Stalag XX-B

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by Anthony Scott, Mar 28, 2019.

  1. Anthony Scott

    Anthony Scott Member

    Hello everyone,
    I'm a newbie here having just signed up this evening. Although I have been researching my family tree for a number of years with Ancestry.com I am still very green when it comes to researching my Fathers time during WWII.

    I apologize in advance if I have placed this on the incorrect forum, please advise if so.

    I know he joined up pre 1939, was with the BEF Reconnaissance Corps in France, a tank driver, captured in 1940, being interned at Stalag XX-B Malbork, and was forced marched in 1945, from the sketchy diary he wrote.
    My fathers name was Frank Leslie Scott, his army number was 7885614 and Prisoner number was 7258 and was discharged in 1945. He didn't talk much at all of his time as a PoW, he never fully recovered his health and still needed to wear special shoes until late into the 1960's due to the condition his feet were left in after the march. He died in 1986 a couple of months short of his 69th birthday.

    I am looking for some guidance as to what my next steps are. I now live in the US and therefore a visit to any establishment in the UK to lookup records is not without some difficulty. I have placed an order with ACRE as I found a document on the National Archive, ref: WO 344/280/2, and am well able to complete online research.

    I recall as a child attending the Cenotaph each year to see him march and then onto the RAC club following that and we lived in Fulham.

    If anyone can provide me guidance I would be eternally grateful.

    Thanks in anticipation

    Tony Scott
     
  2. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    Welcome to the forum.

    You ought to apply to U.K. MOD for your father’s service record via this link -

    Get a copy of military service records

    You should also apply to Red Cross in Switzerland for his POW records via this link -

    Requests for information about people held during Spanish Civil War or the Second World War: Quarterly limit reached

    You’ll need to be online in the early hours of the morning US time on 20th May as you’ll have to go on the website at 8am BST to complete the drop down application form that pops up - if it’s not there I’d suggest checking the site every 30 minutes until it appears. It will only be there for 2 or 3 hours until the quarterly limit is reached and it is withdrawn.

    It is a free service and it takes about 4 months to get a reply through the post from Red Cross.

    Good Luck.

    Steve
     
    CL1, Anthony Scott and Incredibledisc like this.
  3. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Can you check what regiment he was in as the Recce Corps wasn't formed until 1941.
    His number fits the RTR block.
    Army Number Block Allocations
     
    Anthony Scott likes this.
  4. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945
    Name: F L Scott
    Rank: Trooper
    Army Number: 7885614
    Regiment: Reconnaissance Corps
    POW Number: 7258
    Camp Type: Stalag
    Camp Number: XX-B
    Camp Location: Malbork, Poland
    Record Office: Royal Armoured Corps and Reconnaissance Corps Record Office, The Drill Hall, Barnet, Hertfordshire
    Record Office Number: 3

    This record would have been made sometime after the end of WW2

    TD

    By the way - the company with whom you have placed your order is also a member of this site
     
  5. Anthony Scott

    Anthony Scott Member

    Thank you Owen, that fits in with what I know inasmuch that the number is assigned to the Royal Tank Regiment.
     
  6. Anthony Scott

    Anthony Scott Member

    Thanks for the responses, I'll ensure to set the alarm for 2AM May 20th!

    One further question, if I may.
    Given his army number fits in with his being in tanks (RTR), the record I have (also reproduced by TD above) indicates he was a member of the Reconnaissance Corps Regiment, though, as Owen points out, that wasn't formed until 1941, perhaps after my Father was captured.
    Could he have been 'transferred' so to speak once the RC were formed, or how can both pieces of information be correct?

    Again, thank you in advance for any assistance.
     
  7. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    It may have been that his Regiment when he was taken POW was transferred to Recce in 1941. The Records Office was Royal Armoured Corps & Reconnaissance Corps.

    His papers will likely answer that query......... and many others.......

    Steve
     
  8. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Does anyone have access to those POW records online at Ancestry or Find My Past. One of the docs now online lists the actual units POWs were with at time of capture. There's a chap on FB that posts the docs on a POW Camp page.
     
  9. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    At the time someone from the Red Cross asked these questions [probably during 1944] then he would have provided the answers as he knew them to be. We know the Recce Corps was not around in 1940 but was probably what he did in the RAC at that time. So in reality his Regiment if you like at enlistment would have been RAC and not Recce. The record office would have been for both as in 19944 thats what it was and also is a common name used for all those captured since 1941 who were in the Recce part of the RAC

    His service records will obviously clear up this situation and I suspect his Regiment at enlistment will be RAC.

    Post 4 shows the Ancestry record in the relevant database

    TD
     
  10. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    It must be find my past then mate :)
     
  11. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi Andy,

    FMP do have the official WW2 Casualty Lists online. Hopefully a member may be able to post them for Frank Scott so you will know his unit. You may even already have the unit WD in your archives :salut:

    Steve
     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  12. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Hi Steve-I have all the armoured war diaries for 1940 copied.;)
     
  13. Anthony Scott

    Anthony Scott Member

    Thanks for the advice. I sent a request to ACRE, unfortunately a search revealed no results, I am now endeavoring to obtain a full record from U.K. MOD.

    I have scanned in a number of pix of my fathers from his days during the war, and was wondering if it would be appropriate to post any pix on here to see if others can identify his fellow comrades/POWs?

    One, in particular, is a winter postcode sent to my (now deceased) uncle in Upper Norwood. The address from shows as:
    Frank Leslie Scott
    B (or G) EF No 7258
    Stalag XXB 123
    Germany

    and has a total of 45 POWs in the picture and writing of 'GB 125'
     
  14. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945
    Name: F L Scott
    Rank: Trooper
    Army Number: 7885614
    Regiment: Reconnaissance Corps
    POW Number: 7258
    Camp Type: Stalag
    Camp Number: XX-B
    Camp Location: Malbork, Poland
    Record Office: Royal Armoured Corps and Reconnaissance Corps Record Office, The Drill Hall, Barnet, Hertfordshire
    Record Office Number: 3

    TD
     
    alieneyes likes this.
  15. Anthony Scott

    Anthony Scott Member

    Thanks TD for the info, wasn't sure what that ref was.
     

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