GRWP CADWRAETH Hut 9 preservation group

Former German POW Camp

Island Farm, Bridgend, WALES


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See our Photo Album Here soon


March 2016 Event News - Our Events are so popular! They get fully booked 6 months in advance...

 

Please email Bookings@Hut9.org.uk to reserve places for our free tours inside Hut 9 during the weekend of 5 and 6 March 2016.
 

PLEASE NOTE

If you have emailed us to request a place for our October 2015 Event but did not manage to get one because the Event was fully booked, your details will be added to a waiting list. However you still need to email us again (the sooner the better) at Bookings@Hut9.org.uk, to confirm that you are willing to attend this new Event.

 

Places are already going fast, so first come first booked... If you do not want to be disappointed, please book your places now. Our Events are so popular that hey get fully booked nearly 6 months in advance...


Please specify the day (Saturday or ...Sunday) and your preferred time slot. The Hut 9 tours begin on the hour at 10am on Saturday, with the last one commencing at 3pm, and 9am on the Sunday, with the last one commencing at 2pm. Each tour is approximately 90minutes long.

A reminder that while the Hut 9 tours are free, we will be accepting donations on the days to fund our future work on improving the visitors' experience, so please be prepared to give generously.

Some of the Hut 9 rooms were restored in an attempt to try and recreate how they would have looked during 1940-1948 and members of the Hut 9 Preservation Group and WW2 re-enactors will be telling the fascinating stories of the 4 time-frames of Island Farm:

1940-1944 - Billet for the Royal Ordnance Factory workers.

1943-1944 - American billet for the 109 Field Artillery (28th Infantry Division).

1944-1945 - German POW, Island Farm Camp 198.

1945-1948 - High Ranking German Officer Camp, Island Farm Special Camp XI.

Here is the map showing the Hut 9 rooms and their contents

 

What's to hear and see during your visit
  • Outside Hut 9, there will be WW2 re-enactors with all their "kit" and and their vehicles (weather permitting).
  • Brett Exton will give a very interesting talk on the complete history of Island Farm.
  • Richard Williams will complement Brett's talk and guide you inside Hut 9.
  • A number of the famous Island Farm wall drawings/ paintings will be on display inside several rooms/ dormitories. Each picture gives a unique insight into the thoughts of a German POW, depicting their home, loved ones or quotes in German.
  • Numerous volunteer re-enactors brought the place to life, dressed as former German PoWs, British Home Guards, American soldiers and Royal Ordnance Factory girls. They will be occupying several rooms/ dormitories with their full uniforms, equipment and brick-a-brac on display. Such equipment would have been used back in the day!
  • Barry Ward (Preservation Group Member and re-enactor) will be talking about the escape; how the tunnel was made and all about the prisoners' preparation prior to the escape.
  • Do not miss our Oral History gazebo, where you can be interviewed by Stel Anthony who shall record audio/ video your experiences or stories about Island Farm, Hut 9, the PoW escape and Bridgend at War in general.

  • Finally, a member of the Hut 9 Preservation Group will guide you around Hut 9 and talk about the escape and the famous Welsh Great Escape Tunnel that is preserved in tact after all these years.

  • This is a FREE for ALL event, so no entry fee! However, as always your kind donations will be much appreciated. Without your generous donations, our voluntary work and effort to preserve Hut 9 and its history will be near impossible!

Thank you all for your support

Hut 9 Preservation Team

Access to the Hut 9 site

Visitors should park in the Innovation Science Park (opposite the Heronston Hotel - see location on Google Maps here) and walk from there to and along the A48. There will be a sign at the start of the short path off the A48 that will get you to the Hut 9 compound; it is a 5 minute walk.

We recommend wearing appropriate footwear, since during or straight after wet weather the path to the Hut 9 compound could be part muddy.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For everyone's safety, please do not attempt to stop or park your car on the busy and high speed traffic A48 road.

Please email Webmaster regarding wheelchair access to the site. The access path from the A48 to Hut 9 is uneven and could be muddy, especially during or after wet weather. There is a single step at the entry and exit points of Hut 9 and depending upon the size of the wheelchair, it might not be possible to enter it or move it inside the Hut.

 

Event Photo Album will be published here soon

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE YOU ALL AT HUT 9 ON THE DAY!

Thank you

Hut 9 Preservation Team


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