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Sgt Harold Betts, POW and escaper
One of the most remarkable POW escape stories of the Great War is that of Sgt Harold Betts,
of the 8th battalion Leicestershire Regiment. Betts was captured at Cormicy on 27 May 1918, along with a large portion of
this battalion, when it was overrun in the German offensive.
Betts' account of his capture is held at the National Archives as part of the
series of interviews compiled from former POWs in 1919, with a view to war crimes prosecutions. Betts describes the murder
of British soldiers who had been captured by the Germans, including a line of men from the Leicesters who were machine gunned
with their hands in the air.
Betts was later taken to a camp in Germany where he witnessed further mistreatment
of POWs, British in particular. In August 1918 Betts and a fellow sergeant of the Leicesters, named Bolton, resolved
to escape. This they succeeded in doing. They were both awarded the Military Medal for their exploits.
Left: Betts kept this photograph of two of the
most brutal of the German POW camp guards, vowing to exact revenge if their paths ever crossed in civil life.
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