German prisoners of war in the United Kingdom

Large numbers of German prisoners of war were held in Britain between the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 and late 1948. Their numbers reached a peak of around 400,000 in 1946, and then began to fall when repatriation began. The experiences of these prisoners differed in certain important respects from those of captured German servicemen held by other nations. The treatment of the captives, though strict, was generally humane, and fewer prisoners died in British captivity than in other countries. The British government also introduced a programme of re-education, which was intended to demonstrate to the POWs the evils of the Nazi regime, while promoting the advantages of democracy. Some 25,000 German prisoners remained in the United Kingdom voluntarily after being released from prisoner of war status.

Initially the only Germans to be captured by the British were naval personnel (mainly submariners) and members of the Luftwaffe (German air force). The first prisoners were the captain and crew of a submarine, U-39, on 14 September 1939, only days after the outbreak of war. The commanding officer, Captain Gerhard Glattes, was to serve one of the longest terms as a POW in British hands: he was finally released in April 1947 after seven-and-a-half years in captivity. Luftwaffe personnel who were captured include Franz von Werra, known as The One That Got Away from the book and subsequent film of that title.

Initially two prisoner of war camps were established:

This forty-room mansion was reserved for officers and became known as the 'U-boat Hotel'. It had space for 200 prisoners of war, but in November 1939 it was occupied by only twenty-one men.

This was a former cotton mill housing 2,000 'other ranks' (i.e. those with the rank of sergeant or lower). Conditions were considered to be very poor, especially as far as overcrowding and inadequate sanitation were concerned. 'There were a few big buckets there, the stench was terrible,' one former inmate remembers.

During the early phase of the war, Britain adopted a policy of sending all enemy prisoners to Canada. This measure was intended to preclude the possibility of POWs escaping and making their way back to Germany. A further reason given was that food and other necessities were in short supply within the United Kingdom. Consequently, men were generally shipped to Canada as soon as there were enough to fill a troop carrier. This meant that the total held within the UK seldom exceeded 2,000 men, whereas about 9,000 German prisoners were being held in Canada by late 1942.

The situation changed dramatically following the Desert War. The United States had been at war with Germany since December 1941, and in late 1942 British and American forces began a joint campaign against German and Italian troops in North Africa. These Axis forces finally surrendered in May 1943, leaving the Allies with around 260,000 enemy prisoners of war on their hands. About half of these POWs were German, half Italian. The United States and Britain had previously agreed that in any joint operations they would share prisoners on a 50-50 basis, regardless of which nation’s army had actually captured the individual soldiers concerned. (This meant, for example, that all POWs captured in the Desert War would be divided equally between Britain and the USA, although the majority of prisoners in this particular campaign had been taken by the British). However, Britain's resources were already over-stretched, and its government asked the USA to take some 130,000 prisoners in addition to its own 'share'. The American government agreed to this on condition that they would be able to use the POWs as a labour force within the United States, and subject to Britain’s undertaking to foot the bill for shipping the men back to Europe when the time came. It was agreed that these men would technically count as British prisoners, even though they were to be detained in American camps.

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Wikipedia