
                   ***********************************
                          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 <<Royal Marines>> 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). 

  Admission is by reader's ticket which will be issued on production of
  proof of identity, such as a (UK) driving licence or passport.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This text, and that of other PRO leaflets, is also available from:
 - World Wide Web URL: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~malcolm/genealogy/pro/
 - Anonymous-FTP  (site)  sable.ox.ac.uk
             (directory)  /pub/users/malcolm/genealogy/pro
     - if you have trouble accessing either of the above, please contact
                                    (email) malcolm.austen@oucs.ox.ac.uk
 - Wishful Thinking BBS (Ledbury, UK) - SysOp Rosemary Lockie
     Fidonet:  2:253/188         Tel: +44-1531-890815
------------------------------- end of text -------------------------------
