Fight to preserve history of WWII prison camp site
A VOLUNTEER group that cares for a World War II prisoner of war camp is fundraising to preserve a slice of South Wales wartime history.
For the past eight years, the group has been generously loaned a building next to Hut 9 at Island Farm, Bridgend – the site of a massive camp for German prisoners of war in the 1940s. Now, however, the owner has informed the group that he intends to sell.
The owner had intended to knock down the old BT building in favour of housing but he was unable to achieve planning permission. While his appeals were rejected, he allowed the history group to use the building to host lectures, store artefacts and open days for the prisoner of war camp.
Volunteer Brett Exton has set up the fundraiser to ensure the future of the open days can continue.
He explained: “If we don’t raise the money, I’m not saying the group will diminish altogether, but it will drastically change what we are able to do.
“We currently host open days on weekends of over 1,000 people, all to learn about Island Farm. Without that building those open days become impractical.”
The camp, named Island Farm, was originally used as a dormitory for factory workers. But in the 1940s the dorm was transformed into a prisoner of war camp which housed around 2,000 captured German soldiers.
Today, only Hut 9 remains. The hut housed 70 prisoners who escaped, making it the largest escape of any prisoner of war camp in Great Britain.
Now, the historians share the hut with bats, which are protected.
Because of this, the external building is essential to continue running such large-scale tours and open days.
Brett praised the volunteer team, saying: “It’s incredible how much time we devoted to the site.
“We’re often literally here from early evening till after midnight. That’s how passionate we are.
“That building helps support school visits, open days, things like that which we currently do with the use of that building.
“If we lose it, then you know we can’t do that anymore.”
Brett says the group must raise £40,000 if they would like to officially take over the building.
“I appreciate that it’s a lot of money, and I do appreciate that, and I know it’s probably going to take a lot of time unless a very generous person makes a substantial donation,” Brett added.
He said that should the fundraising not go their way, the money will be invested in continuing to purchase memorabilia for Hut 9. The Island Farm fundraiser can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/helppreserve-the-history-of-island-farm.