| Administrative History | Hill Farm, Walton upon Trent, was run by George and Margaret Leedham. George Leedham came to Walton as the village blacksmith before he took the tenancy of Hill Farm from Walton Estate. George and Margaret would have five children. In 1959 George left his family, and Margaret and two of her children went to live in Rylands Lodge, Cotton, before moving to Branston, Burton upon Trent, in 1962.
In 1943 Italian Prisoners of War built a Prisoner of War Camp War on Green Meadow, Rosliston, Derbyshire. Prisoners from Rosliston were allocated farm duties at local farms. An Italian prisoner called Henry worked for a time at Hill Farm, who would write a letter to Leedham family just before he went back to Italy in 1947.
The Italian prisoners would be replaced by German Prisoners of War. One of these would be Willi Wagner, born around 1926. Very little is known of Willi Wagner early life or experiences as a solider. He was the son Karl Wagner, from Urexweiler, in the Marpingen municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It would appear Willi was from a farming background and was one of five children. It is not known how he became a Prisoner of War, but by 1946/1947 he was placed in Rosliston Prisoner of War Camp. Willi was allocated farm duties at Hill Farm. During his time working at Hill Farm, Christmas, Easter, and Birthday cards/messages were created and sent the Leedham family, signed by Willi and other prisoners. By 1948 Willi was sent back to Germany.
On his return to Germany, Willi continued to work in agriculture until his father’s death, and then in 1949 Willi went to work in a coal mine. In 1952 he married Erma. In 1954 they had a son and in 1956 a daughter.
The Leedham family and Willi wrote to each other off and on during the 1950s until 1959.
Willi died in 2009 aged 83. |
| Custodial History | These records were donated to Derbyshire Record Office by a family member of creator of this collection in January, 2024. |