IslandFarm.Wales
is Brett Exton's
fabulous website for Island Farm, Bridgend. Brett is the re-enactor who gives the
talk with the slides presentation prior to your guided tour
at
Hut 9. I think he knows more than almost anyone else
put together about the iconic building, the site and its dramatic history; a passionate historian...
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The
Bridgend Royal Ordnance Factory
in Brackla is also a WW2 related website
maintained by Richard Williams; another passionate historian and
WW2 re-enactor in our Preservation Group. The website is an excellent resource! It is surprising
how much history exists around us. Did you know there were near 40,000
people working at the Ordnance factory at its peak? A lot of its workers
were actually housed in the Island Farm huts that were initially built
for this purpose in 1938.
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Hut 9, Island Farm POW Camp, Bridgend - video on
YouTube
Brett Exton (IslandFarm.Wales)
discusses the former POW camp at Island Farm, Bridgend, South Wales. The
only building that remains is Hut 9 - a Grade II listed building from
which 70 Germans escaped in 1945. Brett talks about the historical
significance of the building and its potential use as an educational
visitor centre. Development of a 'sports village' has been proposed on
approximately 52 hectares of land adjoining Hut 9 (www.bridgend.gov.uk/web/groups...).
Filmed and produced by Stefan Harris (www.stefanharris.com)
for Valley & Vale Community Arts (www.valleyandvalecommunityarts...)
in January 2011 and shown at the 'Untold Stories'
Holocaust Memorial Day event at The Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl later that
month. The project was supported by Bridgend County Borough Council
(www.bridgend.gov.uk).
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The
official website for
Eden Camp, Modern History Theme Museum.
First
opened to the public in 1987 and have since, with the help and support
of visitors, grown into one of the largest and most comprehensive
museums covering British military and social history from 1914 onwards.
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From Glass0ni0n on
YouTube,
a short video and photos compilation shot during the Hut 9 Open Doors
Event, in September 2012.
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From VisitPorthcawl.co.uk
a
page on Hut 9 and a
photo album from the
Hut 9 Open Doors Event
in September 2012.
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The Welsh Great Escape (Channel 4 on Demand)
This is a Channel 4 documentary on the Great Welsh Escape
from HARTSWOOD FILMS.
A must-see programme. It was first broadcasted on CH4 on
30 December 2003. In the night of March 10,
1945 seventy German prisoners, many of them members of the SS, escaped
from the POW camp in Bridgend. In this documentary, two of the POWs
return to the site to recount their extraordinary story...
“We’ve all heard of The
Great Escape, the 1963 movie based on the true story of the most
ambitious attempt to abscond from a German prisoner of war camp by
Allied servicemen during the second world war. This documentary is a
little different, but the story is just as compelling.” The Daily
Telegraph.
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3D Laser Scanner Survey and animation of The Welsh
Great Escape tunnel on
Vimeo.com/57482799.
Captured and presented by TerraDat UK
Ltd. using Faro Focus 3D laser scanner. The animation is using Pointools
View Pro software. It can also be seen on
ArkHive.org.
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Island Farm POW Escape
Tunnel footage by Nick Russill on
Vimeo.com
(58373930). It looks amazing!
However, the BBC did not use this footage in its Countryfile episode on
the Island Farm POW escape tunnel in Bridgend. Nick actually modified a
sledge to carry two GoPro Hero video cameras and pushed it up the escape
tunnel using flexible drain rods. It shows the excellent state of
preservation of the almost 70 year old tunnel. It can also be seen on
ArkHive.org
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THE WELSH GREAT
ESCAPE soundtrack.
Original music by Nina Humphreys for Channel 4 (Drama-Documentaries).
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Murder and Mystery in Porthcawl?
There is an association between HUT 9 and Porthcawl. The Welsh Great
Escape of the 70 German POWs in 1945 relates allegedly to a murder in
Porthcawl, during the weekend the escape operation took place.
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BBC Wales
(article 13907658):
The POW Camp has become a haven for vandals who
have targeted the building.
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BBC Wales (article 13894472):
Multi-million-pound plans for a major sports village at
the site of a former prisoner of war camp in Bridgend have cleared a planning
hurdle.
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Gathering the Jewels.
Here you will find over 20,000 images of objects,
books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums,
libraries and record offices in Wales.
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Visit
People's Collection Wales
It is a website full of fascinating
photographs, sound recordings, documents, videos and stories
about the history and heritage of Wales and its people - it is
the first of its kind in Wales.
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If you are researching a family member please visit
Home - Glamorgan Archives
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