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Prisoner of War mess tin

Frank Hadfield was a gunner in the Royal Artillery and was taken prisoner of war on 15th February 1942 in Singapore where he entered a Japanese camp for three years. He was treated very badly; beaten, tortured and starved. He was seventeen stone when he left and six and half when he returned.

Frank never should have gone to the Far East, he was destined for Iceland but their ship from Liverpool was given the wrong orders. As they arrived they were ordered to surrender and taken in cattle trucks to camps. He was made to work on the railways and kept a diary of events throughout the war. Some entries are very brief, as being caught writing his diary was almost certain death.

This mess tin was carved by Frank with a nail during his time as a prisoner of war. You can see his name, number and regiment.

He was released on 16th August 1945 and put on the first ship back to Southampton, arriving in October. He spent nine months recovering in hospital and suffered all his life with the terrible memories. He lived until 76 years old and worked at brickworks at Monk Bretton Colliery when he returned to Barnsley.

WAAF Jacket

The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force was formed in 1939 as a subdivision of the RAF. Throughout the war many women undertook vital support roles for the RAF as well as flying planes in non-combative circumstances. This jacket belonged to Beth Ibbotson who joined the WAAF and was stationed at Harrogate where she had an administrative role. Miss Ibbotson was so petite this jacket had to be made specifically for her.

Wartime wedding dress

A wedding was a great opportunity to rally round and spend time with loved ones. On 17th June 1943 Eileen Briggs married Harold Townend. Eileen had worked at the department store Butterfield’s and the fabric for the dress was put aside for her. Some of her colleagues pooled their coupons so that she could purchase the fabric. Eileen’s mother, Hilda, was a dressmaker and made the dress for her. The veil is made from Bruges lace. Harold worked for the Special Operations Executive who were often parachuted into enemy territory to work with resistance groups and disrupt enemy operations.

Labour camp dress

Worn by Kataryna Cieslik while in a Ukrainian labour camp and kept by her daughter for the emotive memories it holds.

"My daughter Lidochka this dress is my great history, mine and yours. My mama made it for me when I went home to visit from Nalchik and brought this material with me. in Russian it is called "markizet" all 61 years I loved this dress because the flowers were beautiful, now they have faded. I wore it on the way to Germany, the blouse ad dress I wore because I was afraid I'd lose them, they were a very precious memory for me. In that dress I went through camps - 6 months in gestapo prison, when me and your dad tried to escape from Germany"

Recipe book for fundraising

This recipe book was compiled by the women of the Women’s Voluntary Service for the Mayor of Barnsley’s Spitfire Fund. All proceeds from the book went towards the cost of making new aircraft. It also provided new inspirations for meals to be made with the available food rations. Reserach is ongoing but we can confirm that the campaign did result in a spitfire being purhased, which was called the Barnsley Chop!

VE Day commemorative tie

This tie belonged to Ernest Chapman who escaped four prisoner of war camps and survived! On his fourth attempt he jumped out of a moving train and joined the Greek guerrilla fighters. After the war he settled in Wombwell and became a miner at Houghton Main. Ernest and his wife Dot returned to Greece in 1976 where he received a hero's welcome, the villagers even offered to build him a house.