At September 3, 1939, Great Britain and the Commonwealth declared war against the German Empire. Already some weeks later were build the first war-prisoner camps: The Glenn Mill camp in Oldham, Lancashire and in Hawkshead, Lancashire a camp for officers. Number:
1940/41, most POW's already had been brought to Australia or Canada because the British Empire feared an invasion of the Germans (operation "Seelöwe"). After the military successes of the British troops in Africa, the USA agreed in January 1943 to take over 175.000 prisoners. The number in Great Britain reached the top in 1946 with 402.200 men. [Details]
Camps:
330 camp-locations, work-units and hospitals are known. They were located to 82,7% in England, Scotland 9,8%, Wales 5,4% and Northern Ireland/Canal-islands 2,1%. [Details]
Quarters:
The quarters consisted of huts and nit-cottages, later the prisoners lived in tents quite long. The cold and damp English climate and a lack of heat caused health problems. The prisoners who came from the USA and Canada were accustomed to better quarters and judged the situation far more negative than the prisoners who made much worse experiences in Belgium. For officers, manor houses were often intended as quarters.
Clothing:
The prisoners wore their German uniforms which were exchanged through (usually brown) colored English uniforms after they were worn out. Furthermore the jacket and the pants had to be marked with a strikingly circular patch. Textiles were scarce and often a prisoner had nothing else than he wore. The soldiers from the USA came with plentiful garment to Great Britain. They had bought it there, because they assumed to get released to Germany. When they arrived in Great Britain, everything was taken away.
Food:
Foods were scarce in Great Britain. Accordingly the meals were small and bad. On pressure of the public, the rations were fixed under those of the civilians. Since the prisoners worked mainly in the agriculture, they usually got something to eat there and they could buy food in the canteen so the situation is judged positive by the former prisoners in general. The prisoners who came from the meat-pots in North America were judging the food differently than the soldiers who had to starve in Belgium of course.
Escape:
404 POW tried to escape until May 1945 and 1777 after that date. Until end of November 1947, 81 men were not recaptured.
Mail:
The prisoners were allowed to write 2 letters with 24 lines and 4 postcards per month. A mailing needed very long before arriving due to the censorship, lack of transportation and the bad organization. From VE until autumn 1945, mail-system completely collapsed. The transportation worked out more freely after it.
Great Britain