Chris Boonzaier Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Storck was held at Fort napier. I assume captured in german South West Africa in 1915....Funnily he was held until 1919, by which time almost all the POWs had been released in South Africa.This large buckls is Silver, the curtains are real gold. EXCEPTIONAL craftsmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariner Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Beautiful!!!! Such craftsmanship. I suppose they had a lot of time on their hands. I think we also forget that these men had careers and lives before they became soldiers. The marker of this could have been a silver smith, before he put down his craft tools, and learnt how to use a rifle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 Very possibly a craftsman. There are apparently articles written about POW crafts from Fort Napier 1915-18, but I have not managed to find them.bestChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 I have since found out that the man worked for a major railway engine company and was a reservist. Released in 1919, waaaaay later than most other POWs.I hope to get some info about him from the archives soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 OK, a bit of googling here... it seems there is a possibility/Probability, that he was not captured in GSWA but in one of the other German colonies. Fort napier seems to have been for German prisonners from all over Africa.More to be looked for.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob lembke Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I have since found out that the man worked for a major railway engine company and was a reservist. Released in 1919, waaaaay later than most other POWs.Chris;As he was a reservist, he could have been a skilled craftsman, perhaps a tool and die maker. That would have been a reason for the exceptional skills needed to make the piece. It also might be a reason for him being held so long, he may have been doing skilled work, even on a rail operation, and his "employers" might have been loath to let him go. Many of the German POWs in Russia after WW II were held for 10 or more years; they in general were very skilled workers and their work supposedly still is a topic of conversation in Russia.Bob Lembke Bob Lembke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mervyn Mitton Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I am starting 2013 with a very rare German POW piece of marquetry. This was from a prisoner taken during the 1916 campaign to capture German South West Africa. Mainly this was a South African campaign - fought with local troops. When we had captured the territory, most troops took their discharge to join other newly formed units that went on to fight in France and in German East Africa. With the end of World War 1 the newly formed League of Nations awarded South Africa a Protectorate over the area - this continued until the newly created Namibia came into being a few years ago. We knew it as South West Africa. Over the years I have seen many examples of work carried out in prison camps - the Boer War really being the point where it became popular. Rarely have I seen one with the artistry of this example. The small silver plate shows that the prisoner must have given it to a Guard - quite a common occurence - and he has had it framed and had the plate made to show it's origins. The dates are probably for the period the guard served at Fort Napier. The Fort itself is one of the oldest from the old colonial Natal. Originally built in 1848 to guard the newly acquired town of Pietermaritzburg - the Boers having left to settle in the Transvaal. The town was originally named after the two Boer leaders who founded it - we, the British, would not call it by that name - in fact our name was Umshlovo - or, Place of the Elephants. We made it the capital of Natal, and eventually the name reverted to the original. Fort Napier was named after Sir George Napier - then the Governor of the Cape. It's first garrison was from the 45th Regt. of Foot and also included Royal Engineers, Cape Mounted Police and a half battery of Field guns. They were intended to deter the Boers returning and to keep local tribes in order. The 1st WW saw the large area of the Fort and it's many buildings being used to house POW's and also Germans who were being interned from around SA. + from other nearby African countries. The military use finished in 1920, although the Fort is still preserved and houses the Garrison Church. The majority of the area though, is given over to a a mental institute. POW's were often allowed to have a small knife for use in making things - some of them beautifully worked and very artistic. This panel shows two leopards behind rocks and watching a giraffe feeding on a thorn tree. This is very similar to the desert areas of SWA and has been very well executed. The art of marquetry is setting small pieces of different woods into a bigger piece - and then polishing or, varnishing. Make a mistake and it is difficult to put right. I will show a series of pictures so that you can see how it was made. ..............................................http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_12_2012/post-6209-0-42418900-1356962784.jpgclick..................................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mervyn Mitton Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 ........................................................http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_12_2012/post-6209-0-14555900-1356962988.jpgclick..................................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mervyn Mitton Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 ............................................http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_12_2012/post-6209-0-52371800-1356963207.jpgclick................................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mervyn Mitton Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 ..............................................................http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_12_2012/post-6209-0-21045600-1356963347.jpgclick.................................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 I took the liberty of merging my Napier stuff into Mervyns thread :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mervyn Mitton Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 ...............................................................http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_12_2012/post-6209-0-31272900-1356963552.jpgclick.......................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 Some more details... included is a Lighter, also POW work, but no details if Boer war, WW1 or WW2... My uncle got it from an old lady in South Africa and was told it was a POW item... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 It was made as a large belt buckle, but the fittings at the back were removed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mervyn Mitton Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 This to me is the test ofe his skill - all done on an old soapbox ! ..............................................http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_12_2012/post-6209-0-69730300-1356963745.jpgclick................................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mervyn Mitton Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Chris - I am very pleased that you have merged the two - makes it even more interesting. I was wondering how to put my item on the German Forum - perhaps you could merge them there ? Mervyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 Very nice box indeed.... the men had a loooooong time to invest in their work... did some fine stuff indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mervyn Mitton Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Chris many of the prisoners in the Boer War used the silver coins in their pockets to make jewellery items. This superb belt buckle could well have been made the same way - a gold coin becoming the curtains ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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