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The Common Room / Re: History of a house in Shardlow, Derbyshire
« on: Thursday 15 August 19 17:58 BST (UK) »
I am researching PoW camps of WW2. I can confirm that this was known as Camp 570. It was known, on PoW mail as Camp 570, Shardlow Hall. I struggled for years, with Camp 570. There is a lot on the web, about PoWs at the Hall, but I have yet to find evidence of them staying there. So it was a real pleasure for me to find that your house, at the end of a track to the Hall, was the true location for Camp 570.
It was very common to call a 'Camp' by the name of a very large house, nearby. The guards, for Camp 570, were obviously housed in the grounds of the Hall - and their officers lived in the Hall itself.
Italian PoWs were generally used, for agricultural labour. But officers were exempt from doing labour.
I would be interested to hear how the PoWs spent their time, at your house. Obviously, during the day, they would have been taken to the Hall. Once the war ended, the PoWs enjoyed a fair amount of freedom (especially officers). As long as they were in bed, by a certain hour, they would have been allowed to use the Dog and Duck and gone to the cinema etc. I found that the Italian PoWs were very popular with the locals - who did not consider them to be the enemy, compared to German PoWs.
If you scour eBay - on the Italian and German versions, especially, you might get luck and pick up a letter or postcard written and sent from your house. If you are luckier still, you might even find a letter sent from Italy to your house. Once the war was over, the whole PoW address situation became more lax. In other words, Camp 570 may even have your house name on an envelope. Good luck with your search.
The last of the PoWs would have departed your house in 1948. If you contact me, I am in touch with some PoW specialists in Italy. We may be able to find out more about the war history of your property. Because it would have been inspected at some stage, for example, by the International Red Cross.
It was very common to call a 'Camp' by the name of a very large house, nearby. The guards, for Camp 570, were obviously housed in the grounds of the Hall - and their officers lived in the Hall itself.
Italian PoWs were generally used, for agricultural labour. But officers were exempt from doing labour.
I would be interested to hear how the PoWs spent their time, at your house. Obviously, during the day, they would have been taken to the Hall. Once the war ended, the PoWs enjoyed a fair amount of freedom (especially officers). As long as they were in bed, by a certain hour, they would have been allowed to use the Dog and Duck and gone to the cinema etc. I found that the Italian PoWs were very popular with the locals - who did not consider them to be the enemy, compared to German PoWs.
If you scour eBay - on the Italian and German versions, especially, you might get luck and pick up a letter or postcard written and sent from your house. If you are luckier still, you might even find a letter sent from Italy to your house. Once the war was over, the whole PoW address situation became more lax. In other words, Camp 570 may even have your house name on an envelope. Good luck with your search.
The last of the PoWs would have departed your house in 1948. If you contact me, I am in touch with some PoW specialists in Italy. We may be able to find out more about the war history of your property. Because it would have been inspected at some stage, for example, by the International Red Cross.