P.O.W.

[Guest Don]

My grandfather was taken prisoner in I think the second battle of ypres, he was serving in the 3rd batt royal fusiliers and later died in a pow camp in germany in april 1918, my question is how can I find out when and where he was taken prisoner. Thank you. Don

[Chris_Baker]

Hello Don, welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately the answer is that unless you are very, very lucky...you can't. You could take a look at the battalion war diary, which is held at the National Archive (formerly the Public Record Office). This will tell you what happened and may list men who were missing. More usually there will just be a number, though. You will at least be able to see the circumstances, figure out where he was, and possibly pin it down to a date.

Good luck!

[Jim_Grundy]

Don

As Chris says, it is very difficult to find much out about when someone was taken POW. However, you might try the local press of the time. This takes time and is very hit and miss but is often the only way.

Even if you get a date, it is very unlikely that the newspaper will be able to tell you much more (but not unknown). Reference to the battalion war diary would, at least, give you the area where your grandfather was captured. Sometimes the war diaries were written up some time after the events they describe (especially during intense periods of action), so they too vary enormously in the level of detail they contain.

Best wishes for your research.

Cheers,

Jim