Post-war life in Bridgend for top Nazi officers
WEARING trademark tunics of the Nazi regime, with jackboots reaching their knees and perfectly manicured moustaches – these rare pictures show some of the most powerful military men in Hitler’s Germany as they were forced to make home in Wales.
They were captured as the Allies advanced through Europe – and taken to a safe and secure location in what was then the county of Glamorgan.
Little more than a stone’s throw from one of Wales’ major towns, Island Farm in Bridgend became one of the key prisoner of war camps for senior members of the German military machine as it crumbled under the offensive on both its fronts.
This astonishing collection of images, which is going to auction, has been unearthed revealing life in the camp – which became known as Special Camp XI – nearly 70 years after it closed.
They show smiling generals, admirals and field marshals, imprisoned on a patch of land in Wales.
Among the highest profile of all the inmates was Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt – Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht in Western Europe – and in one remarkable image he is seen being greeted like a VIP at Bridgend train station by a British officer.
Because of his status, von Rundstedt also received certain privileges at the camp, including his own private suite, consisting of a sitting room and bedroom.
The pictures, documents and letters were compiled by the camp’s intelligence officer and interpreter, Captain Ted Lees, who later worked for the Glamorgan Fire Service.
Captain Lees was a German Jew who fled with his family in 1934 to escape persecution by the Nazis.
He was also the official German interpreter for Glamorgan County Council in the 1950s and 1960s.
Among the items are notes from Captain Lees who recalls a conversation with von Rundstedt, to whom he became a confidante despite being Jewish, where he criticises Hitler for his infamous “halt order” which allowed the Allies to escape from Dunkirk.
His recollections of conversations with the German officers are as eye-opening as many of the photographs.
Capt Lees documented one conversation he had with von Rundstedt who said he had wanted to annihilate the 400,000 Allied soldiers at Dunkirk.
He referred to Hitler as the “little corporal”, describing the decision as an “incredible blunder”.
Despite being responsible for the mass killing of 33,000 Jews at Babi Yar near Kiev in September 1941 and various other atrocities, Rundstedt escaped execution because he was deemed too old and frail to stand trial at Nuremburg.
However, he was summoned to give evidence as a witness where he claimed as a soldier it was his duty to obey orders.
The camp in Bridgend housed 160 officers holding the rank of general, admiral or field marshal, including a number of Hitler’s closest advisers – many seen smiling and posing for group photos.
Other notorious prisoners included Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, who established the operation plans for Hitler’s successful campaign in the west and commanded the Eleventh Army, which conquered the Crimea and Sevastopol on the eastern front.
Capt Lees’ notebook lists all the German General prisoners of war between January 1946 and December 1948.
He kept detailed logs on the prisoners, including their ranks, where they commanded, when they were brought in and what eventually became of them.
He also kept in touch with most of them in later years via letters, many of which are included in the collection.
The collection stayed in Capt Lees’ family but has more recently belonged to a private collector who has decided now is the right time to pass it on.
Island Farm was originally built as a hostel for workers employed at a local munitions factory.
The authorities had believed that the female workers would rather stay nearby than travel as much as 30 miles home each day.
However, the women preferred to travel than stay in the dreary barrack conditions of the hostel, so the camp remained empty until 1943, when it was used to accommodate American troops for the invasion of France.
The authorities had to find suitable accommodation for a large number of POWs captured in Europe and Island Farm, with its concrete huts surrounded by open fields, fit the bill.
The first POWs were a mixed bag of Italian and German troops, but the War Office soon decided that the camp was too comfortable for enlisted men and that German officers should be held there.
The first officer prisoners arrived in November 1944. It was closed in 1948 with the last prisoners returning to Germany.
The auction held by C&T Auctioneers of Ashford, Kent, takes place on 15th March at The Spa Hotel, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The auction is available to view at www. invaluable. com/ catalog/ 190B0I3LZJ