Prisioner of war ?

[garydevine1995]

is there any records in scotland that gives you info on someone who was prisioner of war during the WWI i know my great grand father was one and i was wondering when he was released maybe they took records of the people ??

[Currie]

Hello Gary,

I’ve never delved into that area.

But, here’s a National Archives guide. See also the link to the in-depth guide. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/reco ... lp=rg-3115

This fellow has been digging into WW1 POW’s and what he has to say doesn’t look promising either. http://www.btinternet.com/~prosearch/tomspage19.html

Difficult, complicated, incomplete, scattered and unindexed seem to be the key-words. It seems there may be a short reference to having been a POW on a soldiers Service record. Did you have any luck in finding that?

If he was an Officer things will be different.

Probably not much help,
Alan

[Maisie]

Hi

I found my grandfather's entire WW1 army records on Ancestry, but the collection is not complete because more than half were destroyed during WW2. My grandfather was a POW and the records contain information about that, eg which camp he was in and when he was released. He was a corporal. I use Ancestry free at my local library, but you can use the index without being a subscriber to see if there are any records relating to people with the same name/place of birth. They also sometimes make the records available free during the week around 11 November - shame it's a long time to wait!

This is what Ancestry says about their collection:

About British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920

Approximately 5 million men served in the British Army in World War One (WWI). This database contains the surviving service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who served in WWI and did not re-enlist in the Army prior to World War II. With the final release, this database now contains the entire service records collection.

These records contain a variety of forms, including:

* Attestation forms - the form completed by the individual on enlistment
* Medical history forms
* Casualty forms
* Disability statements
* Regimental conduct sheets
* Awards
* Proceedings on Discharge
* Cover for Discharge Documents
* Index Cards

Information available in these records includes:

* Name of soldier
* Age
* Birthplace
* Occupation
* Marital status
* Regimental number
* Date of attestation
* Physical description

Historical Background:

The British Army World War One Service Records are War Office (WO) records also known as the WO363 records and the ‘Burnt Documents.’ In 1940 there was a World War Two bombing raid on the War Office in London where the records were held. During this raid, a large portion (approximately 60 per cent) of the 6.5 million records was destroyed by fire. The surviving service records have become known as the ‘Burnt Documents’.

Although many of these records suffered water damage following the bombing raid, all surviving service and pension records were microfilmed by The National Archives, where both collections are held, as part of a major TNA conservation project.

Tips and Notes:

* Some records may have been stored and/or filmed in incorrect alphabetical order.
* Some records may appear to be out of order due to a misspelling or misreading of the name.
* Some soldiers did not record their first names; some of them only used initials, and others used nicknames or diminutive names.

[garydevine1995]

Thanks Maisie thats great info i will go on Ancestry its sounds better i found my great grandfathers enlist record there like a month ago but my free trail ran out haha but thanks again so where did you look this up on ancestry i typed in the info to find the enlist record and got it but what do i do to try and get the POW record ?

[Maisie]

Hi

I just looked at the main British Army WW1 records 1914-1920. There were about 20 pages for my grandfather which ranged from his enlistment papers through medical records, conduct, discharge, medals awarded and included references to his date of capture, last place interned and date and place of repatriation.

Good luck

Maisie

[Montrose Budie]

I believe that the International Red Cross, in Switzerland, have extensive PoW records, but are not that quick to respond to enquiries, and may charge an arm and a leg !

mb