Q My great grandfather, William Herbert Pointon, was born 1862 in Measham, Leicestershire, and died in 1931. In the 1921 census, he shows up on a ‘Return of All Officers and Other Ranks or Ratings on Service’ at Donington Hall, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, which was a German prisoner-of-war camp until 1919. His entry shows him 58, a private in the infantry, born in Measham, married, and listed with other servicemen.
I discovered, from an article in the West Somerset Free Press on 20 March 1897, that William had served in a volunteer battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry in 1897, and was recorded as a private 4703, promoted to acting lance corporal.
What was his connection to this camp and what was he doing there at his age? Lisa Thackwell…
