BRITTOUR 2001: EDEN CAMP

The AMA UK/Isle of Man Tour (25 Aug - 6 Sep)

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Eden Camp is a memorial to Britain in World War II (1939 - 1945). A WWII camp used to house German and Italian prisoners of war has been converted to a memorial about Britain in WWII. There are some 30 buildings - former barracks for the prisoners - converted to display various facets of that war and how the Brits dealt with it. A few huts trace the history of the war, others include a recreation of the London Blitz (German air attacks in 1940), a home circa 1940 (furnished with stuff from that time), a WW I trench (how'd that sneak in?), a display on the role of English women in the war, and on and on. There are also static displays of some equipment (see the first table).

The first photo shows a British Spitfire, one of the fighter planes that helped win the Battle of Britain. The second photo shows a British Churchill tank, which appeared late in the war. This one is the infantry support model. The third photo is a US M16 half-track, armed with four .50 caliber machine guns and designed to shoot down enemy aircraft but incredibly deadly as an infantry support weapon. The last photo shows a German halftrack, a SdKfz 251. Troops ride in the back. This vehicle was also used to carry a variety of anti-tank and infantry support weapons. The Yii on the left front indicates it is from the 9th Panzer (Tank) Division.

Inside the different huts were incredibly well-designed displays of weapons and other things from the '40s. One hut had a series of models of the "Great Escape" (yes, from the movie with Steve McQueen), showing in one display the men making escape gear, in another how the tunnels were dug, then as you pass through the hut, you see maybe two displays (under cases showing other stuff) with a segment of the tunnel and a moving trolley carrying a prisoner toward the escape hole. A last display case shows the men climbing out of the hole to flee into the woods. Some of the displays are shown in the next table.

The musuem is designed for people who are not military historians, but has some stuff that would intrigue us hard core grognards. The first photo shows the map of Fortress Tobruk (in North Africa) when it was held by the "Desert Rats" of the 9th Australian Division (1941). The text describes the brilliant defense of the fortress by the "Diggers" and how they prevented the German Afrika Korps from going on into Egypt. The next three photos (sorry about the 1st one) show some models of military vehicles from WWII. The last one shows various motorcycles, mostly German, including (on the lower right) a Kettenrad or motorcycle tractor, a motorcycle designed for all-terrain. It could haul a little cargo or a few men and was primarily used by signal troops to maintain communications during an attack.