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Re: Former POW Camp Given Monument Status

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: July 22, 2002

"PoW camp is given scheduled monument status
By Paul Stokes

A Second World War prisoner-of-war camp became the first to be given Scheduled Monument status by English Heritage yesterday.

Eighty-five per cent of Harperley camp in Weardale, Co Durham, which housed up to 1,400 German prisoners, remains intact. One of the standard huts was used as a theatre with a stage, orchestra pit, prompt box and tiered seating for the audience.
A row of prison huts, one of which was altered into a theatre, with a stage and orchestra pit

As well as forming a drama group and 11-piece orchestra, the inmates produced their own newspaper Der Quell (The Source) and cuttings from German magazines remain fixed to backstage walls. A canteen building displays wall paintings of typical German scenes.

Announcing the scheduling, Lady Blackstone, the arts minister, said: "Harperley provides a fascinating capsule from a period in our history that has been largely forgotten. This is a perfect example of the way in which real people's experiences can transform otherwise ordinary buildings into a living part of our heritage."

Fifty structures have survived at Harperley and despite being the occasional home of chickens the camp remains largely untouched.

A 1946 site plan was recently recovered from Germany which has been added to other documents and personal recollections to demonstrate the working of the camp which was in use until 1948.

Some 400,000 Germans and 100,000 Italians were held in Britain and were put to work locally on agricultural, forestry, dam, road and other construction projects. Educational classes, football and gardening were encouraged and the prisoners also made wooden toys, chess sets and leather items such as slippers for sale.

Dr Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, said: "The survival of Harperley is remarkable and extremely unusual. It has an important wartime story to tell and has enormous education potential.

"Piecing together the history and original layout of the camp has involved careful detective work but it should be possible eventually to recover the full ground plan and the nature and function of individual buildings."

James McLeod and his wife Lisa, 35, who live on a neighbouring farm, bought the 20-acre site eight months ago after the death of the previous owner. They now plan to restore the 49 huts at a cost of £1 million, with the help of English Heritage grants, and open it as a war museum.

Mr McLeod, 34, said: "We get a handful of ex-prisoners who visit every year. They show us where they used to sleep and what they used to do at night when they returned from working on the farm.

"When the farmer who owned it died there were plans to demolish it and build an internet park. I'm so pleased we bought it when we did. We want it to be something for the prisoners for them to come back to and enjoy."

One former prisoner who makes regular visits is Gunter Bunker, 81, who lives in Berlin. He said: "I have a lot of fond memories of the people who we were here with. We were treated well and when I come back here it feels like home."

Another prisoner, Eduard Jadan, 77, never left England after his release in 1948 and lives in Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham. He said: "I get a strange feeling when I come back here. I too have fond memories of the camp.

"The local people who we used to work for were very kind. They didn't treat us like prisoners. I don't have bad memories of Harperley. I think what the McLeods are doing is wonderful."

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2002."