We hold: 1. some records of those held captive by German, Italian or Japanese forces 2. some questionnaires which may reveal personal information as well as details of experiences in the prisoner of war camps 3. some individual reports which may reveal details about capture or escape attempts from prisoners of war camps in central Europe 4. selected records of Merchant Navy prisoners of war 5. documents which reveal information about some prisoner of war camps 6. records of enquiries into mis… The Scottish prisoners found on this website are prisoners of war from two battles of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the first, in Scotland in 1650 and, the second, in England in 1651. This is a list of Prisoner of War (POW) Camps located in the United Kingdom during World War II. The library collections include a number of books and journal articles on these prisoners and the conditions in which they were held. The author has also published ‘The prisoners at Penicuik: French and other prisoners of war, 1803-1814′ (1989), which focusses primarily on the three camps in the town: Greenlaw, Esk Mills and Valleyfield. Many of the Nissen huts have been renovated into catering businesses with plans to turn a number of buildings into self-catering holiday homes. Generally, however, POWs held by the Americans enjoyed the greatest level of comfort of any POWs: “The German, Austrian, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war who were held in American hands during World War II experienced the best treatment of any nation’s prisoners in that conflict or probably any other” (Krammer, 2008: 58). Most of the remaining 10,500 came … That's what occurred between 1939 and 1948, when thousands of Germans, Ukranians and others became Britain's prisoners of war, according to a … We returned to UK on the Empress of Scotland arriving in Liverpool … The story of their forced employment as iron-ore miners is told in ‘The Raasay Iron Mine 1912-1942: where enemies become friends’ by Lawrence & Pamela Draper (1990). “That’s hard, because you also know that some of them were involved in terrible atrocities. © DC Thomson Co Ltd 2021. It had a notoriously hard reputation, housing dozens of SS officers, members of the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe & … The book joins another entitled “Schottland 1944-” which contains 66 highly detailed drawings of life at Cultybraggan, drawn by a previous German prisoner of war named Peter (his last name is currently undecipherable). In World War II Scotland hosted both German and Italian P.O.W.s. They had no information about their families, the state of their homeland or when they would be released. Finally, a recent publication sheds light on one of the most hidden camps in Scotland: ‘Camp 165 Watten: Scotland’s most secretive prisoner of war camp’ by Valerie Campbell (2008). There’s certainly no animosity portrayed.”. Cultybraggan was set out into four sections of around 100 Nissen huts, A, B, C and D, and each prisoner would be assigned a patch – black, grey or white. Pages in category "World War II prisoner of war camps in Scotland" The following 13 pages are in this category, out of 13 total. Another area of the country that held German prisoners was the Inner Hebrides on the west coast of scotland. Cultybraggan camp is one of only a handful of former POW camps in Great Britain which still has many of its World War Two features More than … The humanity observed by Mr Mestecky is one which was also clearly observed by the locals of Comrie when Cultybraggan was at its height, once housing thousands of captured Germans. Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica. The reason for this is unknown but speculation has it that it was to confuse the Axis powers in the event of any attempted breakouts after any potential Paratrooper attack or invasion. For a comprehensive list of World War 2 facts, including the primary actors in the war, causes, a comprehensive timeline, and bibliography, click here. In 2016, Henrich Steinmeyer, a previous inmate, bequeathed his home and life savings to the elderly residents of Comrie in a remarkable act of gratitude for his treatment there. Promoting knowledge of the Scottish prisoners from the Battles of Dunbar (1650) and Worcester (1651). They never told him otherwise. Thousands were captured as prisoners of war, and forced to march to London. This list may not reflect recent changes (). Then the Hitler Youth came in, offered them food, uniforms, activities and structure to their lives. A and B (black patches) housed the high-risk, committed Nazis, where C and D (grey and white patches) were home to lower-risk Nazis or German soldiers who were happy to surrender. WATCH: Cultybraggan: The story of Scotland’s prisoners of war The Ship “John and Sara” Prisoners of War, 1651 In 1650 the Scots sided with the monarchy in the English Civil War, and fought against the Puritans in the Battle of Worcester. Fielded Search. “I hope you are well and Maryline too. “The Polish hated the Germans, and drawings in the book of images by Peter depict the Polish soldiers in a much tenser light to the British and Scots depicted beforehand.”