International Committee of the Red Cross WW2 POW Archives

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by brispencer, Mar 26, 2009.

  1. Martin Richards

    Martin Richards Well-Known Member

    I am doing a MA at the University of Falmouth - its remote learning as such I have to but my stuff on-line.
    My own line of reserach is the finding of PoW Camps in England Scotland and Wales as they are now.
    I have spent time at Kew and the documents I copied are online at: Referance Material
    As I say my stuff is for camps in the UK and the FO reports are thus from 1945 onwards.
    The Archive is a real pain and it does take time and errort to get there so if you just want one document then I would take up this offer although also check with the archive them selves as to fees
     
  2. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    Today, at 09.00, was the day the ICRC should have opened for the next quarter. I was on the website at 08.59, refreshed at 09:00 only to get the message "The maximum number of requests has been met..."!

    Clearly it hasn't as the form never appeared.

    Likely that due to Covid they have suspended the service but a message in the previous weeks to that effect would have been nice!

    Have to wait until September now.
     
  3. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    I filled it in and sent it!!

    They thanked me by name and said they would be in touch shortly.

    Vitellino
     
  4. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    I wonder what went wrong for me then?!! The old message was on there at 08.59 saying "applications will open again on 25th May 2020" I refreshed the page at 09.00 and the message was replaced with "applications will open September 2020".
     
  5. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    I sent it at 8 am Italian time where I live.

    Vitellino
     
  6. GenealogyJude

    GenealogyJude Member

    I applied to the ICRC in January and received an email from them last month. My uncle, Gordon Herbert Batchelor, was a pilot with 54 Squadron and a POW from July 9th 1941, when he was shot down over France. He landed up in Oflag X_C in Lübeck but died of his injuries in Hamburg on April 15th 1942. I received from the Red Cross, two capture cards he had filled in, one from Dulag Luft and the other from Oflag X-C. Also some information on his whereabouts according to German Lists (though this was not entirely accurate). There was also a death certificate filled in by the German doctors and given to the Red Cross. I guess the amount and type of information they hold will vary.

    If you are interested in learning more, you can read the full details on my blog:

    http://genealogyjude.com/2020/06/27/ww2-prisoner-of-war-records-from-the-archives-of-the-red-cross/

    Regards,

    Jude
    http://genealogyjude.com
     
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  7. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello Welsh 1960,

    CCN 52 is at Pian di Coreglia in the hinterland of Chiavari in Liguria.

    PM3100 means Postal Address
    The usual way of referring to Italian camps is not CCN but PG (prigionieri di guerra). The Italians called them Campi di concentramento per prigionieri di guerra.

    CCN 66 is at Capua to the north of Naples..

    I am surprised that the order for your father was first Chiavari and then Capua, as Capua was a transit camp and men were sent from there to PG 52 and other camps. One of thesewas New Zealander Maurice Muir, whose son Geoff NZ is an important contributor to this website. I have a testimony from another Sherwood Forester, who describes arriving in Naples from North Africa and then being sent to Capua. What was your father's name? If you post it here I will check the Red Cross Register dated August 1943 to see which camp he was last registered in.

    Between the Armistice on 8 September and the 15th of that month all those prisoners who hadn't managed to escape were sent from PG 52 to Germany.

    Regards,

    Vitellino
     
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  8. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    I applied for my first ICRC POW record in several years in May 2022.

    I received a one page reply today via email. Whilst it’s alot speedier than the previous 4 month reply by post it did not include a copy of the “capture” post card I’d received in their previous postal replies.

    Steve
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2022
  9. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    Likewise. I got mine a few weeks ago by email. There was a capture card for my POW (pdf).
     
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  10. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    Although it was a black and white scan rather than colour which doesn't look as good :(
     

    Attached Files:

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  11. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    In light of your comment I emailed ICRC to ask about the “capture card”.

    I was pleased (mildly surprised at the speed) to get a reply after 3 days but unfortunately it just confirmed there was no copy of the document in their files.

    Steve
     
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  12. RJCarr

    RJCarr Member

    For what its worth: I found Jude's post yesterday, 25 Sep 2022.
    The ICRC link noted that the quota of 250 had been met.
    Serendipitously
    , the site noted that the next submission window was @ 08:00 (Geneva) 26 September which happened to be today. So I set my alarm for 01:45 (EDT) and began my post earlier than anticipated since the required "form" was already available @ 01:50 - not 02:00. I hurriedly entered the data and quickly submitted the form so as not to be query #251. I got an auto-reply from ICRC at 02:02 (EDT). I was delighted to see it and will gladly wait the months that others suggest could be the wait time. I was stumped by one question (Army* had no format specified - number or nationality - so I gave both), otherwise my reply from ICRC might have been two minutes sooner. :)

    For those that want to know the data fields in the form, here they are with asterisk = required:
    Person about whom information is sought
    Date of birth*
    Place of birth
    Date of death
    Nationality*
    Place of residence at the time of the conflict
    Father’s surname and first name
    Mother’s maiden name and first name
    Wife/husband’s name
    Conflict*
    Status* (Military/civilian)
    Rank
    Unit
    Army*
    Service number
    Date of capture*
    Place of capture
    Prisoner of war number
    Place(s) of detention
    Date of release (and repatriation)
    Additional information

    Person requiring the research
    Title*
    Surname*
    First name*
    Institution
    Street*
    Street no.*
    Postal Code*
    City*
    Country*
    Email*
    Family tie (the person about whom I am seeking information is my...)*
    Reason for enquiry*
    Reason for enquiry (additional information)

    Thanks again, Jude.
     
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  13. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    When I did one in May I was surprised that the results came through in a couple of weeks I think. Emailed not through the post as with previous ones I have done.
     
  14. chaz

    chaz Active Member

    filled in the form at 8.05 UK time this morning and within 10 mins had a reply thanking me for my enquiry and they will email/post
     
  15. Gareth Smith

    Gareth Smith Active Member

    Morning all, just out of curiosity has anybody heard anything back from this round of applications yet?
     
  16. Gareth Smith

    Gareth Smith Active Member

    Morning everyone, just further to my last post, I have now received my response from the Red Cross.
     

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