Flaxton’s German Prisoners of War

Introduction

During and after the Second World War, Flaxton village and the surrounding area accommodated German Prisoners of War (POW) who worked on local farms.

One such POW, Albert Günnigmann, who is believed to have been captured in Normandy, lived with the Boddy family who were then tenants of Draft Farm. Albert lived with them from 1944 until 1947.

The picture gallery shows Albert’s POW photograph and number, together with photographs of John and Alice Boddy. John and Alice had twin girls, Christine and Jaqueline born in 1944, who would have lived in Draft Farm during Albert’s residency.

John was also known as Jack and Alice was known as Sally!

On his return to Germany Albert married Maria. The Günnigmann and Boddy families remained in touch until Albert died in 1989.

Alice visited Germany in 1951 when she took along several gifts including a doll which is the pride of the family.

Alice sadly died young in 1961 and is buried at Flaxton Church.

John later re-married and took on the tenancy of Leckby Farm. He died in 1994 and is remembered by a number of villagers.

The photographs have been kindly provided by Albert’s daughter Margret, her husband Dieter, and son Hendrik who visited Flaxton on 17th May 2024 to trace Albert’s footsteps.

There is a newspaper article from 1947 that mentions other POWs working in the village. One is believed to have been called Eugen who may be the second POW in the photograph on Draft Farm steps.

If anyone has any information about the lives of POWs in Flaxton we would love to hear from you.

You can get in touch via our Community Contact Form.