In 1944 the Prisoner of War camp was set up at Gosford Camp, and was to hold around 3,000 men, in conditions which were somewhat overcrowded. As a result, a satellite camp, No. 16A, was opened at Amisfield, near Haddington. A much smaller compound, this camp held the extra men for which there was insufficient capacity at Gosford.

Mr. Harry Dittrich, who arrived at Gosford Camp in 1944 was sent to Camp 16A at Amisfield after a few weeks, along with all the other non-Germans, a total of 800 men. He recalls: "I spent two years there. We had to work on farms but it was a nice camp, very tidy and run by ourselves. We had a theatre and a good band, plays were written and concerts laid on frequently. Many of the Austrians came from Vienna: music and song were in their blood and what they had to offer was really outstanding. I had lots of friends among them.

During those two years I had the first opportunities of closer contact with the local population and getting a picture of life in Scotland. I was very impressed by what I saw. It was such a peaceful and friendly land, entirely different from what I had known on the continent. Of course, I had difficulties with the language at first, but I soon started to pick up a few words here and there.

After two years in Haddington the camp was closed. We were sent back to the main camp in Gosford and that's where the trouble started. After two years of comparative freedom, with hardly a wire round our camp, we were suddenly confronted by our old friends the German army sergeants, ordering us about. We couldn't believe our eyes. It looked as if nobody had told them that the war was long finished. They strutted about in their uniforms, covered in medals. I had never seen so many Iron Crosses in my life. We found out later that they had all been fashioned out of tin from the cook-house and handpainted. The only thing missing in that camp was the old Hitler salute; it was unbelievable! And the majority of them were still Nazis. The old sergeants went hysterical when we told them we weren't in the German army anymore. We refused to follow their orders, all one thousand of us. The guard had to be called out, bugles were blown and I believe even the fire brigade were there, but they couldn't do a thing with us. Most of us 'foreigners' and troublemakers were transferred to other camps up and down the country as soon as possible after that."

After the end of hostilities many Ukrainian ex-P.o.W.s spent some time at Amisfield Camp prior to release into the community.