Military Chat

Hello I wonder if anyone can help me find records of my father when he was a pow
I have looked on here but with no luck. I am not sure where to look and don't know much about because my father refused to speak of it, Thank you in advance

WW2 service records in general are not online, but there are some records of British POWs in Japan, and some other bits and pieces, on Ancestry - and possibly elsewhere..

What was your father's name?

There are no POW records on Ancestry for anyone named Whitehead.

Your father’s name and birth year would help us to help you
In which part of the world did he serve?
Do you know which service he was with?
And service number, if possible

The main source of info is the National Archives……google for link

Have a look at this site re getting hold of his service records.

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-records-of-service

If you do apply, be prepared to wait months to receive them.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-prisoners-second-world-war-korean-war/

National Archives hold POW records as per ErikaH and Greyghost. The records are held within the WO (War Office) series. For example

Prisoners of War Information Bureau: Correspondence and Papers WO 307

Compensation requests WO 309

Liberated Prisoners Questionnaires WO 344
Most soldiers were invited to complete these, not everyone did

Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees WO 345

Allied Prisoners of War Hospitals, Thailand and Burma WO 347

Enquiries into Missing Personnel WO 361

Japanese Registers of Allied Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees held in
Camps in Singapore WO 367

Prisoners of War Lists WO 392

Army Casualty Lists WO 417

The current wait time for service records is 6 months +. That's the current time I've been waiting for my 2 applications

Unlike WW1, WW2 medals will not have his name or service number debossed upon them.

Thank you so much for your input. My father's name is Herbert Salter, his date of birth 14/7/1910. I know he was in the army but not which regiment, he was a pow in Japan

???
Possible record on Ancestry. No date of birth shown for anyone on this page.

Name Herbert Salter
Rank Gnr
Military Date 15 Feb 1942
Service Branch A
Service Number 1700105
Description 26: British Prisoners of War Held in Japan or Japanese-Occupied Territory: R - Z

Service number on image 1700105
The date shown is date of capture.
Image shows date of capture was 15 February 1942 and date of liberation was 2 September 1945
Camp where held , TH

There are - very basic - records on FMP of a Gunner of that name being a PoW in Thailand
Service number 1700105

UK residence, Newstead, Notts, which fits census records for him

It is likely that he is remembered by name at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
Just names are shown, no details, but there is a special area where prisoners of war are remembered.

1921 Census Of England & Wales
18, Wollaton Street, Hucknall, Hucknall Torkard, Nottinghamshire, England

Herbert Salter Head Male 1883 38 Stonebroom, Derbyshire, England Coal Miner Hewer Newstead Colly Co
Florence Salter Wife Female 1885 36 Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England Household Duties -
Herbert Salter Son Male 1910 10 Newstead, Nottinghamshire, England - -
Leslie Salter Son Male 1912 8 Newstead, Nottinghamshire, England - -
Nellie Salter Daughter Female 1914 7 Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England - -
Wilfred Salter Son Male 1915 5 Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England - -
Samuel Salter Son Male 1917 4 Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England - -
Joseph Salter Son Male 1919 2 Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England - -

1939 Register
228 Highbury Road, Nottingham, Nottingham C.B., Nottinghamshire, England

Herbert Salter 24 Feb 1883 Male General Light Labourer Married 143 1
Florence Salter 17 Feb 1885 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married 143 2
Herbert Salter 14 Jul 1910 Male Colliery Hewer Married 143 3
Leslie Salter 23 Sep 1912 Male Quarry Stone (Labourer) Single 143 4
Wilfred Salter 01 Jul 1915 Male General Labourer Single 143 5
Joseph W (L) Salter 29 Mar 1919 Male Cabinet Works Labourer Single 143 6
Bertram Salter 22 Sep 1921 Male Painter Wagon Works Single 143 7
Roy Salter 19 Dec 1933 Male At School Single 143 8
Ernest E Lane 10 Sep 1889 Male General Labourer Married 143 9
Cecelia Blackshaw (Richards) 19 Jul 1920 Female Hosiery Factory Hand Single 143 10

Using his service number and the regiment (Royal Regiment of Artillery) you can now apply for his records using the link provided earlier by greyghost

This may help.......................Archive reference WO 361/2172

FMP has an original Index Card

Apart from duplicating information already available, further info includes

NOK Mr H Salter
228 Highbury Road
Bulwell
Nottingham

Served with Royal Artillery

DOB 14/07/1910 ***************************************

Herbert had several Card Numbers during his capture. These included 14056 (newer) and 465 (older)

Prisoners of war, Far East: Thailand POW Camp, name list, as of 1 November 1944; volume II

Reference: WO 361/1955

WO 345 - War Office: Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees, Second World War

Reference: WO 345/45
Description: Rote - Schofield
Date: 1942-1945

War Office: Directorate of Prisoners of War: Prisoners of War Lists, Second World War, 1943-1945

First name(s) Herbert
Conflict World War 2
Last name Salter
Archive The National Archives
Year 1942
Service number 1700105

WO 392/26

Re Gunner Herbert Salter, service number 1700105 - that is the correct man:

Captured 15/2/1942, liberated 2/9/1945 - as posted by Gwyn.
One sketchy record on Ancestry implies he was in Camp No 8 in Thailand - but Google searches don't reveal exactly where Camp 8 was.

There are records on FMP, a couple of which say he was in Camp 4, but I don't have a sub.
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/results?datasetname=prisoners+of+war+1715-1945&sid=103&firstname=herbert&firstname_variants=true&lastname=salter


Someone here says Camp 4 was a "Death Camp" at Kanchanburi:
https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/no-4-camp-thailand.95275/


Many Google results say that Kanchanburi was the camp associated with the River Kwai bridge.

HOWEVER, here is the first page of Herbert's Liberation Questionnaire, in which HE says he was in Camp 1 at Saigon.

https://lq-cofepow.org/products/salter-herbert?_pos=2&_sid=d7f32b4ae&_ss=r

DOB: 14 July 1910. <<<<<<<<<<<<
Unit: 35th Lab. Regt. RA
Enlisted: 30 9/1940
Home address: 228 Highbury Road, Bulwell, Notts.
Captured: Singapore, 15/2/1942
Was at No 1 Camp, Saigon, 1942-1945.

That page says that Ancestry has Liberation Questionnaires - and it does, but apparently not Herbert's.

Prisoners of war, Far East: British POWs in Thailand and Saigon as at 1st August 1945; nominal roll

First name(s) Herbert
Archive The National Archives
Last name Salter
Archive reference WO 361/2196
Year 1945

For Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOW) websites, consider looking at the following:

http://www.captivememories.org.uk/

http://www.fepow-community.org.uk/

http://www.cofepowdb.org.uk/cdb2/Index.jsp

http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/armedforces_raf1.htm

http://www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/

http://www.far-eastern-heroes.org.uk/

http://www.mansell.com/pow-index.html

http://www.researchingfepowhistory.org.uk/

http://www.fepow-memorial.org.uk/The_FEPOW_Story.htm

http://www.theprisonerlist.com/further-research.html

http://www.cofepowdb.org.uk/cdb2/Controller.jsp?action=simplesearch

Following on from Herbert's Liberation Questionnaire in my last post -

On pages 8-13 of the link below, there's a description of Saigon camp from a US point of view.
(I assume it's No. 1, although it says it was only set up in May 1942. Perhaps Herbert was held elsewhere from Feb to May) :

https://tinyurl.com/2vy5fmnd

Apparently it was one of the better camps, though that's not saying much.