Donald John Skelton photographs of German Prisoner of War camps in World War II

PXA 7793

fonds

1941-1945

Graphic Materials, Photographs

9682020

119 photographic prints - 8 x 11 cm or smaller - gelatin silver

Donald John Skelton was born on 26 June 1918 in Leeton, New South Wales. At the outbreak of World War 2, he enlisted on 3 November 1939 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force and served in the 2nd/3rd Infantry Battalion. Following the German invasion of Crete in 1941, he became a prisoner of war in Stalag 383 (originally named Oflag IIIC) in Hohelfels, Germany. Skelton and his fellow prisoners were liberated on 24 April 1945 by the 65th Infantry Division headed by Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart and Skelton returned to Australia. On 15 September 1945, he married Joan Florence Elizabeth Axford in Lakemba, New South Wales, with whom he had six children. He died on 8 January 2007 in Canowindra, New South Wales.

References:
Library acquisition file.

Virtual War Memorial Australia. "Donald John Skelton". Accessed 29 July 2024. https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/1377088

Find a Grave. "Donald John Skelton". Accessed 29 July 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/248870133/donald-john-skelton

Donor is the daughter of Donald John Skelton

119 photographic prints of the Stalag 383 prisoner-of-war camp in Hohenfels, Germany, many taken by Donald John Skelton, between 1941 and 1945

GROUP 1
56 posed and candid photographic prints of soldiers and officers; the grounds of Stalag 383; images of sports and leisure activities from July 1943 and 2 August Bank Holiday 1943, and ANZAC Day 1944

GROUP 2
63 photographic prints of various theatrical productions staged in Stalag 383, including 'Lovely Weekend'; 'Take the Air'; 'George and Margaret'; 'The Late Christopher Bean'; 'It Pays to Advertise'; 'Bonjour Paris', June 1942; 'Light Must Fall', 14 August 1943; 'Tony Draws a Horse', October 1943; 'Dick Wittington', December 1943-January 1944; 'Laburnum Grove', January 1944; 'Up the Pole', May 1944. One group of images stamped by Hodges and Chase, informally sanctioned photographers in Stalag 383.

Photographs arranged in approximate chronological order and/or by subject matter.

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Many photographic prints annotated on verso with names, dates, locations and events