Camp 193 Hampton Park

This camp is listed in Roger Thomas' POW Camp list published by English Heritage.

Prisoner of War Camps (1939 - 1948) | Historic England

There is no grid reference, and it is coded 5 - camp unresolved.

Like Malcolm Sanders, Camp List – WW2 P.O.W. Camps in the UK, (great site includes years of work) I can only find the same reference on line to this camp from one prisoner who said it was near London:

BBC - WW2 People's War - German PoW pal who found me 50 years later

Now, this prisoner arrived in March 1945. Trouble is with this identification, that Camp 193 was then, verifiably in TNA HO215/201, Madeley Tile Works Camp Shropshire. I believe currently that Madeley was the first camp with number 193, and the prisoner was mistaken.

Does anyone have any information on Hampton Park camp near London at all?

 

Looking again at this site and getting as far as last time - nowhere.

1 – note it is not called Hampton Court Park, the correct name.
2. Just the one BBC reference above and another which mentioned “Hampton Park Racecourse” – beginning to wonder if this was really the nearby Kempton Park site....... (BUT, then why did the EH Report give it the number 193?)

 

https://www.ww2pow.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/193HamptonPark.docx



AI




A World War II prisoner of war (POW) camp was indeed located in Hampton Park, London. It was situated in the approximate center of the park, near the area now known as the Hampton Park Pavilion. This camp housed German prisoners of war, with one account mentioning a prisoner's arrival on March 11, 1945, and his subsequent transfer on March 14. The camp was a temporary holding facility, with prisoners being moved to other camps after a short period.

 

Went onto the Facebook history page for Hampton area. Many replies, but not one confirmed site of pow camp in Hampton Court Park. Considering this is London, and many memories, I am even more doubtful about this camp. The one thing that still makes me wonder was the allocation of the camp number (193) by English Heritage. The names Hampton / Kempton could have been mixed up, but I can't see 193 linked to Kempton.

 

Given your knowledge, you know camp numbers were moved from site to site. I have come across one instance where the camp number changed between six weeks to two months from late October to the turn of the year in 1944-5.