German POW Souvenir

German POW Souvenir depot QW.189. OI

Framed selection of artefacts from a German POW from Depot Q. 189. OI, Havre-Ville bei Mons , Belguim.

Selection of insignia and photo’s, and some paper currency.

Large numbers of German prisoners of war were held in Britain between the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 and late 1948. Their numbers reached a peak of around 400,000 in 1946, and then began to fall when repatriation began.^[1] The experiences of these prisoners differed in certain important respects from those of captured German servicemen held by other nations. The treatment of the captives, though strict, was generally humane, and fewer prisoners died in British captivity than in other countries. The British government also introduced a programme of re-education, which was intended to demonstrate to the POWs the evils of the Nazi regime, while promoting the advantages of democracy. Some 25,000 German prisoners remained in the United Kingdom voluntarily after being released from prisoner of war status.^[2]

Early phase of the war

Initially, the only Germans captured by the British were naval personnel (mainly submariners) and members of the Luftwaffe (German air force).^[3] The first prisoners were the captain and crew of a submarine, U-39, on 14 September 1939, only days after the outbreak of war. The commanding officer, Captain Gerhard Glattes, was to serve one of the longest terms as a POW in British hands: he was finally released in April 1947 after seven-and-a-half years in captivity.^[4]

Initially two prisoner of war camps were established:

This forty-room mansion was reserved for officers and became known as the ‘U-boat Hotel’. It had space for 200 prisoners of war, but in November 1939 it was occupied by only twenty-one men.^[5]

This was a former cotton mill housing 2,000 ‘other ranks’, or in other words, those who were not a commissioned officer.^[3]

During the early phase of the war, Britain adopted a policy of sending all enemy prisoners to Canada. This measure was intended to preclude the possibility of POWs escaping and making their way back to Germany. A further reason given was that food and other necessities were in short supply within the United Kingdom. Consequently, men were generally shipped to Canada as soon as there were enough to fill a troop carrier.^[3] This meant that the total held within the UK seldom exceeded 2,000 men, whereas about 9,000 German prisoners were being held in Canada by late 1942.^[6]

German POW Souvenir depot QW.189. OI