*********************************** PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE RECORDS INFORMATION Leaflet No: 111 *********************************** [Note: this and all other PRO Records Information leaflets are (c) Crown Copyright, but may be freely reproduced except for sale or advertising purposes. Copies should always include this Copyright notice -- please respect this.] (C) Crown Copyright, May 1990 ------------------------------ start of text ------------------------------ PRISONERS OF WAR AND DISPLACED PERSONS 1939-1953: DOCUMENTS IN THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE The Public Record Office holds a substantial quantity of material relating to prisoners of war and displaced persons during the Second World War and after. The present leaflet is intended as a general guide to those records which are either wholly or mainly concerned with both Allied and enemy POWs, 1939-1945, and with ex-POWs and DPs in the immediate post-war period. There is also a section dealing with the Korean War, 1950-1953. The majority of the records to which reference is made in the leaflet concern policy and administration, and do not contain detailed information on individuals. There are, however, a number of nominal lists of (mainly British and Allied) POWs among the records, which provide certain personal details. [[SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945: PRISONERS IN BRITISH HANDS]] The War Office was responsible for the custody of POWs of all services. The War Diaries of the Directorate of Prisoners of War are in WO 165/59-71, and minutes and reports of the Imperial Prisoners of War Committee meetings can also be found there. Registered Papers concerning prisoners both during and after the war are in WO 32 code 91. The Medical Historian's Papers in WO 222 include reports on the health of POWs and on the work of POW hospitals. Some selected War Diaries of hospitals, depots and camps are in WO 177/1833-1855, and selected Diaries of POW camps can be found in WO 166; there is a general index at the beginning of this class. In addition, War Diaries of units of the British Army contain material on POW camps, labour companies etc. in various theatres of war. These can in most cases be identified from the indexes to the appropriate class lists. Numerous files on individual POW camps in the United Kingdom are among the records of the Prisoners of War Section of the London-based Control Office for Germany and Austria (FO 939) Lists of POW and internment camps are among the Military Headquarters Papers: Home Forces, in WO 199/404-409. Nominal lists of enemy POWs temporarily interned in the Tower of London can be found in WO 94/105. The War Diary of MI 19, the division of Military Intelligence responsible for the interrogation of enemy POWs, is in WO 165/41. Records of the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (CSDIC) and of the Prisoners of War Interrogation Section can be found in WO 208. Many of these files are closed for 75 years, although the CSDIC reports in WO 208/4117-4212 are now open. A few interrogation reports on German POWs in 1944 exist in the files of the Control Commission for Germany: Internal Affairs and Communications Division, in FO 1050/169. Interrogation reports on enemy airmen among the records of the Air Ministry's Directorate of Intelligence (AIR 40) are closed for 75 years. Some debriefings of enemy POWs can be found in the files concerning the Prisoners of War Campaign conducted by the Political Warfare Executive of the Foreign Office, in FO 898/320-330. Correspondence with the United States authorities on policy concerning POWs in general can be found among the papers of the British Joint Staff Mission in Washington (CAB 122). The Operational Papers of the Prime Minister's Office (PREM 3/363 and 364) contain material relating to both enemy and Allied POWs. Correspondence between the British government, the Red Cross and the Protecting Powers, including inspection reports on POW camps, is among the records of the Consular (War) Department of the Foreign Office, in FO 916. In addition, the Home Office Internment (General) Files in HO 215 contain a large amount of material on Home Office involvement with the internment of enemy aliens and POWs. Correspondence between the Home Office and the Prisoners of War Information Bureau (UK) and general correspondence concerning the treatment of interned enemy aliens is in HO 213/494-498. The few surviving records of the PWIB itself are in WO 307. CO 968/33-36 contain correspondence of the Colonial Office Defence section relating to internment policy in the British Colonies, and include lists of enemy POWs in various colonial territories. Correspondence about the employment of Italian merchant seamen taken prisoner is in MT 9 code 106. The Prisoners of War and Internees Files in the Admiralty and Secretariat Papers (ADM 1 code 79) contain documentation on many aspects of the Royal Navy's involvement with the capture and internment of enemy and Allied POWs, naval and other services. Similar correspondence and papers are to be found in the Prisoners of War and Internees files in the Admiralty and Secretariat Cases (ADM 116 code 79). Many of these files contain lists of Royal Navy personnel interned in enemy camps, although they are not identifiable from the class