Label
Shaving brush (modified to contain documentation useful for escapees) associated with the First World War experiences of Major J W Shaw as a prisoner of war in Holzminden Camp, Germany. During the First World War Major Shaw served with 2nd King Edward's Horse, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Royal Flying Corps. He was taken prisoner at Messines in 1917 and held at Freiburg. He escaped from this camp and when recaptured was imprisoned in Holzminden POW camp. While there he assisted in the construction of the famous 'Holzminden Tunnel' through which 29 officers escaped. Major Shaw was the 31st in the queue and the tunnel subsided and collapsed on the man in front. During the Second World War he served as Assistant Military Liaison Officer, No 6 (Southern) Region, Reading December 1939-August 1945.
History note
See file for history of Shaw's capture and escape attempts.
Physical description
brush sections & map & railway timetable shaving brush, two sections of which unscrew to reveal a hollow interior containing escape documentation: a hand-drawn map of the Aachen area and train timetable for rail services between Holzminden and Aachen.
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