German Colonial Uniforms

German Prisoners of War on Malta
Photos © Malta Study Circle

These photos show German Prisoners of War wearing tropical uniforms during their confinement on Malta. Prisoners from various overseas fronts (including Cameroon, German East Africa, Palestine and some of the SMS Emden's crew captured in the Indian Ocean) ended up in Malta as well as Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Turkish POWs and German civilians interned on the island. The photographs on this page show members of the Schutztruppe and Pascha Expeditions.

Thanks to Alan Green of the Malta Study Circle for sharing these photos and historical notes with us.

Schutztruppe POWs, Malta c1916-18
These men all wear the 1896 Schutztruppe Khaki Uniform. The officer seated in the centre clearly has a white hatband on his field cap showing him to have served in East Africa. The other two seated officers have Südwester hats with what may be red hatbands and edging showing them to have served in Cameroon. It is difficult to be sure of the hatband colours of the three standing figures. The two on the left may have white while the man on the left may have red. Most of the men have their trousers loose over short marching boots while two have puttees. The officer seated in the centre may have improvised khaki puttees made in East Africa.

Schutztruppe POWs, Malta c1916-18
Most of these men wear the 1896 Schutztruppe Khaki Uniform. Note some men have the East African field cap with white hatband, while others have the Cameroon Südwester with its red hatband and edging. The exact colour of some caps cannot be made out for certain on all the men. Some men wear civilian clothing. In some cases it is to replace uniform items but in other cases they may be German civilians interned with the POWs. Note the three Schutztruppe NCOs with the rank chevrons of a Feldwebel.

German Army NCO POWs from the Middle East, Malta c1916-18
These men are wearing the 1916 Khaki Uniform worn by the German army in the Middle East (such as the Pascha I and II Expeditions). Note the shortened rank insignia on the collar and two cockades on their khaki field caps. Two of the men have privately acquired straw hats. Five of the NCOs have the Prussian Iron Cross second class ribbon worn in their buttonholes. The seated NCO on the far left has another unidentified medal ribbon worn under his Iron Cross.

German Army NCO POWs from the Middle East, Malta c1916-18
These men are mostly wearing the 1916 Khaki Uniform worn by the German army in the Middle East. Three of them have some form of white tropical uniform, several of them have civilian flat caps. They pose in front of the tents in which they lived.

German Army NCO POWs from the Middle East, Malta c1916-18
These men are mostly wearing the 1916 Khaki Uniform worn by the German army in the Middle East. Some of them have privately acquired straw hats and other items of civilian clothing.

This photograph shows an NCO of the Cameroon Schutztruppe wearing the 1897 Grey Home Uniform. Note the Cameroon red collar with white other ranks Litzen and NCO lace around the front and lower edge. He wears a Südwester hat with red hatband and edging. This photograph was most likely taken before the First World War though it is in the collection of the Malta Study Circle showing that this NCO probably was a POW on Malta.	This photograph shows an NCO of the Cameroon Schutztruppe wearing the 1897 Grey Home Uniform and Südwester hat with red collar, piping, hatband and edging. This photograph was most likely taken before the First World War. It is signed on 4th December 1918 as a memento to his comrades as a memento of their time in captivity on Malta.	This photograph shows a POW on Malta wearing the Schutztruppe 1896 Khaki Tropical uniform. His peaked field cap appears to be corduroy and has the Schutztruppe single Imperial cockade. Unusually he has the ribbon of the Iron Cross, second class in his second buttonhole. The Iron Cross was not commonly received by members of the Schutztruppe until they returned to Germany after the war.

This postcard was sent by a prisoner on Malta in 1917 wishing a Merry Christmas to his father in Hanover, Germany. Note that the card is written in English to meet the approval of the POW Camp censors. In the photograph he wears a Schutztruppe 1896 Khaki Tropical Uniform and Field Cap with the Schutztruppe single Imperial cockade. It is not sure whether he served in East Africa or Cameroon.		This photograph shows an NCO of a German Infantry or Foot Artillery Regiment. Note the double cuff lace of a Feldwebel. He wears the dark blue peacetime uniform with a wartime, Prussian Iron Cross ribbon in his tunic buttonhole. This photograph was most likely taken back in Germany before his capture and imprisonment on Malta.

