatherings; those acting as Warden borrowed another for use as a pedestal. No attempt was made, of course, to fashion any kind of Masonic apron. In the matter of dress, lggulden recalls the care and trouble taken by brethren to attend their meetings ' properly dressed '. They wore their best clothes, such as they were, with collars and ties in place of the scarves usually worn, as many possessed only one collar. Some of the brethren were even able to press their trousers, threadbare and patched though they were. After much discussion a book of ritual was compiled from memory, a number of copies of which were made in small exercise books easily concealable from searchers. From these, brethren learned the ceremonies for rehearsal at the meetings, at which they took the various offices in turn.

On one occasion the Scottish brethren demonstrated the first degree according to their Constitution; on another the installation was rehearsed without, of course, the inner working. At first, weekly meetings were held, but by the winter of 1944 that became impossible. Brethren were growing weaker and air-raids were taking place at all hours of the day. A special meeting was held on New Year's Day, 1945, at which it was decided to make a contribution of 150 guineas to one of the Masonic schools as Grand Lodge might decide. The 'deed of gift ', in the form of an illuminated scroll, signed by six officers, is preserved in the Grand Lodge. The donation was allocated to the R.M.I.B. and is recorded on a mural plaque at the school, which reads: 'This plaque commemorates the British and Overseas Masons in Prisoner of War Camp Wag 79 during the Second World War who, in Masonic ritual, sought relief from suffering through the uplifting spirit of Masonry'. The scroll was signed in camp and brought home for delivery. After March 1945 meetings were limited to one a month. Under existing conditions and with constant danger from the air, it was realised that the end, whatever it might be, could not be far of it was decided to hold a last meeting, for which summonses were sent out. A harmonium was borrowed for the meeting, which was held during an air attack on the German defences nearby. After the opening a representative of each country was invited to speak on what the Craft had meant to him in adversity, a fitting conclusion to the life of the 'lodge'.

MOOSBURG (GERMANY)

Brother Iggulden's Masonic activities really commenced in a transit camp at a place called Moosburg, near Munich. It was here that he first came in contact with German propaganda against Freemasonry, contained in a newspaper called The Camp which the enemy issued to British prisoners of war. Every opportunity was taken in this and other papers to publish anti-Masonic articles and cartoons. Iggulden writes: At this time there were about 200 British officers living in one large hut, and for the most part they were quite young. Three of us recognised each other as Freemasons and walking together up and down the wire we came to the conclusion that the insidious propaganda... might prejudice the minds of these young men. We decided that a short talk should be given explaining the real object of Freemasonry, its place in the social structure of Britain and some of the fallacies of the German propaganda '. The talk was given, one result of which was the discovery of other brethren in the camp, but, as privacy was impossible, no Masonic activities could be arranged. They agreed, however, that when a properly-organised Oflag was reached, they would try and arrange a meeting. This objective was attained when they reached Mahrisch Trubau, as 1 have already recounted.

TITTMONING (NEAR SALZBURG) AND EICHSTATT (BAVARIA)

The story of the ' lodge of instruction ', commenced in Tittmoning and transferred to Eichstätt, is told by Brother Brown. It was to Tittmoning, near Salzburg, that he and two other brethren were transferred from Laufen. The camp was in an old Schloss used at one time as a hunting lodge by the same Prince Bishop of Salzburg who had owned the Palace at Laufen. In the courtyard was a large marble trough bearing a bas-relief depicting the pillars, the square and the plumb-rule, and a date believed to be 1781: nothing could have been more appropriate. Brown and the two others from Laufen were put in the same room. They decided to trace other Freemasons in the camp, and enough were identified to hold a meeting. Soon there were twenty brethren, including two P.M.s, meeting weekly in the camp library, and a ' lodge of instruction ' was formed. As they had no ritual at that time, the two P.M.s. assisted by Brother Brown, set out to prepare one from memory, each taking a portion, writing it down and passing it to the other, doubts being settled by discussion. At a later date this ritual was checked and very few corrections were found necessary, truly a tribute to the P.M.s who compiled it. It is now in the Leicester Provincial Museum.

These brethren commenced modestly with the opening and closing ceremonies, moving on to degree work by stages. As they became more proficient, so did the preparation of the book of ritual until they were able to rehearse an initiation. The room was fairly large, so that floorwork was possible, but in place of gavelling the left forearm was struck. They continued their work until August 1941 when they learned that the camp was to be moved. They set off for Warburg, in Westphalia, taking with them their handwritten ritual hidden in Brown's records, which he carried in his capacity of camp postal officer. Warburg proved a difficult camp in which to engage in any Masonic activity, due to the fact that many huts were so constructed that words spoken in one room could be heard in the next. There were also continuous security patrols. Brown records that the most he and his companions could do was to learn parts of the ritual privately, repeating them to one another as they walked about during exercise.

In August 1942 they were warned of another move which they did not regret, except that they discovered the camp was to be split into smaller groups. Fortunately, two Past Masters remained with the party sent to Oflag VIIB at Eichstätt, which they reached in September. Once more the ritual went with them concealed in Brown's postal records. After a few weeks they settled down to a new camp routine and were able to resume their former activities. Membership of the group fluctuated, but there were always about forty brethren in the camp, in all from ten different Constitutions.

