It is important to distinguish between PoWs held by the British and British (and Commonwealth) personnel held by foreign nations. In addition, Civilian Internees form a separate group.
This page covers:
- British Prisoners Before WW1
- British (and Commonwealth) Prisoners During WW1, WW2 and the Korean War
- Internees in British / Foreign Hands
- PoWs in British Hands
British Prisoners Before WW1
There are some PoWs records for the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), the Crimean War (1853-1856) and the Second Anglo-Boer War (South African War 1899-1902). These records can originate from the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the War Office, the Admiralty and the Air Ministry.
British (and Commonwealth) Prisoners During WW1
Around 192,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen became PoWs in WW1 and there is no comprehensive list of them. Unfortunately the surviving documents only cover a small fraction of those captured. However, there is a list of captured officers (8/1914-11/1918).
There are records for personnel who escaped, those who were repatriated before the end of the war, or those who were incarcerated in a neutral country. There are PoW Death Records for those who died in military / non-military hospitals, in enemy or occupied territory etc. but unfortunately many of these records are in French (this was the working language of the International Committee of the Red Cross).
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) created PoW Cards and Lists. They were based on the lists sent to them by the belligerent powers. These Cards usually have the next of kin, repatriation details, and lists of camps.
Army officers were required on repatriation to detail the circumstances of their capture and these reports are often found with their Service Record. Other Ranks were not required to do this and their Service Record may only have brief details on their PoW history.
There are specific PoW record series for Air Force prisoners (RFC / RNAS / RAF), naval prisoners (RN, RNAS, RNR, RNVR) and Merchant Navy.
British (and Commonwealth) Prisoners During WW2
There are no definitive records for individual PoWs so various record series need to be considered. These series include: (1) questionnaires completed on liberation, (2) reports of capture / evasion / escape, (3) conditions / treatment in PoW camps, (4) records on civilian helpers and (5) Merchant Navy PoWs.
The records for PoWs in German, Italian and Japanese hands do differ and often PoWs captured by the Italians were “re-captured” by the Germans after the Italian Armistice. Usually the theatre of operation will give a clue as to the “arresting” power. ICRC records are also very helpful.
British (and Commonwealth) Prisoners During the Korean War
There are a few sets of War Office and Dominions Office records for this war.
Internees (WW1 and WW2)
Internees were enemy civilians (aliens) that were considered to pose a potential threat and / or who would support the enemy’s war objectives. They are different to PoWs as they are civilians rather than military personnel and they normally had more privileges.
Internees in British Hands
Only a few WW1 Internee records survive but the chances of WW2 records surviving is much higher. Most are held in the Home Office papers and there is the Aliens Department Internees Index for 1939-1947. Interestingly, about 8,000 enemy aliens were interned in British camps prior to being deported to the colonies / dominions and there are Passenger Lists for these people. Also, there are Security Service papers on those aliens which came to that Bureaus attention.
Internees in Foreign Hands
The Germans kept cards on several hundred captured allied civilians but access to these records is restricted for subjects born less than 100 years ago. The Germans deported civilians from the Channel Islands. There are Colonial Office records for civilians interned in the Far East (especially those from Singapore and Hong Kong).
PoWs in British Hands
Biographical data on PoWs captured by the British is usually quite scarce. There are a few record series for the Boer War (1899-1902) and very little for WW1. Sometimes there are records for pre-1855 but they may be very patchy.
Most of the available WW2 records concern the administration of PoWs and the handling of PoWs rather than individuals. There are some WW2 records such as interrogation reports, reports of escapees, lists of captured enemy personnel etc. but the majority of the surviving papers relate to PoW camps and the treatment of prisoners in general.
With regards to PoWs in the 1900s the reader is referred to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Tracing Service (at Bad Arolsen for WW2 concentration camp prisoners), the German Federal Archives (for German PoWs) and the Ministero della Difesa (for Italian PoWs).