WW2 Prison Camps in Cumberland and Westmorland

[patrexjax]

Hello all, thanks to your suggestions, it appears his birthplace was Gilsland, Waterhead in the subdistrict of Brampton...Of course, that doesn't mean his Father was stationed at that exact place.     Those were tough times for many families and sadly, after returning to Newcastle-on-Tyne, that child died by drowning as a teen-ager....best wishes to all for a happy holiday season.  Pat

[bobgraham]

If he was at Gilsland, then he could have been associated with Spadeadam which was used to test Blue Streak (Britains last independant rocket)in the 50's and there were rumours of a german bomber shot down there during the war but whether it was an operating airfield during the war I don't know.
bob

[patrexjax]

Hello Bob, It seems very probable since he WAS in the RAF!  Thanks for the extra input.  Happy holidays!  Pat

[jeffbubble]

Wartime Camps
Prisoner of War Camps: Throughout the country fifteen hundred camps were built under a Government move to accommodate Italian and German prisoners of war. During the war years there were over four hundred thousand prisoners in Britain. Because Eden was so remote it was perfect to house prisoners of war and a number of camps were located in the area.
In the early 1940s there was an Italian prisoner of war camp, known as Camp 76, at Merrythought on the A6 just north of Plumpton. (The site is now owned by D.E.F.R.A. and is a Veterinary Investigation Centre). Shap Wells Camp: There was a camp for German Army officers at the Shap Wells Hotel.  (for more details see the section on the U-Boat Hotel)
Displaced Persons Camps:  At the end of the war the former Army camp of brick-built and Nissen-type huts in Lowther Park was converted to accommodate 600 refugees from Poland. They had their own school, church, community centre and football club. Many of the refugees later integrated into the local community. Greystoke Castle, which at the outbreak of the war had been taken over by the Army for tank driver training, was later used to house about 2000 Polish people.

Copyright Eden Council

[gilyat]

Hi!  I have 2 photos of the "Church" which was created at the POW Camp at Moota, by the German POW's, and was ornately painted with biblical characters by a German prisoner. I understand he painted his own likeness into that of Christ on the Cross.  I understand too, that around the alter written in German were the words "All men are Brothers".  I knew a local man Willy Ulrick who was also in the camp , but stayed here after the war. He was a well known painter in the area, and remembered the church well and said how very colourful and beautiful it was.  All the figures were life-size, and the beams of the old Barrack were painted to look as if they were actually carved , a kind of  trompe l'oeil . (A trick of the eye) It was demolished after the war, which was sacrilidge in my opinion.

[Geoff-E]

Something about the Moota camp here http://www.cockermouth.org.uk/history/mootachapel.htm

[gilyat]

Very interesting. My photos show the whole of the interior and are really good ones too.  It's good to see some of the panels really close up like that. Thank you for posting that link.

[emmsthheight]

Hi

Thank you all for the replies.

What a shame about the chapel.

Emms