News-Info-Alerts

Re: Former POW Camp in England

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: July 22, 2002

For more on this Camp, please visit - http://www.harperleypowshop.co.uk/aboutus.stm

"The first ever Prisoner of War Camp to be made a Scheduled Monument, Harperley POW camp in Weardale, County Durham, was announced today by Arts Minister, Tessa Blackstone, following its recommendation by English Heritage.

A key range of buildings of World War II home front history, Harperley was erected in 1943 on requisitioned farmland. The site retains 85% of its buildings intact and contains unique internal fittings, including a theatre and fine wall paintings.

Some 1500 POW camps were built in Britain and around 100, like Harperley, were purpose built. Inevitably the remains of the vast majority have disappeared.

Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said, "The survival of Harperley is remarkable and extremely unusual. 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. Harperley has an important wartime story to tell and as an educational resource has enormous potential."

Baroness Blackstone, Arts Minister, said: "Harperley provides a fascinating time 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. The owners are to be congratulated on their commitment to the camp, and I know that English Heritage will work closely with them to present it to the public in an imaginative and sensitive way."

Fifty structures survive at Harperley in varying states of preservation and many internal fittings have been lost. But despite its occasional use as agricultural storage and chicken sheds in the past, the site is still largely intact, principally because it remained in single ownership until 1999. What remains has largely been mothballed since the War.

A 1946 site plan of Harperley was recently rescued from Germany and that, plus personal recollections and evidence from other documents and comparable sites will help present future generations with a fuller picture of the experience that thousands of POWs, held in camps like Harperley, went through.



The camp was originally built for Italian POWs but soon housed 900 German prisoners identified as ‘low risk'. Encouraged by the Camp Commander, they set about providing themselves with some rough and ready ‘home comforts'. Among the remaining buildings are two notable survivals of this move.

First is a theatre created in one of the standard huts. It is complete with a stage, orchestra pit, prompt box and even tiered flooring for audience seating. Indications are that the walls were decorated with dyed hessian sacking and there are remains of cuttings from German magazines stuck to the walls backstage.

In a canteen building set aside for rest and recreation, an unusual series of wall paintings of typical German scenes – such as a man in lederhosen and woodland landscapes – survives. The windows even have ‘pretend' hardboard curtains painted in cheerful check patterns.

The camp also produced is own newspaper ‘Der Quell' (The Source), ran a drama group and an eleven-piece orchestra. Educational classes, football and gardening were encouraged and the prisoners could eke out their meagre earnings by making wooden toys, chess sets and leather items such as slippers for sale.

Nevertheless, life for prisoners in camps like Harperley was harsh. The prisoners would be taken out to work locally on agricultural, forestry, dam, road and other construction projects. A total of some 400,000 Germans and 100,000 Italians were held as British POWs. Dependent on their skills they could earn up to 6 shillings (30p) a week – at a time when British agricultural workers earned 75 shillings (£1.50p).

Harperley POW Camp is a unique survival, recalling the POW experience in Britain. English Heritage buoyed up by the strength of local knowledge and interest in the site, will be working with the owners to unlock its potential to bring this important episode of 20th century history to life for the greater understanding of future generations."