Monument record 0856700000 - WILTON PARK

Wilton Park was occupied in July 1942 as a top secret interrogation centre for prisoners of war. The White House was a three storey Palladian mansion that was turned into an officers' mess for staff and interrogators. A series of Nissen huts was built for staff of other ranks. Prisoners were housed in a compound of flat-roofed brick and concrete cells. The first high ranking prisoners began to arrive in the middle of 1943. These included Marshall Messe, Field-Marshalls von Rundstedt and Busch and Rudolph Hess. Wilton Park (Camp 300) was part of the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (CSDIC) and this department was closed at the end of 1945 with most POWs being repatriated or moved to other camps. Wilton Park was then taken over by the Foreign Office becoming a centre for the de-Nazification of German POWs. In 1949/50 the estate became the home of the Army School of Administration with the Army School of Education moving on to the site in April 1950. During the 1960s three language wings were established at the school. They merged in 1970 to form the Army School of Language in 1970, which became the tri-service Defence School of Languages in 1985. Its main role is to provide foreign language training to the British armed forced and English language training to military personnel from overseas. All WW2 buildings on the site have now been demolished (B1).
From 1946-8, more than 4000 German POWs discussed democratic processes with visiting British intellectuals and political figures. The founder of this institution was Heinz Koeppler. Civilians from other European countries began to participate from 1947. All former POWs had left by the summer of 1948. The educational institution moved to Surrey but took the name Wilton Park with it (B2).