Prisoners of war, often shortened to POW, are soldiers who have been captured and held prisoner by enemy forces during an armed conflict or war.

Enemy forces captured and held POWs for a number of legitimate and illegitimate reasons. Reasons include, to isolate soldiers away from their own side; to show they have won the conflict; to punish or prosecute soldiers for war crimes; to exploit them for labour; to collect military and political information about their opponent; and to recruit the POWs to their own side.

The Third Geneva Convention gives POWs many different rights. The original Geneva Convention dated from 1864 and was added to in 1899, 1907 and 1949 (after the Second World War). The earlier conventions defined the expected treatment of injured enemy soldiers by the international powers that signed them. The Hague Convention of 1929 was the first to address the needs of prisoners of war. 

POWs rights under the Third Geneva Convention include:

• They must be treated decently, with respect.
• They must be allowed to tell their families and the International Committee of the Red Cross that they are a POW.
• They have the right to communicate with their families and get packages.
• They have the right to keep their clothing, eating utensils, and personal things.
• They must be given adequate food, clothing, housing, and medical attention.
• If their captors make them work, POWs must be paid for the work they do.
• If they are going to be charged with a crime, they must be given a trial.
• If they are very sick or hurt, prisoners of war have the right to be let go.
• After a war ends, all POWs must be let go quickly.

Prisoners of war also have the right not to:

• Give their captors any information, except for their name, age, rank, and service number (a military identification number).
• Have their money or valuable things stolen.
• Do forced labour, military work, or work that is dangerous, unhealthy, or degrading.

English Heritage have identified over 1000 possible sites of Second World War POW camps in the British Isles. Including seven in Northumberland (see link to Guardian article): 

• Featherstone Camp near Haltwhistle 
• Darras Hill, Ponteland 
• Wooler Camp, Wooler 
• Hetton House Camp, Chatton 
• Kitty Brewster Camp, Blyth 
• Lord Mayor’s Camp, Amble 
• Byrness Camp, Redesdale, Otterburn 

Wylam was not included on this list, even though we know that there was a camp in the village. Wylam was a small camp and may well have been seen as a part of one of the larger camps in the area. 

Around 400,000 POWs lived in British camps during the Second World War. When they were finally released, large numbers decided to stay in this country. Some estimates say 25,000 former prisoners made a new life for themselves here. 

The British government encouraged POWs to stay in this country. Especially if they were working on farms producing food (see Hansard link). Conditions for ordinary people in Germany were hard. Most of the towns and cities had been heavily bombed, food and other essentials were scarce. 

Boredom was the main problem for most inmates in prisoner of war camps during the Second World War. Rudi Kuhnbaum’s photographs and oral history show that the prisoners at Wylam passed their time by making a miniature castle and a fountain for the village. The prisoners at Featherstone produced the Die Zeit am Tyne newspaper. 

These sound files are extracts (short, edited pieces) from longer oral history interviews preserved by Northumberland Archives. This interview was made as part of a project to collect the memories of people who lived through the Second World War in Northumberland. You can also read the summary of this interview. 

Rudi was a German soldier during the Second World War. He joined up in 1939 and fought on the Russian Front. The fighting between the German and Russian forces in the East was particularly brutal. The extreme cold of the Russian winters and the problems of supplying troops with food meant that the German Army lost many men in the East. Rudi fought on the Russian Front for two years. 

Rudi was transferred to France towards the end of the war. He was injured and captured by the British, becoming a prisoner of war. Rudi landed in Britain and lived in several prisoner of war camps (see oral history summary for more details). Eventually he was transferred to the camp at Wylam. At the camp he helped to make the miniature castle, which can be seen on the photographs. The prisoners also made a fountain for the community centre in the village (see photographs). 

After a while Rudi started working on local farms. He went to live with the Laws family at Heddon on the Wall. Rudi enjoyed working for the family and stayed working on the farm after the end of the war, when he chose to stay in England rather than go back to Germany. 

Rudi Kuhnbaum interviewed by Liz O’Donnell about his life as a POW. 

Clip 1: Introduction 

Rudi talks about how he became a prisoner of war and his journey from France to the Northeast. 

He describes the reception of the POWs in England. 

He talks about arriving in Newcastle as the best part of his life. 

Clip 2: Rudi talks about working for the Laws on their farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall. 

He describes communication difficulties (in spite of Rudi being able to speak English) and the breakfast the family gave him. 

He talks about social events that he attended in the village. 

Clip 3: Rudi talks about his time at Wylam. He stayed at the camp and walked to the farm that he worked on. 

Talks about his room at the farm – he had the bacon hanging around his bed! 

Describes the making of the castle by the POWs. 

Talks about buying NAAFI (Navy Army and Air Forces Institute) cake and how much he earned. 

Clip 4: Liz asks Rudi if he ever received any unpleasant treatment because he was German. 

Rudi says the English treated him well, but a family of Americans threw him out of their car. 

He talks about the end of the war – going back to Germany for a month and then returning here to live. 

Describes making a life in the Northeast – getting married and having a family, working as a butcher 

You can read a full summary of Rudi’s oral history on our online catalogue.