Enemy aliens

In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict with and who are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed. Usually, but not always, the countries are in a state of declared war.

At the outbreak of World War II, in 1939, the United Kingdom had become a place of refuge for people who had fled Nazi persecution, including Jews and political refugees. At first, the authorities interned these refugees with other enemy residents, without distinction. Later on, when Italy also declared war, significant numbers of Italian residents were also interned.

The Isle of Man, relatively isolated from the British mainland and with a useful amount of holiday accommodation was used to provide housing for the "Alien Civilians" (as it had in World War I). There were also efforts to move internees from Britain. In July, 1940, the Arandora Star was torpedoed and sunk while transporting Italian and German aliens to North America; 743 died, including prisoners, crew and guards. The 813 surviving prisoners were subsequently included in the 2,500 men transported by HMT Dunera for internment in Hay, New South Wales.

The Pioneer Corps was apparently the only British unit that enemy aliens could serve in early in the war. Many thousands of Germans and Austrians joined the Pioneer Corps to assist the Allied war efforts and liberation of their home countries. These were mainly Jews and political opponents of the Nazi Regime who had fled to Britain while it was still possible, and included the cinematographer Ken Adam, writer George Clare and publisher Robert Maxwell. These men - often dubbed "The King's Most Loyal Enemy Aliens" - later moved on to serve in fighting units. Some were recruited by Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) as secret agents. They were instructed to choose an "English" name using their old initials.

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Wikipedia