To provide scope for as many brethren as possible they divided into four'lodges', two working under the English Constitution, one Scottish and one Australian. Meetings were held in the camp Dental Surgery, but it was so small that floorwork was impossible. On two occasions, when a larger room became available, full-scale demonstrations of a degree and of an installation (except for the inner working) were arranged to which all brethren in the camp were invited.Each of the lodges ' met monthly, except during the summer, when suspicion would have been aroused if black-out had been placed over the windows in daylight. Emblems were not used but working tools were made of cardboard for rapid destruction in an emergency. It was the custom, amongst those working according to Australian rituals, during the opening ceremonies for each officer to be asked not only his place and duty in the lodge, but to describe his badge and what it represented.

After D-Day the brethren were too unsettled to concentrate on memorising the ritual and lectures were given instead. Before being moved on by the retreating enemy a final gathering was arranged at Eichstätt, at which a 'greeting' to the Grand Master was prepared and signed by thirty-three brethren. The document reads: ' Greetings to the Most Worshipful the Grand Master and Brethren of the United Grand Lodge of England from the undersigned, on their return from captivity in Oflag VITB, Eichstätt, Bavaria, who, while in Germany, have endeavoured to make a ‘daily advancement in Masonic knowledge’. It was bound, the cover bearing the design depicting the columns, square and plumb-rule which had been discovered on the marble trough in the courtyard of the Schloss at Tittmoning. Brown was able to retain the greeting, and on his return to England it was duly despatched to the Grand Master, the Earl of Harewood, who later presented it to the Grand Lodge, where it is displayed in the Library.

SALZBURG (AUSTRIA) AND SPANGEN BURG (GERMANY)

The fourth chronicler of events in prisoner of war camps, Brother H. Wallwork, was captured in May 1940, and sent to a Stalag on the outskirts of Salzburg. He had with him two books, the New Testament and an "Emulation" book of ritual, both of which, although examined, he was allowed to retain. Although there were a fairly large number of brethren in the Salzburg camp, there is no record of any singly co-ordinated group formed to pursue Masonic study, but the fact that more than thirty copies were taken from his ritual, or parts thereof, indicates that Masonry flourished amongst the brethren incarcerated there. He notes that a number of lodges ' were formed which met and practised regularly.

From Salzburg, Wallwork was sent to Warburg, but it seems the brethren were unable to engage in any Masonic activity during the three months he was there. His next move was to Spangenburg, near Kassel. Here, a number of brethren discovered each other and a 'lodge' was formed. Meetings were held on Sunday afternoons in a room known as the School room. The building itself was a small Schloss, and Wallwork used the dry, disused moat surrounding it for rehearsing to himself the various parts of the ritual allotted to him. The brethren followed the usual practice of filling the offices progressively, the meetings being under the direction of an expert brother. Working tools were fashioned from pieces of wood. After a short absence, Wallwork returned to Spangenburg, where he was able to continue his studies until November 1944, when he and a number of others were moved to Nordhausen, where a few brethren were able to have occasional practices together. It was not long, however, before another move was made, but Wallwork, fearing keener searches ahead, left his book of ritual at Nordhausen in the care of a British officer. Happily, soon after his return to England at the end of the war it was returned to him, and it now lies in the Grand Lodge Museum. It bears a number of signatures of his fellow Masonic prisoners and is a unique relic of a Freemason's determination to make a daily advancement.

In addition to the Stalags at Warburg and Spangenburg, Oflags were also established at each. Selby-Boothroyd, mentioned earlier, was sent to the former, but it was some time before he discovered, because of another casual remark, that a fellow prisoner in an adjacent bunk to his was a Freemason. One other in the same room was also identified, who was engaged on the task of drafting the opening and closing in the three degrees. The three of them hoped to start working together, but Selby-Boothroyd's companions were moved to the Oflag at Spangenburg, where they met intermittently and did a little work.

WOLFSBURG (AUSTRIA) AND HOHENFELS

In the spring of 1942 a number of brethren in Stalag 18A at Wolfsburg made themselves known to each other. By arrangement they first met together at the gate of the British compound, where, on arrival, each contributed one cigarette to a common ' fund '. The cigarettes collected, about forty, were then used to bribe one of the guards at the point to allow them to meet in one of some new huts in course of erection. In the but they elected four of their number, representing England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand, to form a committee to prove and test everyone present. This was done. After a discussion on the possibility of forming a Masonic group in the camp they dispersed, having achieved their purpose and becoming known to one another as members of the Craft.

