During W W I

A prisoner of war in Germany

 

from the Daily Gleaner, January 6 , 1911

After his return to England, Sylvester Leon had soon embarked on new ventures which he set out in the extract, from a letter, shown above. As a consequence he was in Germany when war broke out in August 1914.

 

The item below records the marriage of Sylvester Leon on December 27, 1911. The parents of Miss Lowman were Thomas and Emily, tailor and dressmaker respectively, living at 33 Windsor Terrace, Penarth, near Cardiff, at the time of the 1901 Census. We know nothing of how the couple met or whether Emily went to Germany; so far no further reference to the young Mrs Leon has been noted.

Daily Gleaner 1912

January 16 p 2 col 7

 

... marriage of Mr. P. Sylvester Leon B A in England on 27th ultimo to Miss Emily Gertrude Lowman only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lowman of Cardiff.  Mr. Leon's fame as an actor is known through the island.

                                                               

Windsor Road, Penarth, 1907 postcard

IN A PRISON CAMP IN GERMANY

Below:  Cover of the camp magazine with a drawing of 'Bond Street', one of the streets in the camp.

 

RUHLEBEN

Ruhleben Gefangenenlager (British Civilian Internment Camp) was established after the outbreak of the First World War at a racetrack in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin, and remained in operation until Armistice Day, 1918. At its peak, the camp held some 4,500 male civilians of military age who had been living or traveling in Germany when war was declared; prisoners were housed in stalls originally intended for racehorses. Most were British, but there were also a few dozen French and Italians, as well as Indians, Jamaicans, West Africans, and Zanzibarees, most of whom had been crewmembers of British merchant ships docked in German ports. About 300-400 internees were Jewish.

The internees established their own camp organization, mail service, social and sports clubs, cultural and educational programs, relief programs, religious services, and hygienic measures.

Some of the Black prisoners of war at the camp

The only information so far found on Sylvester Leon's imprisonment in a prisoner of war camp in Germany in World War I is in the newspaper items below from the Daily Gleaner. There is a mass of information on life in the camp at Ruhleben, and many references to theatrical performances there, in which he must have been involved. Once some one can research these sources, scattered in the UK, USA and Canada, it may be possible to give a better picture of this period of his life.

 

Daily Gleaner

 

1916

 

June 3 page 3

MR SYLVESTER LEON,

B.A.

It has. been arranged that on the return of the Jamaica choir from the country, that they will co-operate with other "Footlight Favourites," and give a big benefit entertainment in response to the appeal of Mr Leon who is now a prisoner of War in Ger­many.

 

[ I do not seem to have picked up anything further on this function. Maybe it never happened, but I should check again, because something more might be said about Leon.]

 

June 19 page 6

     MR. SYLVESTER LEON.      

Above is a picture of Mr. P. Sylvester Leon, B.A., of Spanish Town, who is now a civilian prisoner of war in Germany. Mr. Leon, in a letter to his mother, expressed a wish that some assistance should be rendered him, and on the matter being represented to His Excellency the Governor, Sir William Manning has taken steps to secure assistance to Mr. Leon.

1917

 

January 17 page 14

 

                            MR. SYLVESTER LEON

THANKS SIR WILLIAM MANNING

FOR FOOD THAT IS BEING

SENT TO HIM

 

It will be remembered that His Excellency the Governor some time ago personally interested himself in the fate of Mr. Sylvester Leon, B.A., a young Jamaican who is a prisoner of war in Germany. Sir William Manning made arrangements for the shipping of a fortnightly hamper of food from England to Mr. Leon which the latter appears to receive regularly, and the following is the text of a postcard from the war prisoner, which has just been received by His Excel­lency from Ruhleben Camp, Germany:

 

"November 18th. 1916.

"I am most grateful for the very nice parcels you have been sending me, and I have found the contents highly useful: and the fact that the parcels were sent from Jamaica make them doubly welcome to me. There are a number of Jamaicans here, whose names I intend handing on to Mr. Stufins at the Jamaica General War Fund. I am consoled to learn that Jamaica is recovering from the effects of the recent hurricanes. With renewed thanks.

