# POW Camp 198 (Island Farm), Bridgend - September 2012



## AlexanderJones (Dec 3, 2012)

*POW Camp 198 (Island Farm), Bridgend.*

POW Camp 198 (Island Farm) was a Prisoner of War Camp in Bridgend, South Wales. 

It was built originally as a dormitory for female factory workers in 1938, it became a POW camp in 1944. 

The camp hosted a number of Axis prisoners, most of the German, and was the scene of the largest escape attempt by German POW’s in Britain during World War II in March 1945. 

These photographs, taken in September 2012, showcase the area as it stands today.




































"De Buur im Chot erhaltet was riitet und good."





Ferdinand Freiligrath Poem











Thankfully there were plenty of quirky features left inside of this one! 

Thanks for checking these out guys! 

More photographs on Flickr and my website!​


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## flyboys90 (Dec 3, 2012)

Ace report,thanks for sharing.


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## abel101 (Dec 3, 2012)

not usually my kind of thing, but actually rather like this, nice photos aswel


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## Bones out (Dec 3, 2012)

Wonderful bits of history left behind!

Permission visit?? I would hate to see souvenir hunters in there. 

Lovely shots...


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## AlexanderJones (Dec 3, 2012)

Bonesout said:


> Wonderful bits of history left behind!
> 
> Permission visit?? I would hate to see souvenir hunters in there.
> 
> Lovely shots...



Cheers! 

It was indeed a permission visit. I should have mentioned that above!


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## Bones out (Dec 3, 2012)

AlexanderJones said:


> Cheers!
> 
> It was indeed a permission visit. I should have mentioned than above!




No problem with that at all fella, I'm pleased that was the case. If it wasn't then I feared how long before it got attacked. Its a wonderful bit of history even thou its small in size


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## nelly (Dec 3, 2012)

Top stuff, love the extras


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## Bones out (Dec 3, 2012)

nelly said:


> Top stuff, love the extras



We all like 'extras'


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## 4201Chieftain (Dec 3, 2012)

Nice post!! Not sure about the first bit of writing but the poem translates roughly to:
Live long enough that you love,
Live long enough that you want to love,
The time comes The time comes


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## AlexanderJones (Dec 4, 2012)

4201Chieftain said:


> Nice post!! Not sure about the first bit of writing but the poem translates roughly to:
> Live long enough that you love,
> Live long enough that you want to love,
> The time comes The time comes



There's no literal translation to the first one, but it roughly means: 

"The young who believe in the power of God are good"


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## kehumff (Dec 5, 2012)

Great report, good shots , very interesting thanks for sharing


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## night crawler (Dec 5, 2012)

Nie place to look round that, glad it has been kept.


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## combatkev41 (Dec 7, 2012)

Amazing Pic's my mum lives in Bridgend in a place called Brocastle.


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## Judderman62 (Dec 8, 2012)

like this lots - nice one


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## ww2nut (Dec 9, 2012)

57 huts were demolished by the council to make way for the rugby academy, which is now to be a housing estate, the hut you see in the pics is the only one they left...the local councilors insisted that the site, being the biggest best preserved uk pow camp, was a shrine to Naziism! and as such must be destroyed! many of us demonstrated against the demolition an stayed overnight to prevent the dozers moving in. but to no avail. the Huts were once full of fantastic paintings and writing on many of the walls, these were sold to the Americans who took the walls down and shipped them to America, not long after the council announced that the site was to be flattened. it is likely that this was done to get rid of the evidence of the missing art work. thankfully we have a great chap here who photographed the whole site many times and has a fantastic web site all about special camp 198. http://www.islandfarm.fsnet.co.uk/ please have a look it is worth it....


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## Pedrfardd (Dec 31, 2012)

Amazing history... good show...


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## Ramsgatonian (Dec 31, 2012)

It's always the places that look uninspiring from the outside that contain such interesting old artifacts. 

Great report, thanks!


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## steve2109 (Jan 1, 2013)

Great report and pictures, thanks for sharing


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## AlexanderJones (Jan 2, 2013)

Ramsgatonian said:


> It's always the places that look uninspiring from the outside that contain such interesting old artifacts.
> 
> Great report, thanks!



Totally man! They're sometimes the best!


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## LaurenH_16 (Jan 3, 2013)

Great shots! Where in Bridgend is this? Also, how did you get permission to enter? I'm new to this...


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## Bones out (Jan 3, 2013)

ww2nut said:


> 57 huts were demolished by the council to make way for the rugby academy, .................. http://www.islandfarm.fsnet.co.uk/ please have a look it is worth it....




Just did, its a brilliant piece of history and really makes the report even more fab...... Thank you.


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