I can't find this thread in search so..... There are a couple of news articles (The Journal and The Northern Echo) referring to 150 women pows held at Windlestone POW Camp - (the same story is also on the David Icke forum). When I do a search I can find no evidence at all. I know that some female nurses were brought to the UK as 'protected personnel', (perhaps they were at Windlestone), but the articles refer to POWs and some of them Nazis, and being detained for 18 months. According to the articles evidence was provided by the Red Cross in Geneva - has anyone seen this evidence, is there a copy somewhere? There is supposed to be a book 'The Women of Windlestone' - I can't find it on the web - and a film which I see referred to on the 'Weardale Railway' site, but nowhere else. The film was supposed to have been shown at the IWM - can't find any reference to that. Does the film show any evidence - or is it the story of the investigator trying to find evidence? Does anyone have any info on the book, the film - or even the original story?
It was a satellite camp of Harperley POW Camp 93 . Search with these terms it may give you a little more? Kyle
Thank you Kyle - I have done that. I also have the book about POW camps in Durham where it states; "There is no record of any unusual incidents during the time the location was under the control of the main camp at Harperley."
Rebuilding Post-War Britain: Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian Refugees in Britain, 1946-1951, published by Pen and Sword (2017). mentions ;= Windlestone Hall Camp 4 housing the above immediate post war? Were female Nazis kept within these walls? German nurses dressed as ATS ? The article refers to capture in 1944 but also states that some were from the Channel Islands which were not liberated until May 45 ? There were a number of pregnancies however there is reference to an appeal for urgent repatriation which could also indicate post war ? The book you refer too was written by Ruth Atkinson for anyone else who was wondering. Kyle
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007 Name: Heinrich J Stretter Registration Date: Oct 1944 [Nov 1944] [Dec 1944] Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec Registration district: Durham Western Inferred County: Durham Mother's Maiden Name: Stretter Volume Number: 10a Page Number: 423 TD As mentioned in the newspaper article posted by Kyle
With the headline Were female Nazis kept within these walls? - Tempting to apply 'Betteridge’s law of headlines' which states: “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word ‘no’”. Apart from the q of whether there were females at Windlestone at all - POWs or Protected personnel - there is also the way they are tarred with being called "Nazi's", in fact the article calls some of them "active Nazis" - but no evidence for this is shown and that seems very unfair. (& if they were active, were the ATS guarding them armed?) There was another article in 'The Journal' a couple of months before - same 'investigator', again no evidence and several points that contradict the Northern Echo story. The only other reference to the story I can find is on the David Icke web-forum . MS
Many, possibly all, German nurses captured in Normandy were handed back in an exchange AFAIK negotiated through the good offices of the Red Cross. This was consistent with the conventions of war established at the beginning of the century (but not universally honoured)
Malcolm, Have you tried to get in touch with Ruth Atkinson? This is her IMDB page: Ruth Atkinson - IMDb Not to be confused with script consultant Ruth Atkinson out of Los Angeles. Another story on the British Ruth involving the children of Chernobyl. Film tribite to nuke blast kids Otherwise I couldn't find a contact page for her. Regards ...
Thinking about things most of the German nurses were captured in Cherbourg where there was a large military hospital. This would have had some female administrators who might not have been covered by the conventions on nurses and medical attendants. The German army also had some females (although Nazi sentiment frowned on this) mainly in clerical duties and an HQ was also captured in Cherbourg, however I would not have thought the numbers amounted to those suggested in the first post.
I found Ruth Atkinson by way of her mother, Anita Atkinson, who to put it mildly is an avid monarchist and royal memorabilia collector. You can see her here in a CBS news piece where Ruth herself shows up. Britain's queen of royal memorabilia Ruth currently is deeply involved in hypnobirthing. Her husband, Pedro Sabrosa, also works in the film industry. Regards ...
