Blanket used by Freidrich Bitzer, Knockaloe Internment Camp internee
Date made: 1914-1919
Maker: unknown
Description: A printed patterned velour-type blanket which was used by the donor's father, Freidrich Bitzer, in Knockaloe Internment Camp in the First World War. Bitzer was working in a German trading mission on the Gold Coast, West Africa, when he was arrested in 1914.
He spent the remainder of the war on the Isle of Man. After the war he emigrated to Australia, where he was interned again during the Second World War.
It is not clear why Bitzer retained this blanket, but it may have had some sentimental connection with his first wife, whom he married in 1912 and who died in 1919.
Materials: wool
Object name: blanket
Collection: Costume & Textiles Collection
ID Number: 2012-0143
Subject tags : #WW1INTERNMENTMUSEUMCOLLECTIONS