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Henllan Bridge Farm Prisoner of War Camp

The Henllan Bridge Farm Prisoner of War Camp in Henllan was built between 1940 and 1941 to house prisoners of war, it held Italian prisoners from 1943 - 1946 and later German prisoners from 1946 - 1947. The camp was of a standard design and consisted of around 35 huts to house the prisoners, a theatre, kitchen, hospital, bathing facilities and other huts and areas with various purposes.

In May 1943 1200 Italian prisoners of war, mostly captured in Libya and Tunisia, were marched from the local train station through Henllan to the camp, to begin their imprisonment. Many of the prisoners were allowed to work on local farms in Northern Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion where they contributed greatly to the local economy and life.

One of the huts within the camp was renovated by the prisoners into a Catholic Church. A 21 year old prisoner called Mario Ferlito was given responsibility for painting the inside of the church. He painted a fresco depicting the Last Supper on the wall behind the altar and also painted frescos on the walls and roof beams. No paint was available so the prisoners made their own from natural dyes and fish oil from tinned sardines. The altar and other decorations were made using pieces of wood recycled from Red Cross parcels and food tins such as Bully Beef tins to make the candlesticks. The effect was stunning and the church served the prisoners until their departure later in the war. The Church was named "The Church of the Sacred Heart".

The Italian prisoners were re-classed as collaborators after the surrender of Italy and around 700 left in mid 1946 to be repatriated to Italy, others however chose to stay in the local area and many even married and settled down in Wales.

The Italian prisoners were replaced by German Prisoners until around 1947 when the camps life as a POW camp came to an end.

The designer and painter of the church Mario Ferlito made a return journey to the church in 1977, at the bequest of local school children, to see how his work had survived, he has however, since died in Italy. The Prisoner of War camp and the Church of the Sacred Heart has become a place of pilgrimage for many who were held as Prisoners of War, their families and of course for scores of tourists.

The camp has been the subject of many TV programmes and has been mentioned in countless others, such as the BBC’s "Hidden Wales". It is also the subject of a book "Y Llinyn Arian" by Jon Meirion Jones, published in 2007.

The camp is important as it is the only surviving example of a POW decorated church on the British mainland, although another Italian POW Church called the "The Church of the Barriers" may be found on the Orkney Isles in Scotland.

The camp is now owned by Mr Thomson, Bro Hebog, Felindre, Llandyssul, SA44 5XL. Tel: 01559 371598.
SN35654022 located just off B4334.

For further details including photos and prisoners memories please see: www.bbc.co.uk

Article written by Carmarthenshire Tourism Officer Rhys D. Anthony.