Opis: Outdoor portrait of two Australian Prisoners of War (POW) at German POW Camp Schneidemuhl, Germany. Identified on the left is 112 Sergeant (Sgt) Reginald James Camden, 11th Battalion, from Blackboy Hill, Western Australia and on the right is 3953 Sgt Joseph Chandlot Clarence Whitbread, 13th Battalion from Annandale NSW. Sgt Camden enlisted at the age of 19 on 21 September 1914 and embarked for overseas on 22 December 1914 aboard HMAT Thenistocles. After serving at Gallipoli, Sgt Camden went on to serve on the Western Front where he was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the operations of 22-25 July 1916 which culminated in the capture of Pozieres. He was captured on 15 April 1917 at Lagnicourt near Bullecourt, France, and held as a POW in Germany until repatriated to England on 4 January 1919. Sgt Camden arrived back in Australia on 31 May 1919. Sgt Whitbread enlisted on 30 August 1915 and embarked for overseas on 20 December 1915 aboard HMAT Suevic. He was captured at Riencourt, France on 11 April 1917 and held as a POW in Germany. Writing from POW Camp Schneidemuhl on 13 February 1918 he reported "We had a great concert last week, it was quite original - I wrote the piece myself and made all the costumes." Sgt Whitbread was repatriated to England on 1 December 1918 and arrived back in Australia on 23 April 1919. One of a series of over 80 photographs of Allied POWs in the camp at Schneidemuhl, given to 3235 Corporal (Cpl) James Skelly, 55th Battalion, from Rockdale, NSW, by fellow POWs as a souvenir of their time together. Cpl Skelly was a self-described "special correspondent" for the Australian Red Cross while at Schneidemuhl and originally donated these photographs to the Ramsgate R.S.L. The original is stored in the AWM archive store.