lists. SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945: PRISONERS IN ENEMY HANDS The War Office Registered Files (WO 32 code 91) and the Directorate of Military Operations Collation Files (WO 193/343-359) both contain material on Allied POWs. The Military Headquarters Papers: SHAEF (GI Division) contain files relating to the organisation of the Prisoners of War Executive and reports on Allied POWs (WO 219/1402, 1448-1474). Some of these documents are subject to extended closure. The War Diary of MI 9, the division of Military Intelligence which dealt with escaped prisoners of all services and those who evaded capture, is in WO 165/39, and its papers are in WO 208/3242-3566. These include camp histories (some with aerial photographs), escape and liberation reports, and files on MI 9 staff, some of which are subject to extended closure. Medical reports on conditions in POW camps, with some reports on escapes, are among the Medical Historian's Papers in WO 222/1352-1393. Records concerning RAF and Allied Air Force prisoners will be found in the correspondence of the Air Ministry in AIR 2 code B 89, as well as in the Unregistered Papers (POWs) in AIR 20 code 89. Nominal rolls for individual camps, principally Japanese, are among papers prepared for a history of the RAF services, in AIR 49/383-388. An alphabetical list of British and Dominion Air Force POWs in German hands in 1944-1945 is in AIR 20/2336. Nominal rolls of prisoners in Stalag Luft III and Stalag III A are in AIR 40/1488-91. A substantial quantity of material concerning British and Dominion POWs, mostly Air Force personnel, can be found in the Headquarters Papers of Bomber Command and in the Air Ministry's Directorate of Intelligence Papers. Location lists and some aerial photographs of POW camps in Germany, Italy and Occupied Europe, including reports on transfers, are in AIR 14/1235-1240, and similar documentation on German camps occurs in AIR 40/227-231. Reports of escaped RAF personnel, including some nominal lists of reported Air Force POWs, are in AIR 14/353-361; these files deal mainly with aids to escape and conduct in enemy territory. Similar material, with reports on German interrogation methods, is in AIR 14/461-465. Reports of RAF and Dominion Air Force escapers, including lists of POWs in enemy hands, can also be found in AIR 40/1545-1552. Reports on many individual RAF servicemen taken prisoner in occupied Europe, detailing the circumstances of their capture, are in AIR 14/470 and 471. Reports on the condition of British and Dominion POWs in German and Japanese camps towards the end of the war occur in AIR 40/2361 and 2366. A nominal list of all <> known to have been held in German camps between 1939 and 1945 is to be found in ADM 201/111. Diplomatic correspondence with the Red Cross and the Protecting Powers is in the files of the Foreign Office Consular (War) Department in FO 916, and the reports of these organisations on enemy POW camps and hospitals are in WO 224. Papers dealing with the treatment of British POWs in German hands are in DEFE 2/1126-1128. Colonial Office files on British prisoners and internees in the Far East, and British Colonial prisoners in Europe, occur in CO 980 and CO 537/1220 and 1221. The minutes of the Imperial Prisoners of War Committee, 1941-1945, are in WO 163/582-593, and policy discussions concerning Allied POWs in CAB 122. Correspondence on British merchant seamen taken prisoner occurs in MT 9 code 106. The Prisoners of War and Internment Files in the Admiralty and Secretariat Papers (ADM 1 code 79) contain documentation on many aspects of the Royal Navy's involvement with the capture and internment of enemy and Allied POWs, naval and other services. The Index to General Correspondence of the Foreign Office, 1920-1951 (available in the Reference Room) contains numerous entries relating to POWs, DPs and refugees. The bulk of the correspondence that has been preserved will be found in FO 371. [[INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS]] The International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva keeps lists of all known POWs and internees of all nationalities for the Second World War. Enquiries concerning these lists should be directed to the following address: The Director International Welfare Department British Red Cross Society 9 Grosvenor Crescent London SW 1X 7EJ [[EX-POWs AND DISPLACED PERSONS, 1945 ONWARDS]] The majority of the records outlined below were generated by the Control Commission for Germany and its predecessors. Allied authority in Germany was exercised between 1945 and 1949 by the Commanders-in-Chief of the various Allied military zones, and jointly through a Control Council. In 1949, that authority was transferred from the military governors to Civil High Commissioners. In London, the department responsible for the exercising of British control in Germany and Austria was the Control Office, which in 1947 became the German Section of the Foreign Office. Documentation on all aspects of the work of the Control Office's Prisoner of War Section may be found in FO 939. This class includes files on individual POW camps in the United Kingdom. The records of the Control Office's General Department, in FO 945, contain files on the repatriation of ex-POWs (mainly Austrian and German) in pieces 441-459. Files of the Displaced Persons Section are to be found in FO 