Investigation into the mass escape of 83 German P.O.Ws from Hut 9, Camp 198, Bridgend, South Wales.

What is it about?

Hut 9, Camp 198, Bridgend was the site of the largest escape of P.O.Ws during WW2. In March 1945 83 German P.O.Ws escaped Camp 198 and went on the run for two weeks. Eventually all 83 P.O.Ws were recaptured. During the 1980s the camp was demolished. This investigation looks at rediscovering the tunnel which allowed the P.O.Ws to escape.

Featured Image

Photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash

Photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash

Why is it important?

As part of the investigations of wartime sites, near-surface, multi-technique geophysical surveys have become increasingly popular due to their capability to characterise sites rapidly, as well as pinpointing key buried areas of interest for subsequent intrusive investigations. A developing area of interest in conflict archaeology has been the location and characterising of P.O.W. camp escape tunnels, as part of a wider interest in the study of P.O.W. camps. Whilst there have been a number of multidisciplinary scientific site investigations undertaken on WW2 Allied P.O.W. escape attempts, there have been few studies of Axis P.O.W. escape attempts. Though there have been some recent studies of German P.O.W. camps in Allied countries in general there has been low level of perception that Axis troops, in common with other captives, also attempted to escape, with the single most documented example being the escape of Franz von Werra from captivity in Canada.

Perspectives