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Painting of Knockaloe Camp

Date made: 1916

Description: Isle of Man Internment Camp Knockaloe. Row of wooden huts behind barbed wire fence. Dustbins and metal buckets outside each hut and washing hanging on line between huts. In front of huts is a row of striped deck chairs. Sea on horizon.

The closest match on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) database would appear to be Johannes Detlaf Prochnow, recorded as being at Stafford camp in August 1915, age 34. NOK: Mrs Prochnow, 7 Lewes Road, Eastbourne, England. Red Cross bureau number: 42571. This identification is confirmed by the 1911 Census which records Hans Prochnow at the same address, same age and occupation artist and photographer. There is apparently a registration for his birth in Berlin 4 February 1881. Middle name shown there as Detloff.

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. Over 30,000 men passed through Knockaloe between 1914 and 1917, more than the population of Douglas. Other historic names referring to the camp include Knockaloe P.O.W. Camp, Knockaloe Prisoner of War Camp and Knockaloe Alien Detention Camp.

Measurements: frame: 36 x 41.5 cm

Materials: Watercolour & Paper

Object name: Painting

Collection: Art Collection

ID number: 1995-0090

Subject tags : #WW1INTERNMENTMUSEUMCOLLECTIONS

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