2 German prisioners of war in England

[David Peters]

At the end of the 2nd world War, my grandfather (who was German by birth) befriended 2 German prisioners of war in the Uk, They made for my first birthday in 1947 a wooden train, made out of cotton reels and scraps of wood, after 75 years I still have this train.
they were: Franz Shimmal, of Asperg, Germany and Eric Sobejyek, who remained in the UK, any info on them or their German families would be very welcome

[CaroleW]

Have you checked Ancestry to see if anybody has a tree for them?

See freebmd - there is a marriage in 1949 for an Erich A Sobesyk/Sobczyk

www.freebmd.org.uk

4 children - see freebmd but the names of living persons cannot be posted here

[tonepad]

Erich A Sobczyk was granted Naturalisation in 1955

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40431/page/1557


Tony

[CaroleW]

2 children married in Gloucs 1969 & 1973

[CaroleW]

Electoral registers for 2003/4 show wife in Devon

[CaroleW]

Eric Alfred Sobczyk b 1925 died 2.5.2011 Devon

No death to 2020 for wife

[David Peters]

Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it

[Karen McDonald]

Hi David,

Are you sure about the spelling of Shimmal? That would be very unusual for a German name.

Do you have a written note of this, or something noted phonetically?

The most likely candidate would be Schimmel.

Asperg is only a smallish place. You could try sending an E-Mail to the local council:

Stadtverwaltung Asperg   
Marktplatz 1   
71679 Asperg   

E-Mail:
info@asperg.de

If you need help writing something in German, please let me know.
Alternatively, I can recommend the online translator deepl.com (there is a free version), which works extremely well for texts which are not extremely technical.

Best regards,
Karen
in Wolfenbüttel, N. Germany

[David Peters]

Hi karen,

The only reference I have to Franz Shimmal (or Schimmal)  is their names and addresses handwritten on a piece of paper, that my late Aunt gave me. Thank you for the offer of help with the language, I will first try to email the council in german using the translator you mentioned. I will let you know the result.
Thank you once again
David