What happened to German POWs in UK?

The treatment of the captives, though strict, was generally humane, and fewer prisoners died in British captivity than in other countries. Some 25,000 German prisoners remained in the United Kingdom voluntarily after being released from prisoner of war status.

Where did German prisoners of war go?

After World War II, German prisoners were taken back to Europe as part of a reparations agreement. They were forced into harsh labor camps. Many prisoners did make it home in 18 to 24 months, Lazarus said. But Russian camps were among the most brutal, and some of their German POWs didn’t return home until 1953.

Were there POW camps in the UK?

Between 1939 and 1945, Britain was home to more than 400,000 prisoners of war from Italy, the Ukraine and Germany. They were housed in hundreds of camps around the country, with five sites in Northern Ireland.

Where were German POW camps in UK?

The camps where the PoWs were imprisoned have largely (but not all) disappeared. At one time hundreds of them were spread across the UK. The best known was Island Farm in Wales – scene of a ‘great escape’ in 1945, with some German POWs getting as far as Birmingham and Southampton.

Did German POWs working on farms?

From 1942 through 1945, according to an article on Smithsonian.com, more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the U.S. and held in camps in rural areas across the country; about 500 POW facilities were built. Tens of thousands of enemy prisoners were put to work in canneries, farms and elsewhere.

Did German POWs try to escape from Britain?

It was the biggest Prisoner of War escape attempt in Britain – as 70 German World War Two PoWs tried to tunnel to freedom. Now, 75 years on from the breakout on the 10 March, 1945, hundreds of visitors will get a rare chance to view the Island Farm camp in Bridgend for themselves.