GRWP CADWRAETH Hut 9 preservation group

Former German POW Camp

Island Farm, Bridgend, WALES

 

This Event's Photo Album is here

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE YOU ALL AT HUT 9 DURING THE EVENT

 


 Our Events are so popular! They get fully booked 6 months in advance...

 

Please email Bookings@Hut9.org.uk to reserve places for our free tours inside Hut 9.
 

PLEASE NOTE

If you have emailed us to request a place for this Event but did not manage to get one because the Event was fully booked, your details will be added to a waiting list. However you still need to email us again (the sooner the better) at Bookings@Hut9.org.uk, to confirm that you are willing to attend this new Event.

 

Places are going fast, so first come first booked... If you do not want to be disappointed, please book your places now. Our Events are so popular that hey get fully booked nearly 6 months in advance...


Please specify the day (Saturday or Sunday) and your preferred time slot. The Hut 9 tours begin on the hour at 10am on Saturday, with the last one commencing at 3pm, and 9am on the Sunday, with the last one commencing at 2pm. Each tour is approximately 90minutes long.

Kind reminder

While the Hut 9 tours are free, we will be accepting donations on the days to fund our future work on improving the visitors' experience, so please be prepared to give generously.

The Hut 9 rooms have been restored in an attempt to try and recreate how they would have looked during 1940-1948. Members of the Hut 9 Preservation Group and WW2 re-enactors will be telling the fascinating stories of the 4 time-frames of Island Farm, occupied by the Royal Ordnance Factory workers, the American Forces prior to D-Day, the German POWs (known then as Camp 198) and later the High Ranking German Officers awaiting their Nuremberg Trial (camp was known then as Special Camp XI).

We use your donations to improve your visit experience. Here is the latest map showing the Hut 9 rooms and their contents

 

What's to hear and see during your visit
  • Outside Hut 9, there will be WW2 re-enactors with all their "kit" and and their vehicles (weather permitting).
  • Brett Exton will give a very interesting talk on the complete history of Island Farm.
  • Richard Williams will complement Brett's talk and guide you inside Hut 9.
  • A number of the famous Island Farm wall drawings/ paintings will be on display inside several rooms/ dormitories. Each picture gives a unique insight into the thoughts of a German POW, depicting their home, loved ones or quotes in German.
  • Numerous volunteer re-enactors will bring the place to life, dressed as former German PoWs, British Home Guards, American soldiers and Royal Ordnance Factory or NAAFI girls. They will be occupying several rooms/ dormitories with their full uniforms, equipment and brick-a-brac on display. Such equipment would have been used back in the day!
  • A re-enactor will be talking about the escape; how the tunnel was made and all about the prisoners' preparation prior to the escape.

  • Do not miss our Oral History gazebo, where you can be interviewed by Stel Anthony who will be able to record in audio/ video your experiences or stories about Island Farm, Hut 9, the PoW escape and Bridgend at War in general.

  • Finally, a member of the Hut 9 Preservation Group will guide you around Hut 9 and talk about the escape and the famous Welsh Great Escape Tunnel that is preserved in tact after all these years.

  • This is a FREE for ALL event, so no entry fee! However, as always your kind donations will be much appreciated. Without your generous donations, our voluntary work and effort to preserve Hut 9 and its history will be near impossible!

Access to the Hut 9 site

Visitors should park in the Innovation Science Park (opposite the Heronston Hotel - see location on Google Maps here) and walk from there to and along the A48. There will be a sign at the start of the short path off the A48 that will get you to the Hut 9 compound; it is a 5 minute walk.

We recommend wearing appropriate footwear, since during or straight after wet weather the path to the Hut 9 compound could be part muddy.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For everyone's safety, please do not attempt to stop or park your car on the busy and high speed traffic A48 road.

 

We regret that access to the Hut 9 site using a wheelchair is not possible.

 

Thank you

Hut 9 Preservation Group

 

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