Obóz dla Niemieckich jenców wojennych

 

Camp POW for German Soldiers

 

Listownik / Brief

 

POCZTA JEŃCÓW WOJENNYCH
KRIEGSGEFANGENENPOST

CAMP PRISONER OF WAR

P.O.W. Camp No 17 
Sheffield

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 Camps for prisoners of war in Great Britain

     The first prisoners in Britain were interned in two camps, ordinary soldiers being held at Glen Mill Camp in Oldham, Lancashire (Camp 176) and Officers interned at Grizedale Hall Lancashire (Camp 1). Grizedale Hall was a stately home which at the time was expensive to run and prompted a certain Colonel Wedgewood to complain in a speech to the House of Commons that "...would it not be cheaper to hold them (German PoWs) at the Ritz Hotel in London?" Soon however more camps sprang up that were a lot more modest with huts, barracks and tents providing the accommodation. The number of camps in Britain was to change drastically though and from it's humble beginnings of just two camps in 1939 the network of POW camps was to grow to 600 by 1948.



    The map above shows the network of PoW camps in Britain and Northern Ireland at it's peak. The camps further north housed the more ardent Nazis and members of the Waffen SS as well as Fallschirmjäger and U-boat crews.

    The camps themselves on mainland Britain varied form site to site but the majority (if not situated in existing premises such as disused factories, hotels, colleges or stately homes etc.) were constructed from corrugated tin and wood. These structures were known as Nissen huts and can still be seen today in rural parts of Scotland and Wales.

   

    

    

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