Merrow Prisoner of War Camp Traditional Geocache
Merrow Prisoner of War Camp
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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In 1942 a Prisoner of War Camp was hastily erected on Merrow Downs as Work Camp 57 adjacent to the Guildford Golf Club. The nearest watch tower was only a few yards away from the clubhouse door. By 1944 it housed close on 800 Italian prisoners sleeping 40 to a hut and absorbed from over 22,000 who had been captured in North Africa and who were regarded as low-risk. The Italian prisoners worked on local farms and forestry. There were few recorded escapes from Merrow, and those that did were recaptured. Two Italian POWs in a 1942 attempt managed only to reach Leatherhaed in Surrey before being apprehended. The Merrow Camp was deemed to be in too sensitive a location to house high-risk German prisoners, especially with the Special Operations Executive's Tyting House and Wanborough Manor being nearby. The authorities in 1944 were desperate to move German prisoners from France to England and had earmarked 24 camps in Britain, including Merrow, to be emptied. In the event Merrow Camp itself was to wait until the war was over. 458 German POWs were consigned in September 1945 to satellite hostels under Merrow's responsibility. Locally 220 went to The Hallams near Blackheath and a further 144 to huts in Shackleford near Godalming. In June 1946 Merrow Camp was cleared of Italians and filled with Germans who had been held in North America during the war. By this time The Hallams was holding over 400 prisoners. The cache is situated very close to what we believe was the location of one of the watch towers - you can still see the concrete footings of the 4 corners although now very hidden by undergrowth.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Xarr uvtu, ZGG