Camp or POW - Woodmancote

[dean coles]

Morning All ,

to set the scene ! .. My fathers younger sister has said that at the end of WW2 and some time after , their Mother and neighbours use to collect food parcels thrown over the 'wire' or hedge from a camp that had Polish soldiers .

My Grandfather was still serving with the Royal Warwicks' at the time and with no major income coming into the home , with 11 children and the rest of the terrace block virtually in the same predicament … there are a lot of memories /stories about these events . 

My question is  ; Was there a Camp at Woodmancote, Southbourne , west sussex , at this time  ?

Thanks

Dean  

 

[Moonraker]

Good Afternoon, Dean

 

Sadly the scene you've set is in the wrong theatre, as this Forum is exclusively about the Great War of 1914 to 1918. You may be lucky with someone coming along with some info before the Mods close the thread.

 

You include "PoW" in your topic title, but the Poles were on Britain's side in WWII, so were hardly prisoners. After the war ended there were many Polish resettlement camps around the country to ease the transition of Poles serving with Allied forces to civilian life. At least one remains as a Polish community. Some of their names were very localised, but a glance through several listings on the Web doesn't find any linked to Southbourne. (One assumes your family lived at the Sussex Woodmancote, as there is one in Gloucestershire and a Woodmancott between Basingstoke and Winchester.)

 

Moonraker

[Pat Atkins]

WW2talk forum will probably know, I'd try there. Good luck.

[dean coles]

Hi All 

thanks for help , sorry I posted in the wrong place , I have now confirmed it was in Cemetery lane , Woodmancote and was still in use as a army families hostel in 1968 .

 

thanks again

Dean