A German prisoner-of-war made this model while interned in Somerset during the Second World War. After D Day in 1944 large numbers of German prisoners arrived in Somerset. Many worked on farms alongside local people and members of the Womenâ??s Land Army. Some PoWs married local women and stayed in Somerset when the war ended.
Prisoners sometimes carved toys and ornaments to pass the time and to give away as gifts. This model house is also a cigarette dispenser.
"The Germans were very kind to me, making some beautiful toys out of wood - one being a shop with scales and wooden sweets - and I still have most of them." (War time recollections of Patricia Pusill of Bridgwater.)
Model made by a German Prisoner-of-War
Contributed by Somerset Rural Life Museum
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