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The information below and the image opposite have been kindly reproduced from 'A District At War (Irlam and Cadishead’s Part in the First World War)' by Neil Drum and Pete Thomas.

In mid-February 1917, two hundred German prisoners of war from Leigh prisoner of war camp started work at the Steelworks. Each day they travelled in five special tram-cars from Lowton St Mary’s to Irlam. Leigh prisoner of war camp was established in 1914 in a newly built mill, located at the bottom of Etherstone Street, Pennington, Leigh. As the war progressed this was to become home to nearly 2,000 prisoners and by 1917 the prisoners were being employed at various sites. The following article appeared in the Leigh Chronicle dated 16th March 1917:

‘A scheme for the temporary employment of prisoners of war in Lancashire (under War Office sanction) has been successfully started by the commandant of the Prisoner of War Camp, Leigh. Working parties are now being engaged in various parts of the county, the strength of each varying with the requirements of those who employ them. The conditions which govern the employment of prisoners of war at Leigh provide for the payment by the employer of a standard rate of wages, and the return of the men to the camp each evening. At the present time a party of 200 men are employed on some works at Irlam. A special corridor train conveys the men from Leigh to the place of work. They are accompanied by an armed escort commanded by an officer. They leave camp every morning at 7.30, and return at 5.30. It has been arranged to send these working parties any distance within a radius of 20 miles of the camp. The Commandant of the Leigh Camp states that the money paid for the labour belongs to the Government, the prisoners share of the pay being one penny (sometimes 1 ½ d) per hour, which they are at liberty to spend in the “dry” canteen at the camp.’

 

The attached photograph shows German prisoners of war and their armed escort on the Cadishead side of Irlam railway station, waiting for the train back to Lowton. The prisoners refused to face the camera.

 

 

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