Hallo Guzzijimbo,
Your Dad says you have got a table in NZ that was made by POWs. Is it possible to e-mail me with a photo of it. will talk then.

Came across this site while researching my father's wartime experiences. In 1941 he was in an anti-aircraft battery at a location he gives in a letter as "Weston Lane Farm, Weston, Crewe, Cheshire." I haven't been able to find such a farm, but note thhe gun emplacements visible in satellite photos of Snape Farm.

I haven't found any indication of any other gun emplacements in the area, but I'm concerned by Guzzjimbo's statement that the guns were never delivered, as my father categorically records manning the guns on the night of 20th October 1941, although they didn't fire as the target was not Crewe, but appeared to be Liverpool from the gun flashes they saw.

They were living under canvas and he bemoans the fact that they would "not be there long enough to get the benefit of the new huts when they are put up."

Can anyone tell me which Unit was based at Snape Farm.

Terrier

[Kitty]

he would have been royal artillery or ordnance corps most likely, but anyone spare was rafted in to use AckAck guns. And the reason you cannot find the gun emplacements is because there wasn't really any. sandbags at most piled up around field artillery pieces that were on wheels.

at the time your father was protecting the marshalling yards of Crewe, which came under regular Luftwaffe attack [Kampfgeshwader to be precise]. However they would have had a regular pop at any stray bombers coming over on their way to Chester/Manchester/Liverpool.

if you have been to the area then you will have spotted a ruined castle like structure on a large hill line. That is the folly of Mow Cop, the Kampfgeshwader would use this to line up on in order to make their run-ins to their target. Another temporary AckAck gun emplacement was at a farm on the side of the hill itself. There was also a Meacon site at Mow Cop in order to begin bending the navigational beams the bombers were using.

Your father was under canvas as the AckAcks were sent where needed, and as such were only ever temporary. Permanent gun emplacements for air defences were only really found on military bases.

Thanks for that, Kitty. He was in the 77th Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. His letter is dated 21st October 1941, but they didn't stay there long. On 8th December they sailed for the Middle East, but were diverted to Java, and he spent the rest of the war as a "guest of the Emperor".

I don't think we went far enough along Weston Lane, and didn't see the Mow Cop. I'm still puzzled as to where Weston Lane Farm might have been, or whether that was its real name, but what you say about the guns does explain a bit. He did say something about the "new gun position", so they may well have been mobile.

Terrier

[fritz]

I have my fathers Certificate of Registration that shows he reported to the County War Agricultural Executive Committee Hostel, as it was know, Snape Farm, Weston nr Crewe on the 6th Feb 1948 until the 2nd oct 1948 as a POW Farm Worker. Interesting to see the photographs of the huts used at the camp during and after the second world war and I am grateful for you posting them on this site. Thank you.

[tarboat]

Originally Posted by fritz

I have my fathers Certificate of Registration that shows he reported to the County War Agricultural Executive Committee Hostel, as it was know, Snape Farm, Weston nr Crewe on the 6th Feb 1948 until the 2nd oct 1948 as a POW Farm Worker. Interesting to see the photographs of the huts used at the camp during and after the second world war and I am grateful for you posting them on this site. Thank you.

Thanks for your kind comments and the information about your father. It is really helpful to have this confirmation that the site was used for POWs working the local farms. He must have been one of the last POWs still in the UK by Oct 1948.

Hallo 'Fritz', I suspect we met yesterday at Snape Farm, but if you're a different person please get in touch as I'm researching the camp and the POWs. Regards M.T.

[fritz]

Hi timecoast, yes same person. Nice to have met up.

[Gibbo]

Thanks for the latest info chaps, keep us posted as to how you get on.

[aja_gti]

Excellent thread, great to think that connections have been made off the back of it.

I have been passing this site twice a day for 10 years on my way to work and never knew it was there.