A Summary of the Prisoners of War Interned at Malta 1914 -1919

The main events with PoWs arriving for the Malta PoW Camps are summarised, together with approximate numbers. Many of those held in Malta were civilian internees and crews from merchant ships. Large numbers were transferred to Malta from Egypt. Each PoW was allocated a Malta PoW Number on arrival and these are shown in groups corresponding to the date range and main events.

Period	Main Events	PoWs	PoW Nos.
Aug-Oct14	Local internees + ships’ crews from Erymanthos and Kawak	99 by 22Aug14	1-150
Nov14	1^st batch of German & Austrian internees from Egypt (arrived 4.11), including ship’s crew from Koerber	597	150-770
Nov14	Ottomans received from French Navy (6.11)	19	150-770
Dec14	2^nd batch of Germans & Austrians from Egypt (1.12)	564	770-1570
	German Navy Survivors from SMS Emden (6.12)	150
	3^rd batch of Germans, Austrians & Turks from Egypt (20.12)	75
Jan-Jul15	Ottomans received from French (23.2)	15	1570-1710
Jan-Jul15	Crews of Gutenfels and Marquis Bacquehem from Egypt	60	1570-1710
Aug-Dec15	Bulgarian ship’s crew	16	1710-1885
	Greeks from Salonika	30
	Jugoslavs & Ottomans from Egypt	45
Jan- Jun16	Greeks from Salonika	40	1885-1985
Jan- Jun16	Ottomans from Egypt	35	1885-1985
Jul-Dec16	German soldiers captured in Palestine via Egypt	24	1985- 2140
Jul-Dec16	Ottomans from Hedjaz and Egypt	60	1985- 2140
Jan- Jun17	Ottomans from Egypt	100	2140- 2245
Jul- Dec17	German and Austrian soldiers captured in Africa via Egypt	152	2245-2425
Jan-Jun18	German Navy Survivors from SMS Breslau	93	2425-2530
Jul-Nov18	German Navy Survivors from U-boat UB-53	27	2530-2650
	Ottomans from Egypt	40
	German Navy Survivors from U-boat UB-68	33
After Nov18	Just over twenty more PoWs received, including General Liman von Sanders, up to end-August 1919. There was a slight overlap with the post-WW1 Turkish Deportees, with the non-Turkish filling the gaps after PoW No.2668.	20	2650-2666 + later gaps

The Return of the PoWs after the War
Although there were some departures during the First World War, the majority remained in situ until the respective Peace Treaties had been signed and even then, individual departures still required suitable transport, transit visas and funds.

The majority of PoWs were not able to pay their own way and it was the responsibility of the respective National Governments to provide transportation for their prisoners homeward journeys. Germany in particular suffered from a massive shortage of shipping and this delayed German PoW departures from Malta. Although the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28th June 1919, it wasn't until November 1919 that suitable transport had been acquired. Some 1200 German PoWs departed Malta during that month on SS Reshid Pasha.

In contrast, the first Austrians departed on 10th September 1919, the day the Peace Treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye was signed. 30 departed that day on SS Etruria, followed by 33 a week later on SS Citta di Tripoli. Unfortunately, the detailed information held at Kew Records Office doesn't continue beyond the end of September 1919, although it's understood that the Austrians had all departed by November.

Thanks to Alan Green for sharing this information and these photos with us. Please respect his generosity by not reproducing them elsewhere without permission.
Photos © Malta Study Circle

Please contact me here if you have other photographs of the German colonies or the soldiers and sailors that served there. I am especially keen to hear from people with family photograph collections and am always happy to try to assist in identifying uniforms, units, places and dates for family history research.

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