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Enemy Aliens Interned
A surprisingly cheery group of British-Germans men join thousands of others interned as 'enemy aliens' during WWI
Overview
This surprisingly cheery-looking group, several hundred strong, represents just some of more than 30,000 men interned by the end of 1915 under the provisions of the 1914 Alien Restriction Act. They are on their way to the internment camp at Frith Hill in Deepcut, Surrey. The camp was subsequently reserved for military prisoners of war, but these internees are clearly civilians.
The men's high spirits may be a show for the camera, but they may also feel relieved to be on their way to a place of safety. Anti-foreigner feeling was running high, with severe rioting British towns and cities and many German-owned shops and businesses damaged or destroyed. The unrest reached its peak in May 1915 after the notorious sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat. So this Topical Budget newsreel item, released later that month, would have been part of a conscious campaign by the authorities to show they were taking action.
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