Blackburn Prisoners of War WW2

Repatriated Prisoners of War – Blackburn

Introduction
A rather unprepossessing looking book resting in Blackburn Central Library’s Community History Collection does not prepare the reader for a glimpse into the lives of the men (and some women) who endured captivity as a Prisoner of War in various theatres of conflict during the Second World War.

It is not entirely certain when the book was first used to record the comments of repatriated Prisoners of War, however, in 1945, Elswick House in Mellor played host to 140 local ex‑prisoners of war and the event was hosted by Mr and Mrs Heyworth. Mrs Heyworth was the secretary of the Prisoner of War Comforts Committee (1).

The book, which had been specially made, was signed and comments were recorded by those ex‑prisoners of war who attended. The volume consists of 330 pages (not all used) with an index at the back, is approximately 27.5cm by 22cm and covered in black leather. Printed on the front, in gold lettering, is the title:

REPATRIATED
PRISONERS OF WAR
BLACKBURN

In total there are some 302 names in the book. The book must have been available to the men and women who were not able to attend the function, to sign at a later date.

Interestingly, only 11 people seem to have written the date when they signed the book; the earliest is May 1945, two men signed in August 1945, five on 30 October 1945, one on 2 November 1945, one on 26 March 1946 and one on 2 April 1946.

Nearly all the entries are written by men but there are three women who signed: Louise Steward (page 11), Margaret Trim (page 12) and Margaret Walton (page 127).

The Mellor event does not appear to have been reported in the newspaper, however, an event which took place on 1 March 1946 was reported in The Blackburn Times (2). It was held in the Lecture Hall (King George’s Hall) when a luncheon and concert was given for the returned Prisoners of War by the Comforts Committee. 65 ex‑POW attended, each receiving a wallet containing £12 and a box of cigarettes from the Blackburn Times Cigarette Fund.

Some comments in the volume are short and to the point: “Pretty bad” notes L/Cpl Albert Taylor of his time in Singapore.

Blackburn’s William (Bill) Griffith’s entry was written by R. Griffiths, his uncle: “Captured 8 March 1942 till 18 Sept 1945. I was ordered by the Japs to remove some grenades which were booby trap and was blown up and since then I have been Blind and have no Hands.”

Diary Entry for William (Bill) Griffith – Page 115

How the book has been transcribed for publication on Cotton Town

The alphabetical index of names is located at the back of the book, but for ease of use on the website, has been placed first. As in the book, the names under each letter are not in alphabetical order. The page number at the side of each name is linked to the appropriate page. The text is more or less how it was written in the original book with only minor exceptions.

Images
There are no images in the book but wherever possible an image has been inserted. Please contact: library@blackburn.gov.uk if you are able to supply a photograph for inclusion.

Sources

(1) “The History of Mellor in Lancashire”, (1999) Summersgill, Neil, p.65
(2) The Blackburn Times, Friday 8 March 1946

Acknowledgement

With grateful thanks to Community History Volunteers, Janet Burke and Stephen Smith.
Published 19 July 2023.