As nearly all Rhodesians served in British formations, plus a few in colonial units, overall I expect it will be difficult. The CWGC search facility does not help alas, it mainly shows the Northern Rhodesia Regiment. It might be easier with RAF crew, as there were (Rhodesian) RAF squadrons - once you can identify them! The KRRC had a contingent serve with them There a few threads here which will identify individuals: "rhodesian" + "prisoners of war" ww2talk com site:ww2talk.com
Seems to be find PoW lists of the British formations and then look for Rhodesians within. Those in Italian PoW camps seems to be the way forward. So far I’ve a few aircrew names. I’m particularly interested in those who escaped and evaded.
Try: Escaper List Which has: Blackwell Samuel John Peter F/O RAF 266 (Rhodesian) Sqn Typhoon Unclear if website is still active, might be possible to make contact and ask if his spreadsheet can be searched offline for Rhodesians. Also: Sgt. Edward Henry Donne, 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron, RAFVR Typhoon DN562
Someone with an Ancestry. com subscription could search through the WW2 Allied POW's listings using the search term Rhodesian. I'm sure there would be a fair number of results from any such search.
Sorry that doesnt work UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 using keyword 'rhodesian' gives - Your Search for Rhodesian returned zero good matches You can usually tell Canadian and ANZAC by their service numbers but not sure about Rhodesian or South African, as another possibly problem If you have some names they could be searched for and see if there are any 'common' factors that might help a further search TD
Allied not British POW All UK, World War II Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 results for Rhodesian Results 1–20 of 143
Well spotted snailer - however all those appear to be Air Force - any idea where other services would be? I'm off to specsavers again for a refit this am TD I forgot to add that most times I have delved into that particular database was to find details of POW's held by the Japanese, so I have learnt something today - thanks
TD wrote: A good part of the answer IMHO is is: Southern Rhodesia in World War II - Wikipedia In summary whilst many Rhodesians fought on the ground, as faraway as Burma, only a few times they became PoW, unlike those in the RAF who flew over Western Europe, Italy and the Balkans - hence why so many were POWs. Bear Cub: the Rhodesian RAF squadrons are detailed in the Wiki link.
I suspect that the Rhodesian army POWs are all in the South African registers. I have a copy of them for both Italy and Germany but they don't even give the Unit, let alone the country. I now have a copy of the Parri Register - this is a record - kept by the Italian ''Committee for National Liberation'' - of the POWs who were helped by them to reach Switzerland. There are some address in it. I'll have a quick look to see what I can find.
Depending upon the nature of your interest, the easiest route to the information you require will vary. For example, are you interested in information only on (Southern) Rhodesians of white european settler stock or are you looking for information on any serviceman from (Southern) Rhodesia irrespective of his creed, colour or religion? Or, are you only interest in a certain theatre? Found from a 2-second internet search, good advise here: Where to Find Prisoner of War Records and here: British and Commonwealth prisoners of the Second World War and the Korean War - The National Archives
Try: "southern rhodesia" + "return" + "prisoner of war" + "ww2" it does return 4k results though. Then: "southern rhodesia" + "survivor" + "Prisoner of war" + "ww2" returns 3k Changing to POW returns 24k, so too many. Isn't there an ex-Rhodesian group called Flame Lily? Are any of the ZANE charity recipients POWs?
To Bear Cub: Parri Escaper files - original is in an archive in Turin - re-sent via We Transfer. I have checked it once but would need to look again to be certain that there are no Rhodesian addresses in this register. The Prisoner of War Register for Italy, WO 392/21, National Archives Below please find the title page, a page from the register of Ground Troops, and the complete list of S.A. Air Force Pows. Looking for the Rhodesians. The only sure way is to consult the Liberation and Escape/Evasion reports in the National Archives. The reports of the South African escapers who reached Switzerland/France from Italy have not been digitalised and cannot be downloaded, so a visit to TNA is what's needed. That's the limit of what I can contribute, Vitellino