Description

In visiting this site and in order to gain access I initially went to Ash Grove in Wem to see if there was a way into the fields and trees that comprise the camp.

I found what appears to be the PoW Camp main entrance and access gates. Attached to a post close to this gate was Planning Notice, thus I assume that the location of the former PoW Camp may be redeveloped soon. The gate was locked and although it was possible o get around the gate it was not possible to go through the scrub land and on to the site of the camp.

Being unable to gain access via Ash Grove I went to the Wem Industrial Estate which was on the opposite side of the woods. The Wem Industrial estate is located at the former Wem Ordnance Depot and is made up almost exclusively of the larger version of the Nissen Hut. The site of the Former PoW Camp lies between Ash Grove and the Industrial estate. Unlike the industrial estate that has retained its prefab buildings all of the structures have been removed.

The former PoW Camp is now a field used to graze cattle, also part of the site may lay within a small woodland. Although the Huts have gone the bases for three groups of huts can be seen.

I was able to take photos of this site using both my DSLR and Drone Cameras. The drone was revealed an oddity to this site in that whilst the bases to three groups of Nissen Huts have survived that the huts where not aligned. The huts within each group are aligned with each other but they are not aligned with the next group of huts. This nonalignment of the buildings is the first such occurrence I have come across. Also, I was initially surprised by the simple fact that this small PoW Site is located within a couple of hundred metres of a massive ordnance depot. The Geneva Protocol forbid the use of PoW in a Military and or Dangerous setting. Whilst there is no evidence that the Allies did this during WWII the UK adopted a different policy after the war. Following the formal surrender of Germany in May 1945 the UK asked for and got volunteers from the PoW Camps to assist in the disposal of ordnance.