945/359-404, 544-773, and material on the resettlement of DPs exists in pieces 460-527. The financial aspects of DP administration in Austria and Germany are documented in the Control Office Finance files in FO 944. Information on travel into and out of Germany by ex-POWs and DP holders of Ministry of Labour permits is in the Control Office Travel files in FO 940. [[CONTROL COMMISSION FOR GERMANY (CCG)]] Material relating to all aspects of the CCG's responsibilities for POWs and DPs, 1944-1952, can be found in the records of the Prisoners of War and Displaced Persons Division in FO 1052. The records of the Combined Services Division: POWs and DPs, are in FO 1038/169-176, and the same class (CCG Military Divisions) contains files concerning the employment of ex-POWs and DPs, POW and DP camps, repatriation of German ex-POWs etc. Documents on the resettlement of DPs in 1946 are contained in the records of the CCG Political Division in FO 1049/505 and 506; various other files concerning DPs and ex-POWs are scattered throughout this class. DPs files of the Military Government Civil Affairs Headquarters Secretariat can be found in FO 1032/310 and 311. The same class contains files of the Prisoners of War and Displaced Persons Division of the Headquarters Secretariat of the Zonal Executive Committee Offices, in pieces 803-812. The files of the Education Branch Headquarters (Berlin and Bad Rothenfelde) of the CCG Internal Affairs and Communications Division concerning ex-POWs and DPs are to be found in FO 1050/ 1242- 1244. Denazification policy with respect to German prisoners still held in camps in 1947 is documented in FO 1033/43. A potentially fruitful source of information on ex-POWs and DPs in the immediate post-war period are the Control Commission's Regional Files. Those relating to Schleswig Holstein include documentation on POWs and DPs policy (FO 1006/289-293, 500-589), DP camps (piece 294), and the resettlement of German ex-POWs (pieces 296 and 297). Various files concerning German ex-POWs and Soviet DPs in Lower Saxony are in FO 1010/13, 14 and 51, and DPs files occur throughout the records of the CCG: Berlin, especially in FO 1012/25-39. DPs policy directives and returns for Hamburg can be found in FO 1014/378 and 379, and also further on in the class. Similar material for the North Rhine-Westphalia region is in FO 1013/2088- 2111. [[MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS]] An indispensable means of reference to Foreign Office material concerning post-1945 displaced persons and prisoners of war policy is the Index to General Correspondence. Documents are listed under 'Displaced persons' and 'Prisoners of War', and the majority are grouped by country or (in the case of POWs) by nationality. Information concerning ex-POWs and DPs policy in post-war Austria can be gleaned from the records of the Allied Commission for Austria. The files of the Prisoners of War and Displaced Persons Directorate are in FO 1007/149-153, and those of the Prisoners of War and Displaced Persons Division can be found in FO 1007/393-397. The bulk of the Division's papers is in FO 1020/2378-2544. Papers of the Prisoners of War and Displaced Persons Branch (Carinthia) are in FO 1020/2832-2848, and Displaced Persons Branch papers of the Vienna Civil Liaison are to be found in FO 1020/3039-3051. Documentation on the evacuation by air of British, Dominion and Allied ex- POWs from Europe in 1945, and on the facilities for their reception in the UK, is in AIR 14/1685. Similar material concerning British, Dominion and Allied Air Force ex-POWs in Europe and the Far East can be found in AIR 14/1686. A substantial amount of documentation on the Recovered Allied Prisoners of War and Internees Organisation exists in the files of ALFSEA/SEAC in the Military Headquarters Papers (Far East), WO 203/2367, 2368, 2436-2444, 2703-2705, 2722-2724, 2878-2883. The bulk of these documents covers the period from 1944 to 1946. The Judge Advocate General's War Crimes Papers, which also contain details of war crimes perpetrated against Allied POWs, are in WO 235. Home Office involvement in the administration of POWs and DPs between 1945 and 1949 is documented in the Aliens General Files, HO 213/1130-1134 (POWs) and 996-1007 (DPs). Ministry of Labour files on the employment of ex-POWs and DPs in the United Kingdom after 1945 can be located in LAB 8, for which there is a general index. [[KOREAN WAR 1950-1953]] The papers of the Directorate of Military Intelligence contain lists of the British and Commonwealth personnel of all services who were known or believed to be POWs in Korea, January 1951 to July 1953. These lists are in WO 208/3999. The Historical Records and Reports on the Korean War in WO 308/54 also contain a list of Commonwealth prisoners, compiled in January 1954- The interrogation reports on ex-POWs in WO 208 are all closed for 75 years. Documents relative to the formation of the British Repatriated POWs Interrogation Unit can be found in AIR 20 code 89/9168. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LR. Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU. Tel: +44 (0) 181 876-3444 Opening hours: 9.30am - 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Closed on public holidays and for annual Stocktaking (normally the first two full weeks in October). 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