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POW camp
After the last of the British regiments who trained at Raikeswood Camp left for war, it became a prisoner-of-war camp for captured German officers from January 1918, until their repatriation back to Germany in October 1919. The following…
Training camp
Raikeswood Camp was built in early 1915 as a training base for the Bradford Pals (16th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment) and was subsequently used by a number of other regiments, including the…
Post war
Following the Armistice in November 1918, the story of Raikeswood Camp did not end there. It took another 11 months for the German prisoners to be repatriated and then once…
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Discover more about what life was like in the camp by exploring the 3D model below.
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Raikeswood Camp, in the north-west of the market town of Skipton in North Yorkshire, was built in early 1915 as a military training camp for the Bradford Pals. From January…
People archive
Repatriation of POWs
© Courtesy of Peter Barry & Charles M Whittaker
Until they realised in July 1918 that the Spring Offensive had failed and that Germany was facing possible defeat, the prisoners had assumed that they would return home to a…
The huts
© Tosside Community Link and Slaidburn Archive
Following the repatriation of the prisoners back to Germany in October 1919, the camp was dismantled and the equipment and huts sold off at auction.
Hindenburg drop
© Unknown
In May 1936, the Hindenburg airship, on its return journey from America to Germany, made an unscheduled flight over Yorkshire in search of the grave of Skipton prisoner Lieutenant Franz…
Bradford pals
© K. Ellwood, V. Rowley, and NYCC, Skipton Library
Raikeswood Camp was built in early 1915 as a training base for the 16th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, better known as the ‘First Bradford Pals’, who were the first residents…
Arrival
© Kriegsgefangen in Skipton
The first German prisoners arrived in Skipton in January 1918. The German orderlies arrived on 11 January to set up camp in advance of the first wave of officers who arrived on 17,…
Daily life
© Courtesy of Peter Barry & Charles M Whittaker
Daily life at Raikeswood Camp revolved around a small number of unchanging events: morning reveille, the three daily roll-calls, three meal times, distribution of post and parcels and lights-out. German…
Men of the Bradford Pals
© K. Ellwood, V. Rowley, and NYCC, Skipton Library
The Pals battalions were made up of men from the same community joining up together and were part of the early recruitment drive by Lord Kitchener.
Officers of the Bradford Pals
© Bradford Weekly Telegraph
In a city which attracted many German immigrants to trade in its textile industry, it is no surprise that a number of the men in the Bradford Pals were of…
Sport & exercise
© Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, Freiburg im Breisgau, MSG2002730
The German POWs believed that it was a primary duty to remain fit and active in order to be able to ‘serve the Fatherland’ again as soon as they were…
Cultural life
© Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, Freiburg im Breisgau, MSG200/1971
Skipton was an officers’ camp so the German prisoners did not have to work. To pass the time and create a sense of purpose they organised various cultural activities including…
Educational activities
© Kriegsgefangen in Skipon, p.60
The German prisoners viewed education as extremely important. As well as broadening their minds, it was a demonstration of their loyalty towards Germany as it was a way of preparing…
Letters & parcels
© Kriegsgefangen in Skipton, p.53
Post was extremely important to the German POWs as it was a key contact with the outside world and with their loved ones at home.