. When the war ended, and the prisoners eventually managed to find their way back home from Comrie, many of them did not forget the happiness and kindness they had been bestowed in Scotland by the local people. Between 1939 and 1945, Britain was home to more than 400,000 prisoners of war from Italy, the Ukraine and Germany. Visit the post for more. There is also a Red Cross record of a German soldier being shot in the head by a Polish guard for getting too close to the camp perimeter. Often they were kids, living in poverty. Johann Custodis’ article ‘Exploiting the enemy in the Orkneys: the employment of Italian prisoners of war on the Scapa Flow barriers during the second world war’, published in ‘Journal of Scottish Historical Studies’, Vol.31(1) (2011), pp.72-98, considers the moral and ethical issues surrounding this period of history. From the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century to the First and Second World Wars of the twentieth, there have been prisoners of war held in camps in Scotland. After this, and as the war drew to a close, many more inmates were allowed to fraternise with locals. To find records held by The National Archives, search our catalogueusing keywords. He wrote in 1948, along with many other wishes of thanks to his Perthshire friend: “I feel pretty bad because I have not yet written to you…. One of the 11 files, the file unit "World War II Prisoners of War Records, 1941-1946: American Military Prisoners of War Returned Alive From the European Theater, Vititoe-Zywot" (ARC Identifier 1515993) completed the records of European Theater returned alive prisoners of war. “However, again, you have to look at the background of these men. Not only did workers trust the POWs in their employ, they were happy to leave their children alone with them at night. The library holds several articles on this camp which were published in the ‘Transactions of the Hawick Archaeological Society’. 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Judith Murray, ‘Stobs Camp 1903-1959′ (1988), pp.12-25, Julie M. Horne, ‘The German connection: the Stobs Camp newspaper 1916-1919′ (1988), pp.26-32, Stefan Manz, ‘New evidence on Stobs Internment Camp 1914-1919′ (2002), pp.59-69. Most were captured in a string of defeats in France, North Africa and the Balkans between 1940 and 1942 and held in a network of POW camps … The most comprehensive and detailed account of the Napoleonic prisoners is found in Ian MacDougall’s book ‘All men are brethren: French, Scandinavian, Italian, German, Dutch, Belgian, Spanish, Polish, West Indian, American and other prisoners of war in Scotland during the Napoleonic Wars, 1803-1814′ (2008). The youngest held was a five-year-old drummer boy captured at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. “I wanted to thank you so very much for all your kindness you showed me, so that sometimes I could forget that I was a prisoner.”. The POWs went through a de-nazification process at Cultybraggan, part of which showed images of the internal cruelties at Nazi concentration camps across Europe. They were basically just brainwashed.”. Based in Watten, Caithness, Camp 165 was surrounded by moor. Prisoners of War Only 3,100 of the 13,600 internees held in Britain on 22 September, 1914, originated on the battlefields. You have found the website/blog of the descendants of Scottish prisoners of war from the Battles of Dunbar on 3 Sep 1650 and Worcester on 3 Sep 1651! Display Full Records. It is the last remaining WWII Prisoner of War (PoW) Camp in Scotland. However, Camp 165 also served another purpose. The library collections include a number of books and journal articles on these prisoners and the conditions in which they were held. He was repatriated in an exchange of prisoners towards the end of 1943 and was posted to the Military Hospital at Tidworth. Mr Steinmeyer was held at Cultybraggan along with about 4,000 other prisoners. The first prisoners were French privateers caught in 1758, soon after the Seven Years’ War began. Archive List > Prisoners of War. Today, Cultybraggan is open to the public to explore thanks to the restoration