Info on a POW group and UNIFORMS on photo from Stalag VIII B

[Claire64]

A friend has sent me this photo.  His mum apparently wrote regularly to a POW called Brian Daniel McLuskie who was a POW in Stalag VII B.  His name is on the back, and her name and address, and it has been stamped with the official purple stamps saying it was an authorised photo.  I have researched him but my questions are:
The lady he was writing to lived in Yorkshire, and he was born in NZ and served with the NZEF, and was captured in Crete.  There is no obvious connection between these two people, and we don't know which one he is on the photos.  There are two copies.  Would there be some kind of "penfriend" scheme?
Also, the uniforms - any clues there? I have no idea if all the men were from NZ, or their ranks
This photo intrigues me and we'd love to find out more.

[Ruskie]

Oooh how intriguing. Without doing any delving, and with no knowledge of the movement of NZ troops, I am wondering if he and your friend’s mother might have met up in the UK? I know there were a lot of Canadians and Americans in the UK.

Does your friend know what his mother did during the war years? I would look at her movements and then try to find out if any NZ troops might have been training or billeted nearby.

If there was a pen pal scheme that could well be how they met, but there could be more to it than that and that might also be worth chasing up.

The reason I suggest that is that this reminds me of what my father in law wrote about in the diaries he kept during the war. He was always meeting girls at dances and a couple used to write to him. His friends seemed to do the same.

Does your friend have any of their correspondence which would give clues as to their relationship?

[Jebber]

Men of the New Zealand Army trained and flew with the RAF in the Battle of Britain.

[Ruskie]

Claire, you say you have researched Brian.
Do you have his service records?
Did he return to NZ after the war?
Have you traced him or his family forward? If you can locate and contact descendants or other relatives, they may be able to identify which one of the men he is.


Presumably you’ve already seen this:

https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C138235

[Ruskie]

Did you notice that the chap front row second from the right is wearing a pinky ring? Possibly the one far left front is as well. I assume this means they are well to do? (They look it) 
Of no significance, but the chap to his right is wearing a white shirt whereas the other are wearing (presumably) khaki shirts.

[Neale1961]

He was a gunner with the 4th field regiment. Enlisted in Wellington. Occupation motor body builder.
https://digitalnz.org/records/41554418

Grave marker
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/221607860/brian-daniel-mcluskie

[mckha489]

My father in law was an NZ er, he ended up in the Navy. He was in the Volunteer Naval Reserve, a large group of them went to train for airforce.  He failed one of the exams and reverted to Navy.

ANYWAY. When he was in Liverpool someone (no one is sure now if it was a relative or a friend) suggested he go to a relatives  house for a meal. And that dear reader is how he met my mother in law.
She met several servicemen that way and used to write to all of them (famously putting the wrong letter in the envelope on one occasion).

Looking in the newspapers (i thought there might have been advertisements for penfriends) there is this wedding https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-share/0db976e1-77f4-4e7a-bf06-1233218249e3 where a fellow P.O.W suggested he write to this girl he knew. So it could be a similar connection.

[Ruskie]

As an aside, the address on the above Cenotaph record is wrong - it should be Nevay Road, not Bevay Road.

[Ruskie]

My father in law was an NZ er, he ended up in the Navy. He was in the Volunteer Naval Reserve, a large group of them went to train for airforce.  He failed one of the exams and reverted to Navy.

ANYWAY. When he was in Liverpool someone (no one is sure now if it was a relative or a friend) suggested he go to a relatives  house for a meal. And that dear reader is how he met my mother in law.
She met several servicemen that way and used to write to all of them (famously putting the wrong letter in the envelope on one occasion).

Looking in the newspapers (i thought there might have been advertisements for penfriends) there is this wedding https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-share/0db976e1-77f4-4e7a-bf06-1233218249e3 where a fellow P.O.W suggested he write to this girl he knew. So it could be a similar connection.

Great story.  I don’t know if my father in law and his friends were typical, but most of them seemed to have a few girls on the go at the same time, and similarly, the girls had numerous boys. They disliked the flashy American servicemen because they always seemed to get the girls. 

There were many dances organised for the service personnel and many pub visits and much imbibing of alcohol, loads of socialising - so they could have met in person anywhere, hence my suggestion of trying to trace your friend’s mother’s movements.