Papers of Able Seaman Ernest Edwin Russell, First Royal Naval Brigade

The collection covers Ernest Edwin Russell's time as an interned prisoner of war in the Netherlands between October 1914 and November 1918 and includes photographs, postcards and printed ephemera covering life in the camp at Groningen throughout the war and particularly entertainment staged by the men. There are also documents and photographs relating to his marriage and the time he and his wife Daisy spent living in Groningen including two framed photographs. The collection also contains a complete set of The Camp Magazine (44 issues) produced by the internees.

Related material: RMG item references: MED1466, UNI3979 and AAA0006. Ernest Edwin Russell's service record is externally held by The National Archives: Ref: ADM 339/1/33379

Administrative / biographical background
Ernest Edwin Russell was born on 14 January 1891 in Isleworth, London. Prior to the First World War he worked as a shunter for the Metropolitan District Railway and lived in Hounslow, London. In August 1914 he enlisted with the London division of the The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and went to Belgium with the Benbow Battalion, First Naval Brigade. Between October 1914 and November 1918 he was interned with his unit in a camp nicknamed 'HMS Timbertown' at Groningen, Netherlands. Internees passed their time taking part in sports and producing handicrafts for commercial sale. Russell won a medal for his entry at an arts and crafts exhibition. Despite this confinement, Russell married Daisy Champion at a local church in July 1916 and the couple lived together in Groningen for three months before she returned to Britain. Russell was temporarily repatriated for an appendix operation at Chatham Naval Hospital between October and December 1917 before returning to internment in the Netherlands. At the end of January 1919 he was demobilised at Crystal Palace. He spent the remainder of his working life with the London Transport District Railway and died on 20 July 1963.