Astonishing photos show how British soldiers turned their PoW camp into a THEATRE performing 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' style shows to boost morale
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- Images depict incredibly elaborate theatre productions at Stalag 33
- Set, costumes and performances appear almost of professional standards
- Surreal pictures emerged in scrapbook compiled by John Roberts
- The book, dedicated to Ofladium National Theatre Company, is up for auction
By James Rush
PUBLISHED: 04:28 EST, 26 July 2013 | UPDATED: 08:43 EST, 26 July 2013
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Astonishing photos showing British soldiers performing 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'-style concert parties at a Prisoner of War camp have emerged after nearly 70 years.
The images depict the incredibly elaborate theatre productions the men of Stalag 383 put on to keep up the morale of the 4,000 prisoners during World War Two.
The sets, costumes, performances and concert programmes were of almost professional standards, with a great deal of time, effort and skill clearly going into creating them.
Costumes: This picture shows the effort that went in to the costume and set design for the performances
Productions: John Roberts (left) complied images of the productions during his time at Stalag in a scrapbook (right) which has emerged after 70 years
The theatrical and musical concerts were held in a barn-like building the men called the 'Ofladium Theatre', as the camp had once been an Oflag - a camp for officers.
Many tons of earth were transported and stamped down methodically to form a sloping floor in the hall to give the audience an unobstructed view.
The photos show servicemen wearing women's clothing, playing female roles in classics like HMS Pinafore, The Gondoliers and Dick Whittington.
They also highlight a sizeable orchestra playing saxophones, trumpets, tubas and guitars, tackling numbers like Beethoven's Eroica and music by Mendelssohn that had been banned by the Nazis.
Music Maestro Please: Dennis Whiteley and his Orchestra band in 1944
Dressing up: Two of the men convincingly dressed up as English ladies in productions at Stalag
The pictures made up a scrapbook dedicated to the 'Ofladium National Theatre Company' and was compiled by John Roberts, a leading light of the movement.
He sent the book home to his parents in January 1945. It recently turned up on sale at a market stall in south west England and was bought by the current owner.
He is now selling the book at auction in Ludlow, Shropshire, with a pre-sale estimate of £500.
Stalag 383 was located outside Nuremberg and held 4,000 NCOs and Warrant Officers who persuaded their German guards to help them with their theatrical hobbies.
Performance: A typical English home scene - on stage at the Stalag PoW camp in 1944
Posters: A Stalag 383 programme for the production of HMS Pinafore - signed by John Roberts (left) and a flyer for one of the shows by the Dennis Whiteley and his Orchestra band in 1944 (right)
As well as theatrical shows, the company also had a dance band led by PoW Denis Whiteley and a 'National Orchestra' that was conducted by David Laird.
Richard Westwood-Brookes, of Mullock's auction house, said: 'The whole book provides an almost surreal impression of PoW life in the camp.
'Each production is featured with a remarkably - almost professionally - produced programme, with a typed cast list, and stage photographs.
Entertainment: A clinching moment between two men, one convincingly dressed up as an English lady, during a show at Stalag
'Looking at the photographs, one might think it was the West End rather than a PoW camp.
'While other Allied PoWs were digging tunnels and doing anything to escape, it seems the inmates at Stalag 383 were having a jolly good time of it.
'And because there were no women in the camp, the many female roles taken in the productions had to be fulfilled by the PoWs themselves, and judging from the many photos, they managed to carry them off with aplomb.
'The history of the camp bears out the lifestyle they enjoyed. It was almost exclusively given over to NCOs, and as anyone in the forces knows, a band of NCOs will always get the best for themselves.
'In the case of 383, it appears the Germans had despaired of the various antics of NCOs at other camps in getting out of work duties, so they were almost exclusively sent to 383 and given the "fur lined" treatment.
'Instead of being held in draconian conditions, the inmates enjoyed small dormitory huts housing 14 or fewer.
'They enjoyed sports like cricket, which bemused the Germans, and walking and the theatre, which was particularly popular.
'One inmate wrote home that he was "14 pounds heavier than when he joined up" and many of the German guards helped out their British counterparts, and gave them information on the progress of the war.
'Events like World War II carry with them many different stories. The accepted version of PoW life has been borne out in Hollywood blockbusters like "The Great Escape" and films like "The Wooden Horse".
'Certainly for the men at these camps life was unbelievably tough, but clearly from the scrapbook of 383, this was not the story for everyone banged up by the Germans.'
The sale is on August 21.
Set design: The PoW's put a staggering amount of work in to the sets for the performances
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