and fundraising work of Comrie Development Trust and the local people of Comrie. “Many of the people in the village had sons away fighting themselves, so I think they wanted to treat these men the way they hoped their children would be treated in the same situation,” said Mr Mestecky. The camp was situated at Watten in Caithness and housed some high ranking prisoners. The Scottish Prisoners of War Society. James MacDonald’s book ‘Churchill’s Prisoners: the Italians in Orkney 1942-1944′ (1987) provides a historical overview of the subject. One couple allowed the German POW working at their farm to babysit when they were out of town. This work, which took twenty years to research, provides an invaluable insight into the lives of the prisoners. Although Red Cross records show that the Cultybraggan prisoners were being fed and housed adequately, they would still have been suffering mentally. Now, thanks to documents recovered from previous members of Cultybraggan Camp 21 prisoner of war camp near Comrie in Perthshire, new light is being shed on the lives of Nazis and German soldiers incarcerated in Scotland. - Record Group 389 Brief Scope: This series has information about U.S. military officers and soldiers and U.S. and some Allied civilians who were prisoners of war and internees. The records of a million World War II Prisoners of War will be published online today. It was those from C and D who were allowed to go out in to the local community to undertake work like farming or construction. Get a round-up of stories from The Sunday Post every week. File unit: World War II Prisoners of War Data File, 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946 in the Series: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created 1942 - 1947, documenting the period 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946 - Record Group 389 You may wish to View the FAQs for this series. Their lives would have also have become presumably harsher under the rule of the Polish guards, who replaced the British in 1944 said Mr Mestecky. He was famously called “Uncle Heinz” by the residents he befriended. After learning that … From our curators, subject experts and guest bloggers. They were greeted by a local policeman who invited them to have a dram at the police station thinking they were Polish. A blog about the work and collections of the National Library of Scotland. Camp 165 Watten in Caithness was home to many “black” Nazis – those considered to be high risk and extremely dangerous. There was a large amount of renaming, renumbering and reuse of camp numbers during World War II. US National Archives, World War II Prisoners Of War Index, 1942-1947 World War 2 Allies Collection US National Archives, World War II Army Enlistment Records - Reserve Corps Records Index,1938-1946 Scottish Prisoners of War clashed with their captors and resisted their authority, to make running prison camps as difficult as possible. Learn more about the Library’s collections, The new celebrity scientists: out of the lab and into the limelight, You say potato: the story of English accents, David Jefferies, ‘Prisoner of war camps in Scotland’, no.56 (1992), pp.490-5, David Jefferies, ‘Update on prisoner of war camps in Scotland’, no.58 (1993), pp.524-5, David Jefferies, ‘P.O.W. To locals Camp 165 was a basic Prisoner-of-War camp. Prisoners of war came from France, America, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Denmark and Poland. THESE are the startling pictures which show the horrific moment Japanese troops used British prisoners of war for target practice. My mother and 5 boys were evacuated from Egypt via Palestine to Durban. All Rights Reserved. This article is part of our larger educational resource on World War Two. There are a number of journal articles in ‘The Scottish Post: the journal of the Scottish Postal History Society’ that provide an overview of camps in Scotland. Even the most loyal of Nazis who produced the Bunte Bühne book depict images of jolly Scotsmen. During the Second World War, over 170,000 British Prisoners of War were captured by German and Italian forces, after defeats in France, North Africa and the Balkans. The World War II Prisoners of War Data File Index holds 143,374 records that begin on December 7, 1941 and continue through November 19, 1946. WW2 People's War Homepage Archive List Timeline About This Site: ... Archive List > Axis Forces. Individuals who wish to learn more about the World War II Prisoners of War Data File Index can visit the website for the National Archives . He said: “There’s a real conflict of feeling when you look at these documents, which show an intelligent, comedic