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Begins Tuesday听18 October 2005 , 3.00-3.30 p.m |
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Sue Cook and the team answer listeners' historical queries and celebrate the way in which we all 'make' history. |
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Series 12 |
Programme听5
15听November听2005 |
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Repatriation of Prisoners of War
Barbara Dennis (see above) was also interested in the fate of the refugees who had worked for the Political Intelligence Department who were sent home after the war. Making History consulted Dr Bob Moore of the University of Sheffield.
Dr Moore explained that the majority of German POWs were seen as a high-level security threat and were imprisoned in Canada for much of the war. However, many Italians were kept in the UK and were desperately needed to fill in for the men who were fighting overseas. With the invasion of Europe in 1944, many German prisoners were imprisoned in the UK and again were important in helping to make up for Britain's lack of manpower in industry, on farms and in the construction trades. These men should have been repatriated shortly after the war had ended, but with no German government as such to answer to and with the continuing shortage of labour in Britain, some were not sent home until 1947.
As for the refugees and anti-Nazis who had helped in espionage and propaganda, many of these took on important roles in the building of a new Europe - either at local town level or in regional or national politics. However, neither these nor the returning PoWs were given any financial help or psychological counselling, despite returning to bombed-out homes and broken communities.
Book
Bob Moore and Kent Fedorowich, Prisoners of War and Their Captors in World War II (Berg, 1996)
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Nicholaa de la Haye
A listener asked for more information about the woman who defended Lincoln Castle against the forces of Prince Louis in 1217. Making History consulted Dr Louise Wilkinson at Canterbury Christchurch University College.
Nicholaa de la Haye inherited the small Lincolnshire barony of Brattleby on the death of her father in about 1169. She also inherited a claim to be castellan (castle governor) of Lincoln (both her father and grandfather had held this office). A charter issued by Richard I on becoming king in 1189 confirmed Nicholaa and her second husband Gerard de Camville (she married him in 1185 - her first marriage is a bit of a mystery) in possession of these inherited lands. After this charter Gerard secured possession of Lincoln Castle and the 'shrievalty' of the county.
Gerard's family (the Camvilles), like the de la Hayes, were established servants of the Crown. Richard de Camville was the commander of Richard I's fleet for the 1190 expedition to the Holy Land. But it was Gerard's marriage to Nicholaa that provided him with a proper base.
Despite her legal subordination to her husband, Nicholaa was actively involved in the management of her estates during her marriage to Gerard. During the absence of Richard I on crusade, Gerard became involved in the violent dispute between the Royal Chancellor and John - while Gerard was helping the latter, Nicholaa was left behind in Lincoln to defend the castle against the Chancellor's forces. Though this was an unusual role for a woman, she was from the local family and would have earned the allegiance of local people because of this. Documents reveal that the Chancellor's forces laid siege to Lincoln Castle in 1191 for 40 days and Nicholaa's central role was confirmed by the response of Richard I on his return in 1194, when Gerard and Nicholaa were heavily fined for disloyalty.
But it was only really after Gerard's death in 1215 that Nicholaa herself came to the fore in public life. She secured possession of her inheritance and in 1216 assumed the office first of castellan of Lincoln Castle and then, by royal appointment (just before King John died), of Sheriff of Lincolnshire. The country was in turmoil: baronial opposition to King John, his acceptance and then rejection of Magna Carta, the slide into civil war in the autumn of 1215 and the landing of Prince Louis of France. In 1216 Nicholaa prevented Lincoln Castle falling into enemy hands by buying a truce with Gilbert de Gant.
Nicholaa was involved in further sieges, and the Battle of Lincoln on 20 May 1217 resulted in a loyalist victory that effectively sealed the fate of Prince Louis' ambitions in England. Despite her track record, however, she was removed from office just four days after the battle and replaced by Henry III's uncle, the Earl of Salisbury. She died in 1230.
Further reading
Louise Wilkinson, Women in Thirteenth Century Lincolnshire (Royal Historical Society, to be published in January 2006)
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Vanessa has presented听science and current affairs programmes for 大象传媒, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for 大象传媒 Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.听