Captives in our Midst: Local Prisoner of War Camps

Detail: Ordnance Survey map showing New Park, Dunham Massey. Trafford Local Studies Collection, cat. ref. 96271655. 

Dunham Massey’s prisoner of war camp (number 189) was located in the New Park (to the north-east of Dunham Massey Hall), mostly on land which is now Dunham Forest Golf and Country Club. Like a great deal of the surrounding area, the land belonged to Roger Grey, the 10th Earl of Stamford.

The camp was originally designed to house American troops, who arrived in October 1943, but soon left for Aldermaston in May 1944. In October 1944, Lord Stamford was informed that the camp was to be used for prisoners of war, who occupied the barracks around a month later. US troops were initially housed in structures of timber and brick, while corrugated huts were added later. At its peak, in 1945, there were more than 200 huts. 

Both Italian and German POWs stayed at the camp, although they were housed separately. The Italians relocated to a camp at Sinderland, and those considered trustworthy were put to work on local farms. German POWs were categorized when they entered Britain, based on how loyal they were to Nazism. Each prisoner was assigned a colour patch of white, grey or black: black identifying those who were either probable or ardent Nazis. These patches feature in many local people’s memories of the prisoners. The German prisoners at Dunham were made up of many different factions of the armed forces: from submarine pilots to paratroopers and members of the Waffen-SS.

Polish guards watched the perimeter to prevent escape, but only British soldiers were allowed in the camp. Prisoners were said to have been treated well and life was not all hardship. Leisure activities were allowed and German POWs even built a model Bavarian castle and rockery within the camp which, years later, was discovered in a local resident’s garden.

The camp stayed open until 1949, although many prisoners were repatriated before this time. In December 1946, they were allowed to visit homes and go for walks. Friendships were formed between prisoners and local residents that lasted for decades.

Alfred Paeserack

This drawing is stored with the material relating to Alfred Paeserack in Trafford's archive. The speech translates as "What, no beer?" and "What, I should translate all of this?" Trafford Local Studies Collection, cat. ref. LHC/773.

Alfred Paeserack was a German POW who had been captured in France in September 1944. He was held at the camp at Dunham from 1945 to 1948. He wrote down an account of his time there when he was in his seventies, and a translation of this is stored safely in Trafford’s archives.

Although he speaks of the ‘misery of being a prisoner of war’ and his worry about not having heard from his parents for three years, his account is largely positive and he has fond memories of his time there.

He characterises his first few months in the camp as ‘counting, eating, shuffling’, in reference to the regular roll calls, eating of cabbage soup, and shuffling around the park. Later, there were activities that the prisoners could partake in, such as courses which taught prisoners business, languages, engineering, and history, amongst other subjects. They also constructed a football pitch and staged performances with intricate sets and costumes.

I especially remember a set showing a German railway station with a platform, passengers, train wagons, baggage porters, railway officials and the fine ladies and gentlemen from the 1910’s in their beautiful costumes.

Detail: Ordnance Survey map of Kingsway Park, Davyhulme, 1968. Trafford Local Studies Collection.

The Davyhulme camp was located on an area of land that today spans part of Kingsway Park and Queensway. It started life as an army camp, set up to defend the local area from air raids. When the threat of air attack diminished as the war went on, the large anti-aircraft guns were replaced with wooden replicas, to fool enemy photographers.

The area was turned into a POW camp and, like Dunham’s camp, it housed both German and Italian prisoners. They were transported by lorry to work on farms in Flixton, Carrington, and Barton. Later the area was used as a resettlement camp for Polish servicemen, displaced by the war, and was known as the ‘Davyhulme hostel’.