Documents available via Australian National Archives

I've been ordering records from the Australian National Archives to research a relative who died in a Japanese POW camp. I decided to do some general searches to see what other files might be available and turned up the following which can be viewed on their site. You can't download them unfortunately but I'm assuming you could screen-grab or alternatively, as you can see the file you can identify pages you might want and order a digital or physical copy.

Just a few tasters...

Prisoners of War in Japanese hands - Nominal rolls & other information supplied by liberated POW's

Director of Personal Services (Casualty Section) - Prisoners of War and internees - Lists supplied by Prisoner of War, Information Bureau covering all theatres of war

Australian and British Prisoners of War interned in Germany, Italy, and France - Reports on Camps.

Repatriation of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees recovered from the Japanese

Posthumous awards for Prisoners of War Killed While attempting to escape

Australian prisoners of war in Germany and Italy - reports on camps - File III

Prisoners of War Singing of National Anthems in POW.Camps.

 

Thanks for posting this Information.

Stefan.

 

No worries. It dawned on me that I've seen some of the files such as reports on conditions in camps listed on the British National Archives site but only viewable if you go to Kew or order copies. Nice of the Aussies to make their stuff viewable once it's been digitised. They also offer the option of just a digital copy which is about half that of hard copies. A set of service records cost me £9.50 for a nice high quality pdf.

 

Cheers,

The first link has just given me the home town of nearly all my New Zealand RAAF personnal held in Rangoon Jail.

 

I have already checked some 120 pages with a lot of new information, at least new to me.
Great stuff, thanks again.

Stefan.

 

Glad it has proved to be of some use - I half suspected that the resourceful folks here would already have the links

I was going to post some more but I was on my lunch break at work and didn't have time. I figured once people found the page they could work out how to search for things themselves. Happy hunting!

 

Stefan, You will find that now you have paid for that service file to be opened, it should now be open for all to see. Only has to be paid once!

Cheers
Geoff

 

That is a big win - Where is the smilie?

 

I've purchased two sets of WW1 soldiers records, which, as Geoff says, then releases the documents on line and into the public domain. I think this is a good system and I have benefitted many times over from it.

I my view, the Australian and U.S. custodians of archive material, have a better understanding of sharing and indeed the point of holding such documentation in terms of allowing access to it.

 

I've purchased two sets of WW1 soldiers records, which, as Geoff says, then releases the documents on line and into the public domain. I think this is a good system and I have benefitted many times over from it.

I my view, the Australian and U.S. custodians of archive material, have a better understanding of sharing and indeed the point of holding such documentation in terms of allowing access to it.

Totally agree. I don't mind that once I've paid for the file it goes public - it's a good way of making the archives available to all. It's a bit like crowdfunding. I like that idea better than waiting for a big company like Ancestry or Find My Past buying the access then charging multiple times for the same info.

 

The Australian government also set up " Trove" which I use for searching old Australian newspapers ,which ran global news. It is free to use.

In the absence of the Trove service I could not have started on the main thread of my research. Another advantage to me is that Australia is closer to what we in Britain call " Far East" ( my usual area of research ) so that much more "pressing" to the Australians.

Australian Archives website is a lot better than Kew's. I can't really comment about the Australian Archive as a whole.

I find U.S. Archives' staff extremely generous when contacted and a joy to "deal" with, but the website leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Stefan, You will find that now you have paid for that service file to be opened, it should now be open for all to see. Only has to be paid once!

Cheers
Geoff
Geoff

I did not pay anything, the files just opened and Bingo!!
Stefan.

 

Some of the files have already been made publicly available for download. Some are still "view only" but with the option of ordering a copy ...I think! Even viewing them for free is pretty good though.

 

Another good service of the AWM is you can look for and see 1,000's of photo's in good low-res format and copy them for free. If you require a high-res copy you have to pay.

 

Incredibledisc, please be aware that any of the NAA records that you can view online can be downloaded, albeit mostly a page at a time, there is no need for screen-grabs, etc.

Assuming your PC has standard settings, if you RIGHT CLICK with the cursor on the image a menu should come up and one of the options should be to save the image. This way you retain the original scan quality and can make your own prints.

By the way, did you realise that there is a 'Digital copies only' checkbox at the bottom of the 'Refine search' tab? Very handy!

 

Yes I knew about the checkbox. I never noticed you could right-click save on the image files. I imagine that would that would be a long job if the file runs to hundreds of images but handy if it's just a specific image you need. Cheers for the tip.

 

Yes it can be time consuming but one consolation is that a few more PDFs seem to be appearing now.

 

You can also ask them to make a pdf out of online files. They have sent me a few over the last few years.

Regards,

Dave

 

Good to know that also. Cheers Dave!