First World War internee watercolour of internment camp huts
Date made: 1914-1918
Description: A watercolour sketch of large field (recreation ground) surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Beyond the fence are rows of houses and a hill and the sea in the background. The view may be of the Ordinary Camp at Douglas Camp and the view out to Onchan, Howstrake. The watercolour is signed M. Hoke but does not have a title.
The artist Max Hoke appears in the Douglas Camp daybook, he was German, with camp number 416.
Background:
During the First World War (1914-1918) the Isle of Man was used as an internment base for civilian ‘enemy aliens’. They were held in two camps, a requisitioned holiday camp in Douglas and a purpose built camp located at Knockaloe near Peel on the west coast of the Island. These held at their peaks over 4,000 and 23,000 men in some cases for nearly five years between opening in 1914 and final closure in 1919.
Measurements: overall: 17.8 cm x 25.6 cm
Materials: paper
Object name: watercolour painting
Collection: Art Collection
ID number: 2008-0170/18
Subject tags : #WW1INTERNMENTMUSEUMCOLLECTIONS