Prisoners of war In 1805, the United Kingdom was at
war with Napoleonic France, a conflict during which thousands of prisoners were taken and confined in prison "hulks" or derelict ships. This was considered a security risk, partially due to the proximity of the Royal Naval dockyard at
Devonport (then called Plymouth Dock), and living conditions were appalling in the extreme; consequently, a prisoner of war depot was planned in the remote isolation of Dartmoor. The prison was designed by
Daniel Asher Alexander. Construction by local labour started in 1806, taking three years to complete. In 1809, the first French prisoners arrived and the prison was full by the end of the year. From the spring of 1813 until March 1815, about 6,500 American sailors from the
War of 1812 were imprisoned at Dartmoor in poor conditions (food was bad and the roofs leaked). These were either naval prisoners or impressed American seamen discharged from British vessels. Whilst the British were in overall charge of the prison, the prisoners created their own governance and culture. They had courts which meted out punishments, a market, a theatre and a gambling room. About 1,000 of the prisoners were Black. A recent examination of the General Entry Book of American Prisoners of War at Dartmoor, by Nicholas Guyatt, found "Eight Hundred and Twenty - Nine Sailors of Colour had been entered into the register by the end of October 1814."
Escapes Unlike many detention facilities of the period, Dartmoor Prison was purpose built in an isolated location, ringed by high stone walls, and manned by hundreds of armed militia sentries. In addition a rope ran around the entire circumference of the prison, linked to a series of bells, which quickly spread an alarm. Even if a determined prisoner made it beyond the walls, he would still have to traverse ten miles on foot, over wild moorland and bogs, an area frequently beset with fog and chilling winds, to reach the nearest town. Local residents turning in an escapee could expect a reward of a guinea. Yet, despite these daunting odds, scholar Nicholas Guyatt has tallied a total of twenty-four American POWs successfully making their way to freedom. ;Disorder Although the war ended with the
Treaty of Ghent on 24 December 1814, American prisoners of war remained in Dartmoor because the British government refused to grant them parole or to take any steps until the treaty was ratified by the
United States Senate on 17 February 1815. It took several weeks for the American agent to secure ships for their transportation home, and the men grew very impatient. On 4 April, a food contractor attempted to work off some damaged hardtack on them in place of soft bread, but was forced to yield by their insurrection. The commandant, Captain T. G. Shortland, suspected them of a design to break out of the gaol. This was the reverse of the truth in general, as they would lose their chance of going on the ships, but a few had made threats of the sort, and the commandant was very uneasy. By July 1815 at least 270 Americans and 1,200 French prisoners had died.
1815 closure, and reopening ''. After all American and French prisoners had been released, and repatriated, the gaol on Dartmoor was left unused for 35 years until 1850. Work then began to rebuild and recommission the prison for civilian convicts. It reopened in 1851. The POW remains that had been originally buried on the moor were exhumed and re-interred in two cemeteries behind the prison when the prison farm was established in about 1852. During the
First World War in 1917, criminals were removed from the gaol when it was converted into a Home Office Work Centre for
conscientious objectors granted release from other prisons. The cells were left unlocked, inmates wore their own clothes and could go outside to visit the village in their off-duty time. Prisoners made numerous attempts to get out of the prison and onto the moors, leading to massive manhunts by the police and prison service. Instances of disobedience included a model prisoner attacking a popular guard with a razor blade and rough treatment by prisoners of a prisoner being removed to solitary. At the parade later that day, 50 prisoners refused orders, and the rest were marched back to their cells but refused to enter. At this point, the prison governor and his staff fled to an unused part of the prison and secured themselves there. The prisoners then released those held in solitary. There was extensive damage to property, and a prisoner was shot by one of the staff, but no prison staff were injured. •
F. Digby Hardy •
John Williams •
Frank Mitchell • Fahad Mihyi,
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist behind the
1978 London bus attack •
Aravindan Balakrishnan ==Modern operations==