PoW Camp 694 Handy Cross

This former PoW Camp may be located North of Clovelly Road and next to a car sales garage

Location

Clovelly Road, Bideford, Devon

Description

Site Visits

September 2019

Material

DSLR and Drone Photos
UK Foreign Office Inspection Report

Okay this is an interesting on in that the camp was built to house US and Allied forces and then converted into a PoW post D-Day. The Handy Cross area of Bideford lies to the south of Clovelly Road in the West of Bideford. This area is now modern housing. However, English Heritage place the site to the North of the road at a local Ford Garage.

The EH Data is notoriously unreliable. However, when you look at the rear of the garage and the sites to the North and West their appearance is consistent with a former military site in terms of concrete and fencing.

This site was finally located with the help of P Wood.

However, Malcolm Sanders research matches my own original research with regards to a US base that was then used as a PoW Camp with the camp being directly to the West of the Cemetery AND opposite the car garage that English Heritage state as the site. This site is now occupied by a large building owned by a company called Anglo- Krempel. This building is visible in the map and as the large central image in the middle drone image of the site.


Camera Images of the site of former PoW Camp 694 Handy Cross


Extracts from UK Foreign Office Inspection Report from UK National Archives Kew:

FO 1120/183 PoW Camp List 20Feb47 inc PoW Camp 694