We Remember

Henry Cotton

Henry Cotton
Rank: 
Lieutenant
Unit at enlistment: 
Royal Flying Corps
Force: 
R.F.C.
Volunteered or conscripted: 
Volunteered
Survived the war: 
Yes
Prisoner of war: 
Yes
Awards or decorations: 
Mentioned in Despatches
Birth country: 
Canada
Birth county: 
Brant
Birth city: 
Paris, Ontario
Address at enlistment: 
Paris, Ontario
Next of kin address: 
Paris, Ontario
Trade or calling: 
Reverend
Religious denominations: 
Methodist

Letters and documents

BX August 10, 1917

Paris Flyer Now A Prisoner – Lieutenant Henry Cotton, R.F.C. Captured When Engine was Shot Away

(From Our Own Correspondent)

PARIS, Aug. 10 – Mrs. A. Cotton has received the following letter from her son, Lieut. Henry Cotton, of the Royal Flying Corps., who is a prisoner in Germany. At the time of his enlistment he was in the Methodist ministry, and had been stationed at Waterford, Delhi and other places. He was taken prisoner on May 27, brought down 16 miles over the line, at an altitude of 15,000 feet. Engine and controls were shot away. He was wounded in the head and it seems to be a miracle he escaped.

My Dear Mother and Sisters,

Will be glad to hear that I am quite safe and am being treated splendidly by the Germans. They have done all they possibly could to make us comfortable. Karlsruhe is a lovely city. We are in the centre and live in huts. Everything is done to make life pleasant. Our surroundings are kept quite clean. There are a good number of Canadian officers here. I want you to let Rev. N.A. Hurlburt of Delhi, know I am safe, also Mr. Wells and other friends. Parcels containing the following articles will be very acceptable. Dried bread crumbs (for pudding); dried fruit, (figs, raisins, prunes, apples, etc.), rice, hard cheese, treacle, tinned meats and fish, in fact any tinned goods. Glass goods will break. Parcels must not exceed ten pounds, must be well packed and without postage. Kriegsgefangener means prisoner-of-war camp. I am allowed to receive as many parcels as my friends care to send and also letters which must be written plainly and not more than four pages. Don’t put too much in the parcels and don’t send too many unless you hear further. Will let you know how I was shot down. It was an impossible job they gave us to do. The whole formation was shot down. I shall be quite safe here and with the help of parcels shall be quite comfortable until the war ends. The climate here at present is identical with the 
Canadian weather. Winnie will send me all the clothes I need. We may be moved from camp to camp, but letters and parcels will always follow. The Germans are really very kind to us and help us in every possible way. There are as many prisoners here that the mail is necessarily limited to two letters and four post cards per month. Don’t worry.

Lieut. H. Cotton, R.F.C.
Officer – Kriegsgefangener
Karlsruhe, Germany

BX August 10, 1917

German Prisoner

Lieutenant Henry Cotton, of Paris a flyer who was shot down.

BX April 27, 1918

In the official casualty lists issued from Ottawa today, Lieutenant Henry Cotton of Paris is reported as a prisoner of war.

BX October 25, 1920

Experiences of a War Prisoner – Reverend Cotton Told of Horrors of Life in Hun Prison

Colborne Street church was crowded to the doors at the evening service last night when Rev. Henry Cotton, R.F.C., of Copetown gave an address on his experiences in German camp life.  Mr. Cotton is a young man who is one of those whose experiences have made a deep impression on his inner life and his revelation of circumstances and events, while free from horrors was direct and heart-rending.

Reverend Mr. Cotton began with telling how he was captured while “down” behind the lines in his aeroplane.  He was in two camps, first at Karlsruhe.  Speaking of the food rations there he said the Germans could really not be blamed for starving the prisoners, for they did not have food themselves.  The treatment was better than elsewhere.  At the second prison the German commander was a man who had lived in Milwaukee and his brutality was unspeakable.  The food rations were meager to the most awful degree and Mr. Cotton said he watched men slowly starve to death.  For the least misdemeanor the punishment was most severe.  He saw one punished for failing to salute by being put in a dark cell for five days, being forbidden to speak to anyone, with nothing to read and with worse food than even before.  Men went insane through this treatment.

Reverend F.C. Logan preached in Mr. Cotton’s church in Copetown.  Mr. Cotton spoke in Wesley church in the morning.

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