# POW Camp 110, Aberdeenshire



## Seahorse (Feb 15, 2010)

I thought I'd spend a wet and miserable morning having a look to see what might be left of the old POW camp at Stuartfield. I guess I thought I might uncover old wartime artwork on the walls, and such like. In that, I was to be disappointed. 

However, my day was much brightened up at a little unexpected discovery. I'll leave that pic to the end. 

Stuartfield camp supposedly had a capacity for up to 500 prisoners. Early POWs were Italian, but later prisoners seem to have been 12th Panzer Division guys captured at Caen after D-Day. The prisoners seemed to have been quite popular in the local area, and worked on the farms. Several seem to have stayed behind post war.

After hostilities ended, the camp was used as a displacement camp, and I understand that Hungarians, Bulgarians and the like were housed there. The camp seems to have been still in use up to about 1951, and I suspect that much of the remaining buildings date from this later period, the earlier huts having been demolished. Although several concrete footings still remain. The local farmer still obviously finds the huts very useful for storage.

Anyways, here's a small selection from todays wanderings.

Now used as a chemical store.
















Unfortunately, no POW artwork. This had to make do instead. 





The remains of this gateway seems a bit fancy 





Obligatory agrigultural impliment pic. 










I suspect this served as rather more than just a simple water tower. I need to go back when the weather improves, because it looks an interesting climb. 





Obligatory chimney shot





These are scattered all over the place.





Just as I was starting to get a bit bored, looky here at what I found!!!





My morning wasn't a total washout after all. 















And finally, I couldn't leave without getting a pic of one of the old carts.


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## the_historian (Feb 15, 2010)

Masterful, SH. Masterful


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## Sabtr (Feb 15, 2010)

Some lovely finds there Seahorse. It just goes to show that a mooch round can turn up some fascinating stuff.

That big building thingy is like nothing I've ever seen on my travels. It may well be a water tower but the lower windowed rooms interest me. Perhaps there is some lovely pipework in there or even a lovely old pump?

We need part two!


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## Seahorse (Feb 15, 2010)

Sausage said:


> Some lovely finds there Seahorse. It just goes to show that a mooch round can turn up some fascinating stuff.
> 
> That big building thingy is like nothing I've ever seen on my travels. It may well be a water tower but the lower windowed rooms interest me. Perhaps there is some lovely pipework in there or even a lovely old pump?
> 
> We need part two!



Well, the lower floor was fairly bare, apart from some old wiring. I'm thinking it doubled as a comms building in its day. I didn't do any climbing, cos I was on my own. And was afraid of somebody locking me in, accidentally or otherwise. You need to get up to the next level from inside, then out and up.

I'm away back again tomorrow with some mates to watch the door (weather permitting), so I'll try to find out what's up top. But there was some lovely gurgling going on up there. As well as some scary thumping, which I hope was pigeons.

Here's a wee taster to whet your appetite. 

Old insulators. Nothing connected now, but I guess a need for some hefty power in the past.





Old cotton covered wiring.





The way up. But to what? Just a flat roof? Or might there have been a searchlight up there? Antenna mounts? Who knows. Only one way to find out. Although I'm a bit worried about the house that overlooks this thing. :/


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## outkast (Feb 15, 2010)

Nice pics mate, looks like you had fun, take a look at the pics of mill lane camp, lots of similarities, including the tower, wich at mill lane was a water tower, also wheres the dead animal pic? not a proper report without a dead animal pic LOL


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## Seahorse (Feb 15, 2010)

Yeah, I did notice the similarity. I'd not have bothered my backside even looking at it if it wasn't for the fact that it looked so like the one at Mill Lane. I guess there must have been some kind of template for the things during the war. I should get more info about it tomorrow when I go back with reinforcements. Easy entry, and the ladders still look sturdy enough.

I'll get a pic of a dead thing too. There's a few lying about in various stages of dismemberment. 

The whole area is really wet, and there is another wee pumphouse in some swampy land. I don't reckon tunnelling would have been an escape option for the POWs; the poor sods would have drowned.


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## caiman (Feb 15, 2010)

They were Standard POW camps, so would have been very similar. Most were.


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## the_historian (Feb 15, 2010)

The huts look like yer standard BCF (British Concrete Federation) precast huts, which were pretty standard but not universal.
Contrast those with Cultybraggan PoW camp in Perthshire where the accommodation was entirely Nissen huts.
Always expect the unexpected, Grasshopper!


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## Seahorse (Feb 15, 2010)

Yup, BCF stamped on a fair few bits'n'bobs.

And that piano thingy was certainly unexpected. I wonder what the tune was on the paper roll? I was tempted to fish it out for a squint to see if I could find out, but my conscience managed to keep my sticky mitts off.

Besides, I doubt if I could have got it out without the whole thing collapsing and making me feel a wee bit silly.


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## Flexible (Feb 16, 2010)

I. Want. That. Pianola.


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## Seahorse (Feb 16, 2010)

Postponing visit, Part Deaux today. Severe weather warning, and my frogman suit is in the dry cleaners.


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## Mr Sam (Feb 16, 2010)

some intresting finds there, im liking that old finger mower


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## Foxylady (Feb 16, 2010)

Ooh, some nice stuff remaining there. The hut in your second pic (on the right) looks like the cousin to the one near the quarry that you posted a bit ago.
That towery building is great.


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## Seahorse (Feb 18, 2010)

Somewhat coincidentally, the battle at Caens is on Discovery Knowledge right now.


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## cogito (Feb 18, 2010)

Some good stuff left there. Makes me miss the old one at Island Farm.


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