and cultured side to the prisoners. More than 170,000 British prisoners of war (POWs) were taken by German and Italian forces during the Second World War. FROM Bridge Over the River Kwai to the Railway Man, the British World War Two prisoner of war’s plight is one we are all well aware of. Find out more about the CDT and Cultybraggan at www.cultybraggancamp.co.uk. Hitler's deputy Rudolph Hess also spent a night there after parachuting … How is the garden and the peas and the beans I was sowing? Bunte Bühne, a book of pamphlets showing sketches and reviews of theatre performances put on by the most ardent of Nazis at the camp was handed to Comrie Development Trust (CDT) earlier this year by a member of the Deutshe Theatre Comrie’s grandson, and is now on display at Cultybraggan. Some tried but found the harshness of the surrounding land too much … He, like so many others at the camp wanted to express his thanks for the kindness they had been bestowed while in Scotland. Letters have been recovered between the prisoners of war and locals which show established friendships, and stories relayed in a soon-to-be-released documentary on Cultybraggan by Mousehole Films, tell tales of locals smuggling prisoners of war out in school uniforms so they could go to the cinema. It wasn’t all rosy however. Named PoW Camp No 21, also as the “Black Camp of the North”, it was built in 1941 to house up to 4,000 prisoners. Both to identify them, and it is also believed, as an easy shooting target if they tried to escape. The Japanese treatment of prisoners of war in World War … Camp 165 was located in the Scottish Highlands. These records were compiled from the National Archives. Many locals recall the prisoners being brought to Comrie via the old railway line on “special trains,” and how the German’s would sing defiantly as they were marched through the village to the camp. Others wrote letters to those they had grown close with during their time in Perthshire, including Wolfgang Ruckert to Mrs Ponsford of Comrie. It’s the stuff of TV drama: schoolgirls befriend a German prisoner of war being held in Scotland during the second world war. Its remote setting made escape difficult for POW’s. The documents not only depict what life was like at Cultybraggan at the time, but give a humanity to the prisoners of war, says Phil Mestecky, heritage and events manager at CDT. One of the things which soon became apparent was that Jews were particularly likely to fall foul of General Sikorski's Government in Exile and end up in the two camps in Scotland… On New Year’s Eve, 1945, a prisoner named Helmut Stenger went to Crieff with a friend for a fish supper. The vast and ever-growing Forces War Records database is cross-referenced — so you may even find out further nuggets of information from this one search. This was gifted to CDT by a previous guard at Cultybraggan and is also on display at the camp. It may be best to start by contacting another organisation, particularly if you are interested in records from the Second World War (see section 7for details). Promoting knowledge of the Scottish prisoners from the Battles of Dunbar (1650) and Worcester (1651). One story of these low-risk prisoners shows how integrated the prisoners became in the community. Cultybraggan was one of two maximum security prisoner of war camps in Britain, and, like Camp 165 Watten, held some of the most hardline and trouble-making Nazis captured during the war. From the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century to the First and Second World Wars of the twentieth, there have been prisoners of war held in camps in Scotland. But little is still widely known about the tens of thousands prisoners of war who were kept in this country during the Second World War, and the experiences they had on Scottish shores. “It’s clear that the prisoners had a special affinity for the local people. The book is based primarily on oral testimony of those who lived in the area and those who were imprisoned in the camp. The first German prisoners of war returned to their homes in 1946, the last in 1949. During the First World War there was a camp at Stobs near Hawick in the Scottish Borders. It is not possible to find records using a person’s name (catalogue descriptions for these records do not include names) so, instead, use any of ‘prisoner of war’, ‘POW’ ‘P.O.W’ or ‘P.W.’ plus one or more of the following: 1. the nationality of the prisoner 2. the eventual outco… Cultybraggan was one of around 35 prisoner of war camps operating in Scotland during the Second World War, from the Borders to Orkney. 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