Rowrah, Cumbria: PoW Camp (BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pl5sz)
They might have been the enemy but by the end of 1918 the German prisoners in
Cumbrian prisoner of war (PoW) camps helped shorten the war by doing the
important work of the British men who had left to fight on the front. This important
contribution continued well into 1919 before they were eventually repatriated.
Rowrah PoW Camp was established to house German prisoners so they could be
usefully employed working in the nearby quarry, iron ore mines and on local farms.
With more and more local men being called up into the army the camp’s manpower
filled in the breach left by their departure. Rowrah also served various satellite and
tented migratory camps where seasonal work on repairing infrastructure and
harvesting crops required small teams of prisoners close to the job in hand.
Shortages of food and British soldiers in 1918 saw a relaxation in the restrictions on
PoW’s working on farms, and it was reported in The West Cumberland Times; 6,000
men in gangs of four and five were working on the land. The camp was administered
from Leigh in Lancashire and the excellent rail links at the time enabled swift
transport of men and food to where they were needed. It was run by the South
Wales Borderers and Lieutenant Tew of The Military Intelligence Prisoner of War
staff acted as the camp interpreter. The prisoners exchanged gifts they had made
from silver foil and scrap wood for some small luxuries and gained the respect of
those who came in contact with them.
Tragedy struck the prisoners however as ten of them died of the flu epidemic at the
end of the war, just as they must have thought they were going to see their loved
ones again. One prisoner, Vinzenz Suchanek, was killed in 1917 in an accident at
the quarry. The shortage of soldiers to guard the prisoners proved to be the biggest
stumbling block to their wider deployment; that and the anxieties felt by the close-knit
agricultural community surrounding the camp at concerns of prisoners mixing with
local families.
Location: Rowrah, Frizington, Carlise CA26 3XJ
Image: Craftwork depicting a PoW, courtesy of Maureen Fisher
German Prisoners in Cumbria by Denis
Perriam *(https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/WW1/warathome/agriculture.asp)
Whilst on his rounds "as officer in charge of German prisoners in Cumberland"
Captain B. H. Cunnington found an ancient stone axe in a farmyard at Burnrigg near
Warwick Bridge. Why was he not in one of the Prisoners of War camps in the
county? This is partly answered by a feature in the West Cumberland Times 20
October 1917; "in certain counties already quite a notable amount of work is being
done on the land by German POWs, the total number of hours worked, by gangs in
one county alone in the week last reported being 22,146." There was a problem, the
newspaper stating, "if it were possible safely and effectively to employ all the
prisoners in agricultural work, the department would gladly do so." The difficulty was
finding sufficient soldiers to guard them.
The first encounter between German prisoners and the citizens of Carlisle was
reported in the Carlisle Journal in October 1915 when 350 POWs passed through the
city on their way to a newly established internment camp at Stobbs in Scotland. News
of their journey north had somehow leaked out and a large crowd gathered at the
station, but nothing could be seen as the blinds were down on the windows of the train.
The crowd did not know how to react, "some hooting as the train left" reported the
Journal.
By December 1916, because of conscription, there was a lack of local labour. The
editor of the Journal stated that Westmorland County Council had urged the
Government to use German POWs "for road making or other national important
work�.a local tribunal had favoured their use for farm work."
In July 1917 the Journal carried a feature under the headline "Employment of German
POWs". This stated that the county highways committee had asked Arlecdon and
Frizington Councils "to apply to the Government for the use of POWs in improving the
approaches to Rowrah Bridge."
Rowrah Camp is one of those known to have existed and the Journal reported in March
1918, that "130 Germans were taken back to Rowrah after a day's work."
The West Cumberland Times reported on 30 January 1918 on "German POWs on the
Land" stating "6,000 have been employed on the land for some time past." They
worked in gangs of "four or five under the supervision of an English soldier and
policeman ploughman, the latter acting as gang foreman."
It was reported in July that no British soldiers would be available for farm work that
year; "so German prisoners from migratory camps will be available about the second
week in August." Provision had to be made for accommodating them and it was
reported in the Journal: "Wigton Workhouse Guardians were to house 30 POWs and
six guards in the pauper ward, the authorities paying 3d per head each day from 15
August." Similar arrangements were made at Kirkby Stephen for prisoners on harvest
work.
At Kirkoswald two tents were used to house one group of prisoners and the Journal
said "POWs were conveyed from Rowrah to do harvest work at Kirkoswald,
Langwathby and Culgaith, 10 in each neighbourhood. In an editorial in the Journal
there were "complaints of the degree of freedom allowed these men, girls seeking
familiarity with them." But the editor had a "good word for German labour, especially
those selected for farm work."
The migratory Camp Scheme was fully reported in the Carlisle Journal in September
1918: "Gangs of 10 German prisoners with two guards to each camp have been
established in 25 camps in Cumberland all very satisfactorily." Each group was
carefully chosen. "The prisoners are all men who have been engaged in agriculture in
Germany and have a good record and character." The Journal stated: "Farmers were
prepared to escort prisoners to and from their camp each day, everything was going
smoothly with rations distributed from Rowrah."
A group of 40 prisoners were still working on the road at Wasdale Head in March
1919. There were prosecutions at Carlisle in June of a farmer and other residents "in
respect of their conduct toward German POWs working on farms in Dalston district."
The defendants "had either given prisoners cigarettes or civilian clothing which, it was
held, was likely to facilitate their escape." The West Cumberland Times thought this
was disgraceful to "be allowed to go a round and do as they liked."
In August 1919, four prisoners escaped from the camp at Wasdale Head. It was
reported in the Whitehaven News in August that the military had taken Glenholm, a
large house previously used as a boarding school "from which to despatch German
prisoners as ships became available to take them home." In September the Journal
reported: "Repatriation is costing £ 90,000 a day."