german pows in england

[Guest Kevin lettan]

Does anybody know if there are any difinitive lists of german pow's held in the uk. If so where can they be viewed. I had relatives that fought on both sides of the conflict, some died, some survived. I am trying to trace a german pow whom was gassed by the british and taken prisoner.

[Doug Johnson]

The Prisoner of War Information Bureau in London produced weekly lists of prisoners which was not just a list of new prisoners but was also a list of those admitted to hospital, died etc. Three copies of these lists were prepared. One was held by the PoWIB, one was sent to the Red Cross in Geneva and one was transmitted to Germany via whatever means was available such as the US embassy in the early years. I would guess that the Red Cross ones survive and are probably inaccessible to the public until they are 100 years old (the red Cross will provide details for a fee). If the PoWIB ones are still around then a search of the FO383 on line index on the NA web site may be worthwhile. Certainly FO383 contains numerous references to German prisoners and many are mentioned by name in the index.

I would also post his name and details here just in case someone has come across him somewhere.

Doug

[owilki1984]

Hi,

I must say I am no expert and the research I have done is about a British POW in Germany. However from what I have read the Red Cross was involved with the treatment of prisoners of war in ALL belligerent countries.

If any organization is going to have infomation on your relatives then they will. Additionally for definative lists I would say these are your best bet. Only problem is that you have got to pay for it. You can find details on their website.

Also in the same way that the British War Office kept info on soldiers interned in Germany, I would have thought the German authorities would have kept info on their guys held here.

If so I would try Bundesarchiv, Berlin. They may or may not have records, and again you will probably have to pay to access any stuff they do have.

Hope this helps a bit.

Oli