File NLW MS 24094E - Island Farm Prisoner of War Camp papers

Identity area

Reference code

NLW MS 24094E

Title

Island Farm Prisoner of War Camp papers

Date(s)

  • 1946-2017 (Creation)

Level of description

File

Extent and medium

ii, XVI (original foliation I-XIV continued to end), 64 ff.

Placed in melinex sleeves within ringed box at NLW.

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Name of creator

Biographical history

Name of creator

Biographical history

Archival history

'Lot 249 Bollans' on f. 38 suggests the memorandum (ff. 38-53) derives from a source other than Ted Lees; 'Forman. Camp 11 No. 7', 'Forman Camp 11 No. 10' and 'Lot 245' (labels attached to plastic sleeves previously holding some of the papers).

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

C&T Auctioneers and Valuers; Kenardington; Purchased at auction, lot 109 (with NLW, Llyfrau Ffoto 6130 B, 6254 B and NLW ex 3016); 15 March 2017; 99762801002419.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Papers, 1946-2017, of Captain Ted Lees, relating to Island Farm Prisoner of War Camp, Bridgend. Captain Lees was the camp's Intelligence Officer and interpreter during the period 1946-1948, when it held some of the most senior German officers, including Feldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt.
The papers include a nominal roll of senior prisoners compiled by Lees (ff. i-ii, I-XVI); some eighteen letters to Lees, from von Rundstedt and others, 1946-1948, 1957 (ff. 1-21); a typescript statement by von Rundstedt concerning the Blomberg-Fritsch affair of 1938 (ff. 22-25); a typescript memorandum, dated 9 July 1947, from a prisoner to a 'Herr Bieri' [?Frederick Bieri of the IRCC], concerning the Geneva Convention (ff. 30-36); Lees's manuscript recollections of von Rundstedt, 1953 (ff. 54-57); and a copy of a War Office urgent memorandum (U.M./4202(P.W.1m)), dated 8 September 1947, enclosing a categorised nominal roll of senior German officers detained in the UK (ff. 38-53). The letters to Captain Lees, mostly in German, are from Generalmajor [Walter] Leuze, 10 May 1946 (f. 1), [Generalmajor Hans] Erdmann, 3 December 1946 (f. 2), von Rundstedt, 25 December 1946 (f. 3), [Generalmajor Burkhart] Muller-Hildebrand, 2 February 1947 (ff. 4-5), [Konteradmiral] Hans Voss, 13 August 1947 (f. 6), General der Flieger Hans-Georg von Seidel, 14 August 1947 (f. 8), General der Artillerie Anton[-Reichard Hermann Friedrich Maria] Fr[ei]h[er]r v[on] Bechtolsheim, 19 August 1947 (f. 9), Dr Rudolf Aettig, 9 December 1947 (f. 11), [General] Gunther Blumentritt, 26 February 1948 (f. 13), and [General Edwin Graf von] Rothkirch [und Trach], 1 May 1948 (f. 14). Also included are a letter to Lees's wife from von Rundstedt, 10 February 1948 (f. 12), a Christmas card from Voss, made in camp, [1946x1948] (f. 17), a note from Voss certifying the handing over of medals to Captain Lees, [1946x1948] (f. 18), and correspondence, 1957, between Lees, Wilhelm Bauer de Betaz and a Manchester bank, concerning the whereabouts of Bauer de Betaz's medals (ff. 19-21). Items subsequently added to the papers include typescript translations of two of the letters into English (ff. 7, 15), photocopies of parts of the Blomberg-Fritsch and Geneva Convention typescripts (ff. 26-29, 37, kept for conservation purposes) and printouts of web pages relating to Lees and von Rundstedt, 2010, 2017 (ff. 62-64).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Arranged at NLW as follows: nominal roll; letters; other documents.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers' Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library.

Conditions governing reproduction

Usual copyright laws apply.

Language of material

  • English
  • German

Script of material

Language and script notes

English, German.

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Other items purchased with the papers comprise photographs of the camp, prisoners and staff (now NLW, Llyfrau Ffoto 6130 B and 6254 B), marquetry cigarette boxes, framed watercolours and two small painted wooden plaques inscribed with von Rundstedt's name (2017 PO22/1-7) and unrelated papers (NLW ex 3016).

Related descriptions

Notes area

Note

Title based on contents.

Alternative identifier(s)

Alma system control number

99762801002419

Access points

Place access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

October 2018.

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

Archivist's note

Description compiled by Rhys Jones.

Accession area