Hello, I'm doing some research on a small PoW work camp at Biggin in Derbyshire. 5 or 6 Ministry of Supply huts for PoWs used as farm labour with Italians from 1943 and Germans by 1945. Most of the buildings survive but have been missed off Historic England/English Heritage previous surveys. I've been through the usual records at The National Archives and at the Derbyshire Record office but wih no mention. Has anyone come across any evidence for the site or the names of those held there? The only thing I've found so far is a newspaper report about two local ladies being prosecuted for being over friendly with Italian PoWs!
Niall, Welcome aboard. I've searched the site, there are no threads that refer to Biggin or Hartington. Except for the gravestones in the local church; plus many posts for Biggin Hill and a Guards officer with that surname. There are, from memory, threads on POW camps and a few on isolated camps used by farming labourers. One such thread appeared in late 2021, research found the relevant death certificates. Have you checked the local church cemetery for either Italian or German graves?
Hello, thanks for the thoughts, I've given the site and threads a good search as well and came up with largely the same! I have a few Italian names which appear onthe 1951 census, who maybe PoWs who stayed local, but otherwise nothing. Sadly the newspaper article onthe fratenising locals mentions the ladies names but not the PoWs (see the article on the attached front page of the Derby Advertiser of 1943).
Niall, I note the press report refers to Hartington Nether Quarter; would that make a difference when searching online?
The size of this camp indicates that it’s likely to be a hostel rather than a main camp. As such, it’s best to look on the English Heritage website for their Po w main camp list and pick the nearest main camps to it. Prisoner of War Camps (1939 - 1948) | Historic England If you get local results, consult the TNA FO 939/xxx file ( if it exists) or even rarer TNA WO 166/ War diary for the main camp. From these you usually find a list of hostels. Relatively few Italians came back after they were all repatriated in the first six months of 1946. In contrast 25,000 Germans stayed on from 1947 onwards.
