This article is exclusive to the continuity of the V for Vendetta comic book series, or the V for Vendetta movie.
Larkhill Resettlement Camp was a concentration camp used by Norsefire. It was the birth place of V.
History
Following the devastation left behind by World War III, a new fascist regime known as Norsefire took control of Britain's ruling class. Norsefire's primary initiative was to eliminate those who proved detrimental to a system of order. Such undesirables included Jews, minorities, political opportunists and homosexuals. Many of them were transferred to relocation centers such as Larkhill.
In the early 1990s, Larkhill was governed by a military officer named Commander Lewis Prothero. Prothero claimed that he was relocating select individuals for their own protection, but in truth, they were treated as prisoners, subject to torture, humiliation and scientific experimentation. One of the prisoners, a lesbian named Ruth, was interrogated and forced to give up information concerning her lover, a movie star named Valerie. Wracked with guilt over betraying her lover, Ruth soon took her own life. Valerie was placed inside prison cell No. 4, where she slowly grew despondent from the isolation. She scribbled down the story of her life onto a sheet of toilet paper and slid it through a hole in the wall to the prisoner in the adjoining cell.
In 1993, Doctor Delia Surridge came to Larkhill as part of their scientific research division. She designed a chemical hormone treatment known as Batch 5 and began distributing it to select prisoners. Not all of Larkhill's prisoners were considered ideal test subjects however. Many were simply taken out behind the chemical shed and executed.
Over four dozen prisoners were subjected to the Batch 5 experiments, with barely 25% of them surviving the process. One of the survivors was a nameless prisoner sequestered in Room 5. Number 5 was the same test subject who had received Valerie's toilet paper memoirs. At first, Number 5 proved to be a model prisoner, and he was even allowed to work in the camp's garden. He grew rose bushes and raised crops for the camp's administrators.
During this time, Number Five collected supplies of ammonia and fertilizer and used them to orchestrate his escape. Arranging the chemicals in a pattern on the floor, he caused a huge explosion which devastated the prison block. Horribly burned by the flames, he nonetheless broke free of Larkhill.
By the end of the year, the Larkhill experiments were considered a liability, and Norsefire closed the camp down. The staff was relocated to varying administrative positions throughout London, and the remaining prisoners were executed.
Number Five eventually became the anarchist known as V. By 1997, he established a vast headquarters for himself beneath the streets of London which he dubbed the Shadow Gallery. Inside the Gallery, V erected a perfect recreation of the resettlement camp. He used this recreation as a mean of torturing former Commander Prothero, and he also used it to psychologically "free" the caged spirit of Evey Hammond.
Residents
Notes
- Although Larkhill is an actual English district, the Relocation Center is exclusive to the continuity of the V for Vendetta comic strip.
- Historical information concerning prisoners Valerie and Ruth are taken from V's own accounts, and may not be considered reliable. It is possible that he fabricated information concerning these individuals as part of the brainwashing technique used against Evey Hammond. It is documented however that an actress named Valerie did in fact exist and starred in an unsuccessful movie called The Salt Flats.
Trivia
- Alan Moore stated in the notes to V for Vendetta (ISBN 1-84576-182-0), that he chose Larkhill because of the obvious military connections, but also because of a particularly unpleasant hiking trip that he had around the area.
See Also
- Appearances of Larkhill Resettlement Camp
- Location Gallery: Larkhill Resettlement Camp
- Catalogued images related to Larkhill Resettlement Camp