I would like to find out more about my Great Uncle who escaped a prisoner of war camp in WW2?

Question

I'm 16 years old and have always known snippets of his story growing up, here is what I know.

He signed up when he was 16 and was sent home only to return to Dunkirk as soon as he could, anyway, some where along the line he was captured by the Germans sent to a P.O.W camp ( in Italy I think) and whilst being transferred to another one threw himself off a truck (hands and feet tied) He then went into hiding before making his way back across Europe. It is during this time i think he also met my great aunt who was an Italian woman, with a very Italian name.

As you can tell the details are very sketchy, I never met my great uncle (he isn't actually my blood relative, he's my dad's sister's husband's father) but my Dad remembers meeting him and seeing his camp tattoo. What I'm wondering is how to start my search, I was thinking maybe the British Legion? The fact he married an Italian woman (with a distinctive surname) may also help and of course I can ask my Uncle for help, I just really want to know more about him as I feel his story is one worth telling.

(I apologise for my incoherent ramblings)

Answer 1

Yeah, you have reasearch all of those places. The military records should be there. The Germans should know the name of the camp, and have records. Assuming they werent destroyed in the bombing. Your best bet though, will probably be with the Italians. Good luck, it sounds awesome.

Answer 2

This male you are wanting to research, you will need his full name at least and if he was a British soldier, his service records which will detail the real story will bewritten in his record which will be held at the National Archives at Kew ( first link on the website I will give you) and Series reference WO 392 are POW records. These are alphabetical lists of prisoners of war from all branches of HM Forces, including other nationals under British command, held in Germany or German-occupied territory, Italy and Japan or Japanese-occupied territory.



If he returned to the UK and married, then try freebmd and freeregs, under the UK section, there is also a military section which could be useful if you find what service he was in ....and as he lied about his age to join the forces you may need to use several dates to find him.



List of POW camps in Italy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_POW_camps_in_Italy

Answer 3

If I am safe in assuming that you are asking about how to research someone who was enlisted in a British military unit, a man who was a POW for a time and who escaped, the information given in the U.K. Military links listed by the genealogy "list of lists," Cyndi's List, might help you:

http://www.cyndislist.com/uk/military/



You may first need to determine the United Kingdom military unit in which he served. You do not give his name, so I or others who may reply to your question can't see what they can find for you, to get you started.



From looking through the list of links given in the citation above, I found this to help you get started:

British Red Cross Records of Prisoners of War

http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/Who-we-are/Museum-and-archives/Resources-for-researchers/Records-of-prisoners-of-war



If you happen to live in the U.K., your local public library (probably just the library holding the main genealogy collection for the area - the main/headquarters library for the area library network) may subscribe to some genealogy databases that can help you in your search. They will be free for all library users, by the way. You will have to speak with a reference librarian at your public library to find out what databases are available and if you can access them through you home computer or will have to go to the particular library to use them.



Also, whether you are in the U.K. or another major English speaking country - Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, etc. - the public library in your area with the main genealogy collection may have "hard copy databases" (books and magazines/journals) that may be useful in your research. Before computers, databases and the Internet, things like military records and lists of regimental enlistees were compiled in books or there were indexes compiled directing researchers to original resources of documents.



I'm sure others replying to your question will have good suggestions for you, too.



Librarians--Ask Us, We Answer!



Best wishes

Answer 4

First, let me say: This man isn't your great uncle. Not even by MARRIAGE. He's absolutely NO relation to you. He is your AUNT'S father in law, but that doesn't make him your uncle. I can see how you'd be confused, though....



Anyway, what sort of info are you seeking? You're sort of vague on that....Give us more details on what you're looking for, and we may be able to tell you where/how you can find it.