Harperley POW Camp 93
Harperley POW Camp 93 is a surviving purpose-built World War II Prisoner of War (PoW) camp built to accommodate up to 1,400 inmates at Fir Tree near Crook, County Durham in the northeast of England. A work camp for low risk PoWs, it was built on a hillside overlooking Weardale and across the valley from Hamsterley Forest. It was built, initially, in 1943 by Italian PoWs to similar plans of other existing Ministry of War Standard Camps of World War II in Britain and was typical of many military installations around the country. It is the main camp for a number of satellite camps, also numbered 93. Nearby Bishop Auckland used Harperley PoWs and Oaklands Emergency Hospital was another installation numbered Camp 93.
There were approximately 1,500 camps of varying categories and sizes in World War II Britain, and of those, about 100 were reported as 'purpose-built', such as Harperley.
Coordinates: 54°42′50.16″N 1°48′15.48″W / 54.7139333°N 1.8043000°W
The land was requisitioned from local landowner Charles Johnson, and then constructed on by the War Office and Italian PoWs who, on arrival, were initially housed in canvas bell tents.
The everyday running of the camp was conducted by the military staff. The first Commandant was Major Tetlow. His duties were mainly confined to the camp although his residence was in Wolsingham, the first village northwest of the camp on the main A689 road. A recent report from one of the British guards confirms frequent, but discreet, lunchtime visits to a local hostelry, 'The Duke of York' in Fir Tree with Major Tetlow and two other senior staff members.
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