Hi, Im new on here and I am looking for any information on my farther-in-law 7617126 Pte Cyril Eccles of 156 Parachute Bn he jumped at Arnhem and was eventualy taken prisoner to where I do not Know. He survived the war and died in Port Hedland Western Australia on 19th April 1992. Any help would be welcome. Alan
UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 Name: C Eccles Rank: Private Army Number: 7617126 Regiment: Reconnaissance Corps Record Office: Army Air Corps and Army Catering Corps Record Office, Drill Hall, East Claremont St., Edinburgh 9 Record Office Number: 45 Doesnt give any more details here you really need to Apply for his service records - Request records of deceased service personnel - GOV.UK and also apply to IRC for his POW records - Requests for information about people held during the Spanish Civil War or the Second World War: Quarterly limit reached TD
From FindmyPast: Casualty List 1580, 18th October 1944 NWE, Army Air Corps, Missing First name(s) C Last name Eccles Year 1944 Capture year 1944 Service number 7617126 Rank Private Rank as transcribed Pte Regiment Army Air Corps Regiment as transcribed Army Air Corps Theatre of war North West Europe Archive reference WO 417/83 PIece description Casualty Lists - Other Ranks 1573 - 1588 Casualty List 1607, 18th November 1944 NWE, Army Air Corps, Previously reported Missing, now reported Prisoner of War in German Hands, location unknown First name(s) C Last name Eccles Year 1944 Capture year 1944 Service number 7617126 Rank Private Rank as transcribed Pte Regiment Army Air Corps Regiment as transcribed Army Air Corps Theatre of war Western Europe Archive reference WO 417/85 PIece description Casualty Lists - Other Ranks 1606 - 1623 Casualty List 1779, 11th June 1945 Previously reported Prisoner of War in German Hands location unknown, now Not Prisoner of War First name(s) C Last name Eccles Year 1945 Service number 7617126 Rank Private Rank as transcribed Pte Regiment Army Air Corps Regiment as transcribed Army Air Corps Archive reference WO 417/93 PIece description Casualty Lists - Other Ranks 1776 - 1796.
I have noted this phrase before "Previously reported Prisoner of War in German Hands location unknown, now Not Prisoner of War" does anyone know what it actually means apart from the Allies nor the Germans know where he/they is/are, have they been repatriated and in Allied hands, are they in Russian hands, are they just wondering around Germany TD
Hi TD, I can clarify the second part of the phrase as I recall from an original document posted on another thread that when POW came into contact with an allied unit their details were recorded on an official Army form as they were passed back through the lines - likely in the usual triplicate - one of which would likely end up back in the UK (or more likely BLA HQ and details would be sent to UK via radio). On receipt here details would be passed to NOK and would appear some weeks later as an amendment on the official casualty list. Steve Y
One of the forum members has all the Arnhem POW Liberation Reports-If your chap filled one out he'll have it, hopefully he'll be along soon Looking at the Bn war diary, On the 25th September the Bn was ordered to with draw towards the Rhine to evacuate which put them in close contact with the enemy. The withdrawal was successful but the diary records 6 unnamed casualties, potentially one of these was your father in law.
Drew - didn't see you at the Archives today!! Alan if you PM me your email address I'll send you a copy of Cyril's POW Liberation report. For information he states that he was taken POW on the 20th. The 156 is one of the units at Arnhem where they p osted everybody missing as at 25th September (i.e. missing after the withdrawal on Op Berlin). If you want to learn about the 156 at Arnhem I can recommend the book "From Delhi to Arnhem" by John O'Reilly which states that he was C Coy. The Company Commander of this Company was Geoffrey Powell who wrote the book "Men at Arnhem", initially under the pseudonym of Tom Angus and then published it under his own name where he identified the characters previously given aliases.