Prisoner of war camps in Notts


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To me that looks like the northwest side of the hall, along Lime Tree Avenue towards Wollaton Road - but I could be wrong.

Used to go and fly my "Peter Powell Stunt Kite" in that area!

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Used to go and fly my "Peter Powell Stunt Kite" in that area!

I had one of the first ones !! £6.50p bought in Trevor North Wales Summer 1976. Great idea just poor design, with the support arms being made of thin Aluminium one hard crash into the deck and it was toast!! It cost a quid to replace each one (And I must have broke half a dozen before I gave it up as a bad job!!

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The only huts I know of through the gates are or were used as changing rooms for football teams, don't know whether they'd be the ones your on about

Rog

I think those changing rooms are the remnants of the larger compound which was used for the POWs

I've raided the Old Maps website again, and here's Wollaton Park immediately post-WW2. Look at all the buildings just inside the gates off Wollaton Road

POWs.jpg

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Looking again at the pic., I too would say that it's the north western side of the park. The camera may have been in front of the Hall facing to the right of the stables and in the direction of Wollaton village. If that's the case then the huts that I remember would have been the ones at the top right hand corner of the map but out of the photo to the right.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The camp in Wollaton park, was between the bottom of the hill and Wollaton road. At various times during the war it was used for, - UK army, US army, (as lads we used to watch them playing baseball)(and argue with them about the superior values of cricket), German prisoners, and Italian prisoners. These latter were allowed to roam the city. A summers Sunday afternoon would see them on the Trent Embankment in their hundreds, - flirting with the girls. They wore green overalls.

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My mother mentioned that bakery bombing several times. She always resented having her school mates go off to die in the forces and the bombing of Nottingham was something she never quite put behind her. One of her pet hates was the Jehovah's Witnesses who drove up to their Kingdom Hall near her home is cars with masked headlights. It must have been galling sight to see the 'conchies' in cars while her pals were being blown up in Europe.

She told me that the bakery was near to a railway bridge over the Trent. It took a direct hit aimed, presumably, at the bridge. The building collapsed into its own basement and many people in there were never found.

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"...There were eleven attacks on Nottingham during this night but the use of the “Starfish” fire decoy system, located in the Vale of Belvoir..."

Even today, take the road from Bingham to Harby and you'll see at least 20 large bomb craters in the fields, either side...

Cheers

Robt P.

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THey may be from this bit Rob, a bit further down the same page

Other areas of the county suffered some bombing, including, Gringley Gorse and Newton Cliffs in the far north of the county were bombed from planes going over to Sheffield in May 1942. West Bridgford was hit by 62 bombs and in the Bingham area 92 bombs fell around Langar and Granby.

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re May 8/9th raid Can't remember where but I posted a pic of Notts County 's pitch, hit by several bombs, the Nottingham Suburban Railway was hit near Trent Lane and put out of action. Boots on Station St was demolished by a delayed action bomb that went off "at dinner time next day" and landlord of The Moot Hall was found dead in Burton's wrecked shop other side of road, was told for some time the body was assumed to be a shop window dummy!

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THey may be from this bit Rob, a bit further down the same page

Not so, Ian...

When Nottingham was being raided, 'decoy' fires were rapidly lit in the Vale of Belvoir to convey to the later waves of Luftwaffe bombers that it was the location of the city ablaze...

Hence the "Starfish" fire decoy system, mentioned in Cliff Ton's attachment.

It was an extremely successful exercise in deceiving the attacking bombers...

Also, the fact that they usually flew in from due east meant that the Belvoir blazes were first to be seen.

Cheers

Robt P.

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A stick of bombs fell on Trent Boulevard, several houses were destroyed east of the school. New houses were built on the site and were occupied by Canadian Air Force personel based at Langar. The houses are still there next to the shops,several other houses were damaged.

Two bombs fell on Trent Fields near Pinder's Pond creating large craters, last time I was down there, in 2006, they had almmost 'healed up'.

I remember playing on a bomb site at the corner of Trent Boulevard and Gertrude Road, and there were losts of concrete shelters around Bridgford that we used to mess around in.

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and there were lots of concrete shelters around Bridgford that we used to mess around in.

And to my knowledge, there are at least a couple of them still remaining.

One in the middle of Abbey Circus/Cambridge Road, which can still be clearly seen on Google/Bing maps

And one at the junction of Rutland Road/Lady Bay Road (buried in trees on the maps, but still clear on the ground)

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There is a room at Nottingham Castle that housed POWs during the war and put them to work putting barbed wire around the Castle, there is a photograph in the Room called The South Bastion part of the old Gatehouse there is lots of grafiti on the walls made by the soldiers and POWs also there is a cell down some steps with wrist manacales on the wall, the public are nor allowed down as its too dangerous

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"...There were eleven attacks on Nottingham during this night but the use of the “Starfish” fire decoy system, located in the Vale of Belvoir..."

Even today, take the road from Bingham to Harby and you'll see at least 20 large bomb craters in the fields, either side...

Cheers

Robt P.

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Starfish” fire decoy system. Yes there was obviously a decoy there of some sort. First time I have heard its name,thanks.

A friend of mine living in Redmile at the time, went out with his father the following morning and counted over 50 craters.

That was 50 less for Nottingham. I presume they would be from the firet wave. Once the town was lit up with the incendaries there would be no mistaking it.

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  • 5 months later...
  • 10 months later...

I was told that the premises that has long been where Podders scrap yard operate from near Dorket Head in Arnold was once a POW camp. Have no proof of this though.

Incidentally perhaps, there is a pillbox in a field the opposite side of the road near the junction with Lime Lane.

I just noticed this on a '55 map...the only one on which it is marked...strangely the pill box isn't marked.

f4c846a5.jpg

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