Taken from FindMyPast – Together with The National Archives, Findmypast is excited to present its Prisoners of War 1715-1945 collection. The size and the scope of these records make them a fascinating resource for genealogists. The records not only include military personnel, but also civilians, diplomats, missionaries and merchant seamen. Many of the Prisoners of War records only recorded last names and not all would have included regiments or ranks. Use the keyword search to search the records by Nationality (American, French, Russian etc), Birth place (Baltimore, Sussex, Cherbourg etc) or the names of vessels.
For the first time online, relatives and historians can search through the records of some of the most infamous POW camps of World War II. Included in this most recent collection, which spans 1939-1945, are the records for Stalag Luft III, the Nazi camp renowned for the mass escape by British and Commonwealth prisoners that inspired the film The Great Escape, and the Far East Prisoner of War camps immortalised in films such as The Railway Man.
These detailed accounts contain the names, ranks and locations of Prisoners of War, along with the length of time spent in camps, the number of survivors, details of escapees and the nationalities of prisoners. Britons represent the largest number in the collection, followed by Dutch, Americans and Australians. In addition to this type of data, the collection comprises 360,000 images, including pages from personal diaries and photographs. Many official World War II records remain classified, making this an invaluable resource enabling members of the public to research the histories of relatives and those held captive during the war.
Web site address is: http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/prisoners-of-war-1715-1945