 The next meeting was held in a medical inspection room by arrangement with a British doctor, a Freemason. It was then agreed to attempt the compilation of a book of ritual to cover the first degree and then to conduct meetings as a ' lodge of instruction ', but sitting round a table because of the impossibility of blacking out windows in daytime. After five or six meetings the camp was split up and transferred to other camps, thus putting an end to the group. The bulk of the members were, fortunately, kept together, and towards the end of 1942 were sent to Stalag 383 at Hohenfels. Here they re-formed, calling themselves the International Group, consisting ultimately of twenty-three brethren of the English Constitution, two Irish, twenty-nine Scottish, twenty- four from four Australian Constitutions and four others. Only one was a Past Master. Meetings, at which there was an average attendance of sixty, were held monthly on Saturday evenings in a former stable then converted into a library and study room. To ensure as much warning and delay as possible in surprise visits by the guards, the I.G. placed his chair against the door, and so enabled the brethren to appear to be doing something quite different.

At meetings the V.S.L. was opened, minutes were kept and read, and accounts presented. Subscriptions were paid in cigarettes, and the ' accounts ' were records of their receipt and of disbursement, which included the purchase of cups of tea provided at each meeting—the 'cups' consisted mainly of odd pots and corned-beef tins. Hot water being available at certain times, a bugle was sounded and the Stewards of the ' lodge' then retired to draw it for tea-making. Surplus cigarettes were placed in a 'Charity Fund' administered by two Charity Representatives, who undertook welfare work, including visiting the sick in hospital. The minute book covers the period 28th October 1943 to the 23rd March 1945, and records sixteen meetings, but the group first met in about March 1943. This book, together with the account books and other relics, were carefully preserved by Brother J. E. Mallory, Secretary of the group from March 1944, and they are now deposited in the Grand Lodge Library. Brother Payne, a member of the group both in Stalag 1813 and Stalag 383, has also compiled notes on its formation and work, so that its activities are well recorded. In addition to rehearsals, which were not minuted, talks were given on various topics of general interest. At refreshment after meetings, during which the normal toasts were drunk in tea, the brethren took turns at providing entertainment.

At the Christmas 1943 meeting. Dickens' 'Christmas Carol' was produced, followed by musical entertainment; a copy of the programme is in Grand Lodge. The summons for this meeting included an appeal for contributions to ‘Christmas Stockings’ for members in hospital. The list of contributions reveals an amazing variety of items which must have been regarded as treasures by the donors—razor blades. a mouth organ, a vest, socks, toothbrushes, cigarettes and many other items. The following Christmas entertainment included Dorothy Sayers' Nativity play, 'Kings in Judaea'. The activities of the group ended with the dispersal of the camp in April, 1945.

BIBERACH (SOUTH GERMANY)

An Oflag (No. VB) was established in the town of Biberach, and it is known that brethren amongst the prisoners were able to hold regular meetings, but apart from the fact that one of them possessed a printed ritual, few details of their activities are available.[6] One correspondent does, however, recall that some English, Australian and New Zealand brethren met on one occasion in an unoccupied room. An English Past Master occupied the chair and, after ensuring the security of the meeting, a discussion took place on the ceremony of the first degree as performed by the different Constitutions represented by the brethren present. Although the experiment does not seem to have been repeated, the meeting, in the words of the correspondent,' afterwards proved to be responsible for an improvement in morale, as each one knew there was somebody to whom he could go and discuss the various problems that did crop up during our prison life '.

ITALY

There is some evidence that brethren imprisoned in Italian camps were able to identify one another and to meet from time to time. An informant, Brother G. H. Gordon, recalled that at Veano there was an active group of Freemasons of about twenty who were able to hold a certain number of meetings in the library of a building formerly used as a Priests' rest house. One of the brethren fashioned the regalia and tools, which, when not in use, were hidden in a cavity behind an over-mantel; they may be still hidden there. This hiding place was easily accessible for disposal of regalia, etc., in case of an alarm, when, as was usual in prisoners' camps, the occupants of the room would be found merely reading or engaged on some quite innocuous pursuit. This was a drill rehearsed many times until it was perfected.

The flourishing Lodge of Improvement at Brunswick, to which reference has already been made, had its beginnings firstly in Italy and later at Mahrisch Trubau. The brethren concerned, numbering about forty, had originally met in Chicti, Italy, whence they were transferred after the fall of Mussolini.24 At the time of their removal from Italy they had been rehearsing the opening and closing ceremonies and the initiation, indicating that the time spent in Italy had been well used. Brother Brown recounts that at Eichstätt, after D-Day, the brethren were unable to concentrate on memorising the ritual, so that lectures were given instead, one of which, he recalls, was devoted to Masonic work carried on in prisoner of war camps in Italy, given by a brother who had been imprisoned there. lie told them that supervision by the enemy authorities had been less severe and proper working tools had been made, and most meetings had finished up with a festive board, if it could be so called '. Nothing else is recorded of these activities.

The strictness of supervision in Italian camps must have varied considerably. The lecturer referred to by Brother Brown mentioned that it was 'less severe', but at Viano there were constant searches of officers' personal belongings. Searches were very thorough and were made at all times. So ends the summary of Masonic activity among brethren prisoners of war in German and Italian hands from 1940 to 1945. It is necessarily an incomplete record and does not do justice to the courage of these men.  Reprinted from Volume 77 of the Transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No.2076. E.C.