UK POW Parent Camps

[bootneck]

By the end of the First World War, the larger Parent POW camps that had working camps and/or agricultural depots with smaller agricultural groups attached to them covered in some instances quite large areas of the UK. The following list of these areas has been put together from data found in the Prisoners of War Information Bureau (PWIB): List of Places of Internment and entered into an Excel spreadsheet:

Brocton (Staffordshire) covered Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland and Staffordshire.

Catterick (Yorkshire) covered Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland and Derbyshire (1 camp attached to Sheffield).

Dorchester (Dorset) covered Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey (Churt, close to the Hampshire border and College Town, Camberley, just over the border in Berkshire), Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

Feltham (Middlesex) a special camp for POWs who ‘favoured’ the Allies cause had a small number of camps in Buckinghamshire, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey.

Frongoch (Merionethshire) had camps throughout Wales. Shrewsbury (Shropshire) looked after camps in Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and Shropshire while Oswestry (Shrophire) was the Parent Camp to a small number of camps within the county. Five camps in Cheshire came under the control of Handforth (Cheshire) while Leigh (Lancashire) controlled camps in Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland.

Stobs Camp (Roxburgh) was the Parent Camp for Scotland.

Pattishall (Northamptonshire) controlled camps in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, London & Middlesex (1 camp in each), Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex.

Whether this was always the case during the war, I would suggest, is open to debate. From evidence found while compiling the database, Catterick is shown as having previously being a working camp under the control of Brocton while Blandford in Dorset was ‘downgraded’ from a parent camp and became a working camp under Dorchester.

Does anyone have any information on how the administration of POW Camps in the UK evolved during the war or supply any references for me to look into this further. The Report into the work of the PWIB during the war found in the National Archives (WO32/2566) contains much of value and appears to relate to the articles of the Hague Convention on the future treatment of POWs.

[sjustice]

'lo boot,

You also need to go through the papers in WO/32/18622

These relate to the re-organisation of the Royal Defence Corps in 1918 and contain useful info for you relating to the coverage of (certain) commands and which camps served as HQ etc.

Where are the documents relating to the PWIB? Are there references to RDC in them?

Kind Regards,

SMJ

[bootneck]

Simon,

Thank you for the reference for the Royal Defence Corps. I have a feeling I may have possibly looked at it a couple of ago when I first looked at WW1 UK POW Camps, but will have a look again next week when I am at Kew.

The PWIB Report (WO 32/2566) I mentioned in my first post does not mention the RDC, but there is information in there on setting up camps, clothing, rations etc. It delineates the responsibilities of Camp Staff and external guards and contains tables of Staff for various sized camps.

There is also information in WO 162/341 and measures to be taken in the event of escapes can be found in HO45/10883/345466 and ADM 1/8506/265. Once again, I do not remember the RDC being mentioned.

Bootneck

[Doug Johnson]

Bootneck,

FO383 contains considerable correpondence and documents relating to German prisoners in the UK. The series has a detailed on line index and can be perused at home for free.

The Anglo - German Family History Society booklet "An insight into Civilian Internment in Britain During WW1" has a map at the end with main internment camps listed. Some of these may be known by different names but the list also includes the six vessels used for PoWs. In Ireland it shows "Old Castle" and in Scotland "Fort George" near Inverness. Neither of these two are listed by these names in the PWIB places of internment. Some temporary camps are also shown of which Fort George was one as was Newbury Race course. FO383 contains reports by neutral observers on conditions in the camps some of which were published in Parliamentary Reports such as Miscellaneous No 30 (1916) which contains reports on the following;

Leigh

Cornwallis Road, Upper Holloway

Shrewsbury

Dyffryn Aled, Abergele

Frognoch, nr Bala

Handforth, Cheshire

Eastcote, Towchester

Jersey

Stobs

Douglas

Knockaloe,

Alexandra Palace

Feltham, Middlesex

Wakefield

Holyport, nr Maidenhead

Stratford

Lilbury Hall, Ware

Shirley Rink, Southampton

Bevois Mount, Southampton

Prince of Wales Camp, Dorchester

Donington Hall

Lower Southern Hospital, Dartford

Oldcastle, Meath

Some of these will be known by different names in the Places of Internment.

Doug

[bootneck]

Doug

Many thanks for the information.

I was not aware of the booklet by the Anglo German Society and I must admit that I have not made much use of the material in FO383, but have trawled through the online indexes that makes searching for items so much easier. I must also admit that when I am at Kew I am also mainly looking at earlier periods.

Thank you for the Meath reference. I suppose there must have been other camps in Ireland but due to the political situation in Ireland in 1919, they might not have been included in the list. It is also possible that the camps in Ireland were used for only a short time during 1914 and 1915.

Eastcote was renamed Pattishall duing the War and the Skating Rink and Beavois Mount, Southampton, were used as Receiving Depots throughout the War. These Receiving Depots could hold 80 Officers and 800 men, but also had the capacity to hold up to an extra 25% of this total if required.

Regards

Bootneck