
Confinement and Conflict
The Channel Island of Jersey's First World War POW camp was in use from听1915-1919, and housed German naval personnel. Between 2015 and 2019, a听collaborative project between听Universities of Cambridge (Dr Gilly听Carr), Liverpool (Professor Harold Mytum) and Bristol (Professor Nick听Saunders)听sought听to map all extant features of the site using magnetometry, photogrammetry听and archaeological survey techniques. The site, then as now, sits at the听base of sand dunes. Lacking any kind of blueprint for a POW camp, those who听built the camp first flattened the undulating land as far as possible, and听the flat-packed, barrack-block camp was laid out in the style of a British听army camp. Although the wooden buildings were sold off after WWI and the听camp dismantled, over the last 100 years sand dunes have reclaimed some of听the area. However, the foundations of buildings and the perimeter of the听camp have dictated dune formation in places, as shown in modern aerial听photos.
This gives a link to Mytum, H.,听Philpott, R.,听Carr, G., &听Saunders, N. J.听(2021).听This Camp seemed almost to be a model of its kind鈥: the Les Blanches Banques Camp for German World War 1 Prisoners of War.听Annual Bulletin of the Soci茅t茅 Jersiaise听
The Society of Antiquaries
The McDonald Institute small grants
The University of Liverpool