Blue plaque № 12441

World War 2 Military 1940-1945, ?? Camp 1946-1948, D.P.Hostel 1948-1952. Cannon Hall Camp Cawthorne 1940-1952. The War Ministry in 1940 established a Military Camp in the grounds of Cannon Hall to accommodate troops in World War 2. This plaque is sited at the location of the main guard house and camp entrance. Both British and Commonwealth infantry and field artillery regiments occupied the camp in succession whilst training in Yorkshire for action in the War. Canadian Light Infantry trained here before leaving for the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944. At the end of the War in 1946 the camp housed ex-soldiers of the free Polish Armed Forces transferred to the Polish Resettlement Corps. The Corps offered further education and job training to enable the troops to enter British civilian life. In 1948 the camp converted to civilian use housing Polish families and their dependants displaced by the War. Many of the Poles settled in the locality and the wider Yorkshire area. The camp closed in 1952 and the Park was returned to Spencer Stanhope estate.

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