"I am.

"Your Excellency,

"Yours truly,

                       "SYLVESTER LEON."

January 18  page 6

 

PRISONERS IN LAND OF HUNS

A List of 13 Jamaicans

Who are Captives of

The Kaiser 

 

SEVERAL ARE ADOPTED

Praiseworthy Action of

Mr. Alfred de C. Myers

Of this City.

 

A KIND RESIDENT OF HOLLAND,

 

The following is an extract from a letter from Mr. Sylvester Leon B.A., interned as a prisoner in Germany, to Mr. S. Straas, a Belgian refugee in Holland, and who is well known here. Mr. Straas gives the names of thirteen Jamaicans who are interned at the same camp at Ruhleben as himself, with their Jamaica addresses and the number of their barracks.

The Gleaner should like to know whether any of these formed part of any of the contingents  from Jamaica, whether they were in active service at the front when they were interned, and if they have any relatives in the island we should be glad if they will communicate with us.

We are pleased, however, to state that William Martin and Joseph Jarrett, Nos. 1 and 6 on the list published below, have been adopted by Mr. Alfred de C. Myers through Mr. Straas. Mr. Myers contributes 5/6 per month each, and the Society in Holland forwards fortnightly pack­ages of food, etc., to them.

Nos. 2, 3 and 4, that s, Lother, Martin and Setton, have also been adopted by friends of Mr. Straas. This gentleman has been helping Mr. Sylvester Leon a good deal.

            The letter follows:-

 

THE LETTER

"Englanderlager Ruhleben.

November 25th, 1916.

"Absender:

Sylvester Leon,

Barracks 5,

Box East Loft.

An. to Mr. S. Straas,

Post Box 12,

Ort. Scheveningen, Holland.

 

 

My dear Mr. Straas,

In answer to your very kind postcards, I hasten to send you here­with the names of my Jamaica comrades who are interned here with me. I have added to them the names of those from the other West Indian Islands, so that you have in this list the names of all those from the West Indies. [The Gleaner, or Mr. Straas, seems to have edited out the names of men from other islands.}

1.  William Martin, from Kingston, Jamaica, Barrack 21.

2.  Naboth Lother, from Kingston. Ja., Barrack 21.

3.  John Martin, from Kingston, Jamaica, Barrack 21.

4.  Charles Setton, from Spanish Town. Ja., Barrack 21.

5.  John Palmer, from Montego Bay. Ja., Barrack 21.

6.  Joseph Jarrett, from Falmouth, Ja.. Barrack 22.

7.  James Edwards, from Brown's Town, Ja., Barrack 21.

8.  Isaac Blake, from Port Maria, Ja., Barrack 21.

9.  John Stevens, from Sav-la-Mar. Ja., Barrack 21.

 10. J. Danielson, from Darliston, Ja., Barrack 21.

 11. Henry Buchanan, from Pimento Walk, Jamaica, Barrack 21.

 12. Robert Chambers, from Crooked River, Ja.. Barrack 21.

 13. Jerry Bartley, from St. Thomas. Ja., Barrack 21.

With renewed thanks, and best wishes, I am, my dear Mr. Straas,

Yours very sincerely,

(Sgd.) SYLVESTER LEON."

 

[I have no information on any of the men mentioned.]

The real 'Bond Street' in Ruhleben

 

The war is finally over

 

Daily Gleaner 1919

January 31   p 4 col 7           

 

Release of Sylvester Leon.

Our Spanish Town Correspondent:

The many friends of Mr P Sylvester Leon BA of Spanish Town who was a prisoner of war in Germany will be pleased to learn that his relatives have heard from him to the effect that he has been released and is now in England.

Presumably Leon decided to remain in England to pursue his stage career. So far no further references to him have been found in Jamaican newspapers, until the brief mention in 1942 which is dealt with on the next page.

for more on the Camp at Ruhleben:

Ruhleben Camp

RADIO ETC->