WB627
20th May 2018, 23:35
Today is the 100th anniversary of the death of my cousin Harold Medlicott at the hands of his captors, near Bad Colberg in Germany whilst a prisoner of war. I did not want to let this day pass without doing something to remember him and Captain Joseph Walter who died with him. I hope the mods do not mind that I have posted it in this forum.
Harold William Medlicott enlisted with the Royal Horse Artillery at the outbreak of war in August 1914, and soon rose to the rank of Corporal. In September 1914 he transferred to the Royal Field Artillery and was commission as a Second Lieutenant. Soon after he moved to the Royal Flying Corps and obtained his aviators certificate (No 1042) at Brooklands on 18th January 1915 and was posted to No.2 Squadron, British Expeditionary Force.
I am not sure when he moved to France, but between 19th September and 7th November 1915, he was credited with shooting down five enemy aircraft.
On the 10th November 1915, Lt. Harold Medlicott, together with his observer, Second Lt. A. Whitten Brown, left on a reconnaissance flight to Valenciennes, within German held territory. Two other aircraft from No.2 Squadron escorted them but ran into rain and snow and had to turn back. However, Harold and his observer went on alone but then suffered engine trouble that compelled them to make a forced landing behind German lines. Some reports suggest they were hit by ground fire and that Brown was already wounded before the crash. The two men were immediately captured and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp at Claustal.
Arthur Whitten Brown was severely injured and underwent a number of operations in Germany before being repatriated through Switzerland in January 1917. He went on to become the navigator on the first flight to cross the Atlantic with Captain Sir John Alcock in June 1919.
Harold made numerous escape attempts undeterred by the harsh and brutal punishment he received upon recapture. He was sent to a number of camps including, Fort 9, a Colditz like establishment, Holzminden and finally Bad Colberg, After serving a term of imprisonment at Bad Colberg, Medlicott and Walter were warned that if they escaped again they would never return alive. From here in May 1918 Harold made his tenth and final escape, again with Capt. Walter, his regular escaping partner. They were recaptured some 19 miles away at Römhild and brought back to a railway station near Bad Colberg. Two days later their bodies were returned to the camp and according to the Germans, they were shot whilst attempting to escape from the railway station.
Outraged at what had happened, the senior British Officer at the camp demanded to see the bodies but was refused. However, a British soldier working as an orderly in the mortuary later testified that the men’s bodies had had received numerous bayonet wounds.
Lieutenant Harold Medlicott and Captain Joseph Walter, least we forget.
I am grateful to Mike Lawson for information that has gone into this post. He undertook research for Ealing Council when a request was made to have Harold’s name and that of his brother Sydney (KIA 6th October 1915), added to the Ealing War memorial in 2009. He subsequently wrote an article for Ealing Council’s magazine for residents and the article can be found by Googling - First World War: Harold ‘Houdini’ Medlicott (I can't post URL's) or use www ealingnewsextra.co.uk/history/first-world-war-harold-houdini-medlicott
Harold William Medlicott enlisted with the Royal Horse Artillery at the outbreak of war in August 1914, and soon rose to the rank of Corporal. In September 1914 he transferred to the Royal Field Artillery and was commission as a Second Lieutenant. Soon after he moved to the Royal Flying Corps and obtained his aviators certificate (No 1042) at Brooklands on 18th January 1915 and was posted to No.2 Squadron, British Expeditionary Force.
I am not sure when he moved to France, but between 19th September and 7th November 1915, he was credited with shooting down five enemy aircraft.
On the 10th November 1915, Lt. Harold Medlicott, together with his observer, Second Lt. A. Whitten Brown, left on a reconnaissance flight to Valenciennes, within German held territory. Two other aircraft from No.2 Squadron escorted them but ran into rain and snow and had to turn back. However, Harold and his observer went on alone but then suffered engine trouble that compelled them to make a forced landing behind German lines. Some reports suggest they were hit by ground fire and that Brown was already wounded before the crash. The two men were immediately captured and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp at Claustal.
Arthur Whitten Brown was severely injured and underwent a number of operations in Germany before being repatriated through Switzerland in January 1917. He went on to become the navigator on the first flight to cross the Atlantic with Captain Sir John Alcock in June 1919.
Harold made numerous escape attempts undeterred by the harsh and brutal punishment he received upon recapture. He was sent to a number of camps including, Fort 9, a Colditz like establishment, Holzminden and finally Bad Colberg, After serving a term of imprisonment at Bad Colberg, Medlicott and Walter were warned that if they escaped again they would never return alive. From here in May 1918 Harold made his tenth and final escape, again with Capt. Walter, his regular escaping partner. They were recaptured some 19 miles away at Römhild and brought back to a railway station near Bad Colberg. Two days later their bodies were returned to the camp and according to the Germans, they were shot whilst attempting to escape from the railway station.
Outraged at what had happened, the senior British Officer at the camp demanded to see the bodies but was refused. However, a British soldier working as an orderly in the mortuary later testified that the men’s bodies had had received numerous bayonet wounds.
Lieutenant Harold Medlicott and Captain Joseph Walter, least we forget.
I am grateful to Mike Lawson for information that has gone into this post. He undertook research for Ealing Council when a request was made to have Harold’s name and that of his brother Sydney (KIA 6th October 1915), added to the Ealing War memorial in 2009. He subsequently wrote an article for Ealing Council’s magazine for residents and the article can be found by Googling - First World War: Harold ‘Houdini’ Medlicott (I can't post URL's) or use www ealingnewsextra.co.uk/history/first-world-war-harold-houdini-medlicott