Article from Stand To! Number 21, 1987
Prior to the Battle of the Somme the BEF employed very few of their prisoners of war on labouring tasks. However, once the Battle had been in progress for a few weeks the manpower shortages behind the lines became so acute that increasing numbers of fit prisoners were formed into Prisoner of War Labour Companies under British officers and escorts and set to work on road maintenance, forestry, quarrying and other tasts. On 5th October 1916 there were 29 PoW Labour Companies and a Depot Company in France, employing approximately 12,300 prisoners. By the end of October 1918 this had grown to 303 companies with a total labour force of 160,065 (including escorts).
As in any prison community some occasional relaxation was vital to the maintenance of morale and discipline and the photograph above shows how the men of one company provided themselves with home-made entertainment in the form of a theatrical troop. It is probable that this photograph was taken by one of the French civilian photographers allowed into the PoW compounds by the British authorities to take portrait and group photographs that the prisoners were encouraged to send home. As well as providing the prisoners with the means of reassuring their families as to their health and safety these postcards made useful propaganda during the increasing hardships on the German home front by showing how well the BEF could afford to feed its prisoners.
Photograph: P.T. Scott) P.T.S.
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