POW Collection
Richard Kelsall has childhood memories of being given toys made by the German POWs who worked on a relative’s farm, but it wasn’t until he came across some POW made toys while clearing out an attic that he started his collection.
He currently has around 40 to 50 items, mainly on loan to him from local people. The toys and gifts were mostly made from discarded materials such as wood, tin and glass. The majority were made by German and Italian POWs working on farms throughout Britain. These gifts were often given to repay the kindness shown by farmers, farmworkers and their families.
The toys and gifts range from simple wooden ashtrays to a toast rack that has such intricate filing and soldering that Mr Kelsall believes it might have been made by a clockmaker.
Each piece has its own story: 
- A small aluminium ring in the form of a belt complete with buckle dating from WWI. This was made by a POW working as a cook on a farm in Martlesham. He made it as a gift for the daughter of a farmer who gave him vegetables.
- A brush made from horsehair (from a horse named Daisy) given in appreciation of daily lunches while working on a farm in Essex during the summer of 1946.
- A sheet of music from a POW who played with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra before WWII.
The craftsmanship that went into some of the pieces is quite incredible. My own favourites were the ornate peacocks. These were carved from just one piece of wood with the tail feathers carefully fanned out. All of these pieces have obviously been treasured over the years and show the bonds of friendship created between the POWs and the people they worked with.
I found the items and their stories very interesting and felt privileged to have had the opportunity to view the collection and I would like to thank Mr Kelsall for sharing this with me.
Mr Kelsall has held a few exhibitions and is now hoping to find a permanent home for this collection at Debach, once the site of a POW camp.
If you are interested in this collection or have any examples of POW craftsmanship that you would like to loan to Mr Kelsall, then you can contact him on (01728) 723323 or email rickkelsall@freebie.net .
For more information on prisoners of war visit the Eden camp website, a museum in North Yorkshire on the site of an original camp.
If you have an interesting collection or hobby that you would like to tell us about then please email kerry.burn@onesuffolk.co.uk