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| Researching British Prisoners of
War |
During
the Great War of 1914-1918, some 7,335 officers and 174,491
other ranks of the British Army were captured by the enemy.
Of these, about half fell into
captivity between 21 March and 11 November 1918. Unfortunately,
for those wishing to research men who became prisoners, there
are relatively few sources of information about what happened
to them, other than the information presented on "Behind
the wire". |
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| What
is the "Behind the wire" database? |
The
database refers to work conducted by
the Committee
on the Treatment of British Prisoners
of War, during and shortly after the Great War
of 1914-1918. This Committee collected various reports
and pieces of information, many of which were from debriefing
interviews of escapees and returning prisoners. Such information
that still exists from the work of this Committee is available
in the National Archives in Kew, London, in document
series
WO161. The database is the only on-line, searchable
index to
this information. The records themselves are not on-line
- you need to visit the National Archives
in person
to see them. The database gives you the document and page
number. It includes more than 7,000 individual cases, but obviously
this covers only a small portion of the men
taken prisoner.
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The
database has been compiled manually, by a group of volunteers
from the Great
War Forum under the management of Michael Mills, and all
credit is due to them for undertaking this onerous task. |
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Search
the "Behind the wire" database
Search
by soldier's surname | Search by regiment/corps | Search
by camp/location |
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| This
facility is provided free of charge. You are however invited
to make a donation for its maintenance
and continued development. |
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| More
information |
| Sources
of information about British prisoners of war |
| How
to research the military career of a soldier of the British Army
of 1914-1918 |
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