German prisoners of war in the United Kingdom

The British government also introduced a programme of re-education, which was intended to demonstrate to the POWs the evils of the Nazi regime, while promoting the advantages of democracy.

The commanding officer, Captain Gerhard Glattes, was to serve one of the longest terms as a POW in British hands: he was finally released in April 1947 after 7+1⁄2 years in captivity.

The United States had been at war with Germany since December 1941, and in late 1942 British and American forces began a joint campaign against German and Italian troops in North Africa.

[7] The United States and Britain had previously agreed that in any joint operations they would share prisoners on a 50-50 basis, regardless of which nation's army had actually captured the individual soldiers concerned.

(This meant, for example, that all POWs captured in the Desert War would be divided equally between Britain and the US, although the majority of prisoners in this particular campaign had been taken by the British).

[7] The American government agreed to this on condition that they would be able to use the POWs as a labour force within the United States, and subject to Britain's undertaking to foot the bill for shipping the men back to Europe when the time came.

Those whose names began with a letter in the second half of the alphabet were transported to the United Kingdom, arriving at the cluster of ports comprising Portsmouth, Gosport and Southampton.

[11] Conditions in the British-run camps in Belgium were described as extremely harsh, and when the Financial Secretary to the War Office, Frederick Bellenger, received reports on the situation he is stated to have been 'filled with horror'.

These events caused considerable resentment among the Germans, as many of them had fought against and been captured by American forces, and had been unaware until then that they were technically prisoners of the British.

Following pressure from politicians, religious groups, the Red Cross, and from a sizeable sector of the public, the British government began to repatriate the German prisoners in September 1946.

[16] Reasons given for not following this course of action sooner include: Once repatriation of the German prisoners had commenced, most of the men had been returned to Germany by the latter half of 1948.

Even at this late stage, Britain was still desperately short of agricultural workers while, at the same time, a significant number of the POWs were reluctant to return to Germany.

(Reasons for this included their original home now being within the Soviet sector; being in a relationship with a British woman; and adverse reactions to the atrocities committed by the Nazis).

Medical and dental care in the POW camps were provided by visiting British doctors and dentists, or by German prisoners with appropriate qualifications gained in Germany before enlisting in the forces.

Most POWs were employed on farms, as Britain urgently needed a high level of food production, and there was a shortage of agricultural workers.

[20] During the catastrophic snowstorms suffered by Britain in the winter of 1946–47, German POWs stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Allied troops in an effort to re-open essential road and rail links.

[23][24] Prisoners were encouraged to produce their own camp magazines, and a weekly German-language newspaper, Wochenpost, was published by the British government specifically for the POWs.

POWs who were deemed to be suitable for more intensive instruction were invited to attend the college at Wilton Park, which had been set up for their benefit, and which is still in existence.

The Scientific Commission for the History of German Prisoners of War (often referred to as the Maschke Commission, after its chairman, Erich Maschke) came to the following conclusion: 'Although as a whole many critics saw the re-education efforts made by the victorious powers as problematic and questionable, it is a fact that none of the powers made such a decisive effort as Great Britain – particularly in respect of the POWs – to assist Germany's return to a free and democratic European group of nations ... in this respect the prisoners held in Great Britain ... were way ahead of their compatriots in Germany.

I write the word "luck" quite intentionally, because, believe it or not, it is today here in West Germany considered an advantage to have been a prisoner of war in Britain.