The Taughmonagh Prisoner of War Camp stood on an area of vacant land near the 3rd fairway of Balmoral Golf Club, Belfast.
Throughout the Second World War, celebrities including boxing heavyweight Joe Louis and fighter pilot Douglas Bader enjoyed a round of golf at Balmoral. Meanwhile, across the barbed wire, German military men awaited their fate as the war in Europe drew to an end. Enterprising locals would bring cigarettes to the prisoners in return for golf balls that found their way into the camp.
On Friday 3rd January 1947, the Belfast Newsletter carried details of a letter received by Reverend A Martin. It came from the Commanding Officer of the prisoner of war camp. The commander expressed thanks to the church and congregation in Finaghy, Co. Antrim for:
The very kind interest taken in their welfare over Christmas.
Members of the church had sent gifts and decorations for the camp Christmas tree to the detained Germans. One local woman who sent a gift was the mother os a young man who had spent 5 years in a prisoner of war camp in Germany.