Frederick Martin was a typical War Graves gardener in many ways. He served in the First World War, settled in France, married a French woman, and was interned by the Nazis in 1940 after a failed attempt to escape.
But in other ways, he was unusual. This episode features several important documents from Fred Martin’s personnel file — one of the few gardeners’ personnel files that survives in the archives of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. They let us hear Fred’s own words about his experience.
Listen on Apple, Spotify, or other major podcast platforms:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/frederick-martin/id1708834160?i=1000629010568
Sources:
- Personnel File of Frederick Martin, P 415, Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archives, Maidenhead, UK
- Personnel File of Charles Posford, P 255, Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archives, Maidenhead, UK
- Census Records, Archives départementales du Pas-de-Calais
Credits:
researched, written, and narrated by Caitlin G. DeAngelis
Jamie Trotter as Fred Martin
sound editing by Fiona Hopkins
music by Albert Behar via Uppbeat