Hermann Kuske

by Pauline Williams

Hermann Kuske lived with his father, mother, sister and two younger brothers near Konin in Poland and ran a prospering mill and farm. They were German but had moved to Poland some generations before to set up their business. The children attended school in Poland but spoke German at home. 

During the war, Poland was occupied by Germany and when Hermann was 18 he was conscripted into the German army. He went to Berlin for his army training. The family was not afraid of the German occupation – they were of German ancestry after all. However, they were VERY afraid of the Russians. When the Russians later invaded, the family was decimated; their precious farm was burned to the ground; the father was transported to Siberia; the mother and younger brothers fled to North Germany; their cousins were lined up against a barn and shot; their grandmother was mowed down by a tank in front of them; and the sister (Ida) was left the mercy of the Russians (you can imagine what happened to a 16 year old girl). 

Hermann was put in charge of a unit of 16 soldiers and had been in the army for 6 months when he was cut off behind enemy lines in France. They were on a French farm when they realised they were trapped so he instructed his men to hide in a massive haystack. They remained there for some while until they heard English being spoken – they knew that if they surrendered to the French they would be shot on the spot. Fortunately a Welsh Platoon took them prisoner and ultimately they were taken to Essex as prisoners of war. 

Hermann spoke very good English and became the translator in the Prisoner of War camp. They worked hard to grow vegetables in various farms around the countryside and security was very relaxed. One day, the soldier in charge of the men being escorted to their work decided to go and spend the day with his girlfriend. He handed Hermann his gun and asked him to take charge of the prisoners. Hermann obliged but became very worried when the soldier did not reappear until the last moment before returning to the camp – he was imagining the scenario of him being found with a gun and a missing English soldier. He handed back the gun very swiftly when the soldier joined the bus. 

One of the places Hermann worked was the Benson estate (of Kleinwort-Benson banker fame). Mid- morning he would have a tea break in the basement kitchen where he met Joyce Willder-Bailey, an orphan who was obliged to take tea with the cook. They fell in love and married, whereupon Hermann changed his name by deed poll to Henry Benson (hoping that some of the banker good fortune would rub off!). Henry came to England with nothing but started out with Joyce by raising pigs, rabbits and chickens and then they built their own house. They went on to build four more houses, raised four children and I am the youngest. 

When the war ended, Hermann’s father returned from Siberia, but he was a broken man and ruined, despairing that he had lost his sons’ inheritance. The two younger brothers ended up in Lisle, Illinois, USA and married two German sisters, while Ida married and remained in Germany. The family was scattered by the war but made a happy reunion in Germany in 1974.