Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian European Volunteer Workers in Britain: initial accommodation experiences in camps and hostels in Britain, 1946-1951

In my new book, Rebuilding Post-War Britain: Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian Refugees in Britain, 1946-1951, I discuss the refugees’ first experiences in Britain.  For many, this involved spending time living in camps and hostels around Britain, while they carried out their initial labour contracts.  They spent varying amounts of time there, some for as little as a few days and some for several years.  This post will share some of the amazing photographs donated by the communities for use in my book, some of which I was not able to use due to lack of space.  The photographs give a real sense of some of the activities carried out in these camps, and a taste of their first experiences in a new country.

Many of the camps and hostels that were used to house the European Volunteer Workers (EVWs) were in former Prisoner Of War (‘POW’) camps around Britain; many of these had only just been cleared of POWs before the DPs were accommodated in them.  The POW camps had been set up in all kinds of buildings and places, ranging from former RAF camps, to large country houses and former textile mills and weavers sheds.  There are lists of the POW Camps in Britain which you can access on-line if you know where your family member stayed.  These lists also give a flavour of the types of accommodation that the EVWs were housed in:

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/nov/08/prisoner-of-war-camps-uk  (see list at bottom of the article)

For example, the list above cites Windlestone Hall under Camp No. 4, which was a former POW Camp and which later housed Latvian EVWs as shown in the pictures below donated by Pauline Szelewski and Sarah Dauksta, whose fathers lived at Windlestone Hall in County Durham.

Photo of Windlestone Hall, Co. Durham, courtesy of Sarah Dauksta

EVW Farm Workers relaxing after work at Windlestone Hall, Co. Durham, courtesy of Pauline Szelewski

 

Latvian EVWs at Windlestone Hall, County Durham, courtesy of Sarah Dauksta

Hamsterley Hall also in County Durham, housed different nationalities including Latvians, Lithuanians and Ukrainians.  Glynis Harrison’s father lived there after arriving in Britain to work on farms in North East England.  Her photographs show how well ordered camp life was, with pictures of the EVWs cleaning and tidying up the site, which looks immaculate:

Photographs of Hamsterley Hall, County Durham, courtesy of Glynis Harrison

Many of the camps, like Windlestone Hall, and Hamsterley Hall, were in the countryside, especially those housing agricultural and forestry workers.  The British government tried to rehouse women into private billets or houses as a priority, so it was often men who spent long periods of time in these larger camps.

Some of the camps were single nationality but many housed a mix of EVW nationalities.  These camps were in a sense a continuation of the DP camp experience albeit it in a new country and with the refugees now being employed.  The conditions were also an improvement to the DP Camps, and as the pictures below donated by Sarah Dauksta show, healthy, active young men and women engaged in a variety of pursuits at the camps.

Photographs courtesy of Sarah Dauksta, the bottom photo is of Sarah’s parents at the camp in Boughton, Northants,. where they met (note the Nissan huts in the background used to accommodate the workers)

You can find more information about the refugees’ experiences in the camps and hostels in Britain in Chapter 5 ‘”I’ve never seen chimneys like it: Initial Experiences in Britain” in my new book Rebuilding Post-War Britain: Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian Refugees in Britain, 1946-1951, published by Pen and Sword (2017).

Thank you to Sarah Dauksta, Pauline Szelewski and Glynis Harrison for providing the photographs for this article, some of which are featured in the book.