The circumstances surrounding the building of a Prisoner of War Camp at Ducks Cross in north Bedfordshire goes some way to explaining these questions, providing insight in the British public’s changing view of ‘the enemy’. Despite today’s rosy recollections these relationships were not always easy. The murder of Private Hands by an escaping Italian and its aftermath resulted in the only known incident of armed combat between an enemy soldier and the Home Guard.
Appendices provide detailed information upon the location of other camps throughout the United Kingdom and transcripts of reports upon camp life by the Red Cross and the War Office. Prisoners of War in Bedfordshire will interest both residents of Bedfordshire, and those seeking a broader knowledge of the lives and deaths of Italian and German prisoners in the United Kingdom.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Risby has had a life-long interest in military history, resulting in his completion of two dissertations at Cambridge University (one on Operation Market Garden and the other on Italian Prisoners of War in North Bedfordshire). He has also had brief items published in the Military Heraldry Society journal, Formation Sign, and a short biography in a British Army regimental association journal. All this has occurred in the last four years.
He also attended the Wolfson Course at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and has an Advanced Diploma in Local History from Madingley College, Cambridge.
235 x 156 mm | paperback | 128 pages | 20 b&w illustrations
