POW Record Cards

[andy wis]

Hello Forumites
I have a couple of logbooks of RAF flyers who became POW’s. Included with
them
are copies of the Record Cards as raised by the Luftwaffe/German authorities.
Are these available on line, or does it require a trip to Kew?
Tia
AndyWis

[PeteS]

From what I remember these cards were the Camp ID cards which they used to check on POW's identities and on liberation some guys went into the offices and "liberated" their own cards as souvenirs. I dont think they exist in any archives now, unless the Russians saved them. It would be a wonderful resource if they had survived.
cheers PeteS

[Hans Valk]

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by 'record cards raised by the Lufwaffe/German authorities'. The National Archives hold 'German record cards of British and Commonwealth prisoners of war' (WO 416). These are cards stating the personal data of the PoW and also the date and location of his capture. These have not been digitized, and a visit to Kew, by yourself or an appointed reseacher is necessary to see them.

--
regards,
Hans

[andy wis]

Thank you for that, Hans - exactly what I want!
Andy

[lancasterlm342]

Hi Andy

TNA will supply copies of records from WO 416 under a Freedom of INformation request. I have gone through this procedure on multiple occasions. They will require proof that the person in question is dead.

HTH

Mike Mcleod

[PeteS]

Are these the cards with mugshots on them ?
I am fascinated because I know of at least 5 families who have the original POW camp cards for their relative, souvenired on liberation, and have copies of one or two on my website.
thanks

[andy wis]

Thank you for that, Mike

[lancasterlm342]

Hi Pete

The cards I received from TNA were not those with mugshots although the description WO 416 does state that some of the record cards do have them.

The ones I obtained related to airmen who had indeed died and were buried by the Germans without ever being taken prisoner. Their names were eroneously (or maybe not) included at Runnymede.

Mike

[PeteS]

Thank you Mike, I shall have to delve further

[alieneyes]

Pete,

In the early 90s, I met the RCAF POW at Stalag IIIA who had stolen the camera from the Vorlager after the German guards left. All the photos online, with the exception of the one of two smiling men with their hands up while a German loads his rifle, were taken by him.

Anyway, I mention it because not only was the camera stolen but all the Luftwaffe Personalkarten. These are the ones with the mugshots. I must have seen close to 50 of them from the various ex-POWs I visited.

But it was all unnecessary. In 1947, the Soviet Union, for reasons yet unknown, returned all the cards found at IIIA and the Department of External Affairs, through the Department of National Defence, sent the cards to the last known address.

Regards,

Dave