POW debreifings

**dleggett** · 26th October 2015, 12:34

Does anyone if POWs were debriefed when they were repatriated after the war, and if so where one might find records of those debriefings? I have the service record of the tail-gunner of my great uncles Halifax who was the sole survivor of their crash, but there is no documents relating to his time as a POW other than his medical exam once he returned to England. He was in the RCAF.

David

**CZ_RAF** · 26th October 2015, 12:47

Hi David, yes they were.

You can search TNA Catalogue (when it will be working again after maintenance), those Liberated Prisoner of War Interrogation Questionnaires can be find in WO xxx/xx, for example TNA, WO 208/3324/17

HTH

Pavel

**NickFenton** · 26th October 2015, 12:56

David,

Who are you after. I have quite a few.

Good source here if you get stuck. http://www.arcre.com/questionnaires

They tell you Squadron, place captured, if they were injured and camps but unlikely to tell you what happened to the aircraft.

Give me more details and l may be able to help.

Regards,

Nick
KenFentonsWar.com

**dleggett** · 26th October 2015, 17:17

Hi Nick

Thanks for the quick reply. The individual I am looking for is Ralph Alexander Saffran R-150665. He was shot down on Dec 20, 1943 in a Halifax bomber and take prisoner by the Germans. He was in the RCAF 429 Bison Squadron out of Lemming, UK.

**NickFenton** · 27th October 2015, 10:13

Dave,

I do not have that one, l am afraid, but if you are in no desperate rush l will add it to my list for my next visit to Kew.

Regards,

Nick

**dleggett** · 27th October 2015, 10:50

Hi Nick

That would be awesome. Thank you very much for offering to do that. I will send you my email via PM.

David

**Jérémie Tarpon** · 1st November 2015, 10:58

Hello David,

The PoW Questionnaires mainly deal with the events occurring in German PoW camps. They were filled by all captured soldiers (Army, Navy and Air Force) and they provide very little details about aircraft losses.

Another questionnaire was specifically designed for Bomber Command PoWs. It was entitled "Questionnaire for Returned Aircrew - Loss of Bomber Aircraft" and focused on the circumstances leading to the airman capture.

As far as I know, only those submitted by RCAF aircrews (or by other aircrews operating with RCAF squadrons) are available. Some years ago, they were kept by the Directorate of History and Heritage under File 181.001 (D-23) "Loss of bomber aircraft reports".

The reports I have read are incredibly helpful to understand what happened to the lost bombers.

Best wishes,

Jérémie

**NickFenton** · 18th November 2015, 01:45

David,

Post more details here now and l am sure the guys can help further.

Regards,

Nick
KenFentonsWar.com

**Zidante** · 18th November 2015, 11:01

Sorry to butt in, but when I was at Kew the other week the index seemed to have disappeared and the draws referred to just held what must have been a small selection if individual index cards which had no references to the series parts that I could see. It's been a while since I looked any up so couldn't recall exactly what or where the index was, is it amongst the red bound volumes in the main reading room? I asked but was directed to a terminal which just linked to the series on Find My Past.... and then I ran out of time. The originals must all still be downstairs though surely?