WO 392 roster of British POWs held by the Japanese on open access TNA

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by Justin History, Oct 24, 2014.

  1. Hi All

    As a result of a Freedom of Information request on a related matter, I was informed by the MoD that they have found a second copy of the WO392 roster of 'BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR IN JAPAN OR JAPANESE-OCCUPIED TERRITORY'. As a second copy the MOD said that it would be put on the open shelves in TNA (The National Archives at Kew) rather than have to be called for as a file (it is now in the hands of TNA). It contains the following information:

    No , Name, Rank & Service No, Branch of Service, Date of Capture, Date of Liberation, Camp (see below) and Remarks (for example deceased)

    The camps column is really confined to country, with a little more detail when it comes to Japan. The Abbreviations used in this field are as follows:

    'Abbreviations of Camps In Japan

    Hakodate HA
    Sendai SE
    Tokyo TO
    Fukuoka FU
    Nagoya NA
    Osaka OS
    Hiroshima Hi

    Outside Japan

    Korea KO
    Mukden, Manchuria MU
    Formosa FO
    Shanghai, China SH
    Hongkong, ,, , HK
    Kainan-To (Hainan Is.) KA
    Malay MA
    Java JA
    Thailand TH
    Philippine PH
    Burma BU
    Borneo BO
    Rabual (New Britain Is,) RA'

    The codes are for the country where the POW was when they died or at liberation. The file for A-D has been digitised and can be found here WO 392; BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR IN JAPAN OR JAPANESE-OCCUPIED TERRITORY. A - D | The National Archives . It is free to download.

    So in no way a replacement for an M.I.9 POW Questionnaire (if one exists for the POW concerned, in TNA WO 344 and many front pages of the forms now available on the COFEPOW website at Armed Forces Images - COFEPOW) but possibly a supplement to a Japanese POW record card in TNA WO 345 if an M.I.9 Questionnaire doesn't exist. It would depend on how accurately the Japanese card was completed.

    The decipherment of these cards is worthy of another post in itself i.e. use of years based on the accession of the Emperor (add 25 to the year number to get a western year), camp numbers etc, but I found this sheet written from a Dutch FEPOW perspective https://www.gahetna.nl/sites/default/files/bijlagen/stamp_list_logo.pdf (I have not seen an equivalent produced for British FEPOWs) and this Japanese website http://www.powresearch.jp/en/ archive/index.html both useful in helping me with my grandfather's card in TNA.

    Regards


    Justin
     
    Charpoy Chindit and papiermache like this.
  2. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    Justin,

    Thank you very much for posting the above. I've just downloaded WO392/23 and found my uncle's name on it. It is a very useful document. Hopefully the other three parts will be digitised and made available

    It looks like you are a fan of John Coast's book. I agree, it was one of the first and a hard act to follow, being all the better for having being written very soon after the war.

    John
     
  3. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Justin,

    Can I echo John's sentiments, thank you for this news.

    Steve
     
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  5. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

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