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Report - - POW Camp 116, Hatfield Heath, November 2013 | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - POW Camp 116, Hatfield Heath, November 2013

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28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
One day after work in November, Whitelighter and I headed over to POW Camp 116. I had already visited previusly, although as that was in summer when the nettles were in full force and obscuring some of the rusty cars that I had seen there, I was more than happy to go again.
As he had not been before and - liking military stuff - I suggested it as an easy way to kill a couple of hours.

As I have already covered this previously here http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/military-sites/81869-pow-camp-116-hatfield-heath-june-2013-a.html and as I expect that Whitelighter's report (when he gets round to it) will likely contain more of the buildings etc that would normally be expected, I have concentrated more on some of the bits and pieces that are still lying around here that I found interesting. I hope that others will also find them of interest


History again, copied and pasted from my previous report:

Prisoner of War Camp 116 was set up in 1941 to house Italian prisoners of war. From 1943-1944 it mainly held German and Austrian prisoners. The POW's were allowed out to work on the nearby farms.

From a Harlow Star article in 2008:

Many people may not be aware that the area we now call Harlow was once a place where captured soldiers were sent to work the land.

German and Italian troops caught during the conflict had the opportunity to break from the incarceration of prison camps to feel some sense of normality working on the farms which dotted the area.

The work was totally voluntary and the lifestyle quite enjoyable in comparison to the life British POWs endured in German hands.

There were a lot of Italians at the main camp in Hatfield Heath, which was built for about 750 people. The camp was non-Nazi, so it was classed low-risk and there was a War Agricultural Committee which arranged for Land Girls to pick up prisoners and take them to allotted farms and then take them back again.
There were also two satellite camps, one in Matching Tye and one in Bishop's Stortford, which were on a smaller scale and the prisoners at the Matching Tye camp were sent to work on land which is now Harlow.

Full article When enemy POWs tilled Harlow's land | Harlow Star Home Page


Combine harvester gearing
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Nearby trailer
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Shower

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Lovely dated piping
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Rusty Hillman
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As always, full set on my flickr POW Camp 116, November 2013 - a set on Flickr
 
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