Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914[1] following the German invasion of Belgium and the violation of Belgian neutrality. The global conflict is known as the First War World. British citizens in Germany and Austria-Hungary (and later Turkey) were detained as Civilian Prisoners of War. This included crews of British Merchant Navy ships in port at Hamburg, Germany. Further civilian prisoners were detained following capture or rescue of crew and passengers from British merchant navy ships and fishing boats as the war progressed. Virtually all prisoners were male and when four stewardesses were captured from the SS Brussels, they were quickly returned to the UK.
The first civilian prisoner of war camp for British prisoners was set-up at Ruhleben, a former horse racing track near Berlin.
Finding civilian prisoner of war records
The UK Foreign Office ‘Prisoners of War Department’ has extensive records held at the UK National Archives at Kew. These documents in Class/Series FO 383 have had in recent years detailed catalogue descriptions added, to the National Archives catalogue ‘Discovery’. Until the United States entered in the war in 1917, ‘British Interests’ were represented by the US embassy in Berlin. Much of the UK Foreign Office ‘Prisoners of War Department’ correspondence with Germany and the US Embassy is duplicated in the embassy records held at the US National Archives Washington. Unlike the UK copies, the catalogue description is very limited.
The UK Board of Trade ‘Marine Department’ created extensive records of seamen Prisoner of Wars and these records contain some incidental records relating to other civilian prisoners. These documents in Series/class MT9 are held at UK National Archives at Kew.
The UK War Office records contains interviews and reports with over 3,000 named individual British prisoners of war. These documents, were compiled by the Committee on the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and provide the main source of personal information for Prisoners of War (PoWs) captured during the First World War. They consist of pre-Armistice reports made by repatriated, escaped or interned Officers, Medical Officers and Other Ranks, and occasionally Merchant Seamen and Civilians. These documents (WO 161 Series ) are now accessible via the UK National Archives Discovery catalogue. Examples of Merchant Seamen include James McDermot of the ship “Eskimo” and Kikutaro Yamashita of the ship SS Otaki.
Tracing an individual prisoner
- Search the MyHeritage collection - Merchant Seamen Medals 1914-1918
- Check THE RUHLEBEN STORY; this website has extensive information on individual civilian prisoners at Ruhleben.
- The Board of Trade published lists of seamen and fishermen prisoners regularly during the war. If the individual is thought to have been in the merchant navy or a fisherman – this is a good starting point POW index. Other editions are held by the National Archives at the Board of Trade MT9 series.
- Check the UK National Archives catalogue for the relevant names, especially series/class “FO 383” which contains the Prisoner of War Department correspondence.
- Visit the UK National Archives and check the lists of Ruhleben detainees. The US Berlin Embassy with the prisoners themselves produced three complete lists of prisoners at Ruhleben, two in 1915 and the third in September 1916. These list the prisoners’ names, addresses, ages, occupations, barrack numbers and sometimes date of release. These lists (circa 5,000 names each) contain details of merchant seamen and other British civilians interned at Ruhleben. The lists are located in document MT 9/1094. These are not indexed online yet although an initial index of one volume, Surnames A-B is indexed.
Published sources
- Ruhleben | A Prison Camp Society, J. Davidson Ketchum, 1965, University of Toronto Press
- Ruhleben Letters from a Prisoner to His Mother, Edited Douglas Sladen, 1917, Hurst and Blackett Ltd (reprint available via The Naval & Military Press Ltd)
- To Ruhleben and Back, Geoffrey Pike, 1916 (reprint available from McSweeney’s Books ISBN: 0-9719047-8-2}
- Note from the United States Ambassador Transmitting a Report, Dated June 8, 1915, on the Conditions at Present Existing in the Internment Camp at Ruhleben: Parliamentary Command Paper (Cd 7863) Miscellaneous No 13 (1915): HMSO
- My visit to Ruhleben : with a plan of the camp by Bishop Herbert Bury (1917)
See also
Explore more about British civilian prisoners of war in World War I
- British Officers Taken as Prisoners of War, 1914 - 1918 record collection at MyHeritage
- United Kingdom, Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Royal Navy Reserve Ratings’ Records of Service, 1908-1958 record collection at MyHeritage
The International Red Cross at Geneva holds indexes of prisoners both civilian and military.
- The Ruhleben Camp magazine – published by the prisoners at Ruhleben. Available second-hand book shops, in libraries, and as reprints.
- The Imperial War Museum, London has an extensive collection of objects and documents that relate to Ruhleben and prisoners in the war
References
- ↑ Voices of the First World War: Outbreak – 4 August 1914. Imperial War Museums