WIREDGOV

A new project is underway to recapture life as it was during the Second World War, when American troops and Italian prisoners of war (PoW) were positioned at a camp on the site which is now home to The National Archives. The Kew Society and the Richmond Local History Society are calling on those with memories, records or tales of this fascinating period in Kew's history to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences.

From soldiers to archives

Before the Second World War, The National Archives' site was occupied by the Claims Office of the Ministry of Labour. The civil servants were dispersed in 1940, and the buildings restructured to accommodate American soldiers, some of whom worked as cartographers responsible for mapping the invasion of Europe. The buildings were then handed over to Italian PoWs, 2,000 of whom lived in Kew until the end of the war.

With the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War approaching, David Blomfield of the Richmond Local History Society said, 'The stories we have heard directly from the people who know are heart-warming, shedding light on just some of the activity that took place in Kew. I suspect there are many more to emerge and it's so important we capture it now'. 

The GIs and the Italians apparently enjoyed a mixed reception from the locals. The GIs won friends with their generous gifts of nylons and gum, and the Italians with their charm. Yet there was also animosity with local gangs over the local girls; in one family in Kew, no fewer than three sisters married American GIs. And one story tells of an Italian prisoner of war, forbidden to marry his girlfriend in wartime, who returned to marry her immediately after the war and settled in nearby Brentford.

History recaptured

This could well be the last opportunity to recall life as it was in Kew from 1939 to 1945. So if you have memories, knowledge or family records of tales like these at Kew with American GIs or Italian PoWs, please get in touch by email to press@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk, or call the Richmond Local History Society's David Blomfield on 0208 940 8749.