It was a hospital camp in Italy: PoW camps | Monte San Martino Trust Archives Red Cross reports Prisoners of war, Italy: camp and military hospital 203, Bologna; International Red... | The National Archives
Hello Oscar, Why are you interested in PG 203? You will see from my website that it was at Castel San Pietro, Bologna. What made you think that it might have been in North Africa in September 1943? Regards, Vitellino
Hi Vitellino, It is about a German Soldier who is captured on may 12th. 1943 in Tunisia by the British. On the september 12th. 1943 he is in P.O.W. camp 203. On the october 25 th. 1943 he is registered at the Polish Forces in the U.K. and 2 weeks later added to the First Polish Armoured Division. I don't understand why should he brougt to Italy ? Is it possible that there is another P.O.W. camp 203, example in North Africa or the U.K.
Oscar8 has now clarified it is a British POW Camp 203 and the TNA record states it was open 1943 July- Dec. See: Camps: 203 POW Camp | The National Archives Roger Thomas's work does not list a POW Camp 203 in the UK; his list misses camps 201-210. See: https://historicengland.org.uk/imag.../prisoner-of-war-camps/prisoner-of-war-camps/ I could not find anything else online about this camp, presumably in Tunisia and which had a temporary life. Polish-Germans and Poles were conscripted after 1939 into Wehrmacht service; there is a thread here on the subject: Poles in the Wehrmacht. When the Axis armies surrendered 267k German and Italian POWs needed to be accommodated prior to moving on. I am aware that some Italian, less certain that German POWs were held in Algeria and worked on farms. No quickly found information on where this mass of humanity were held.
During my research into my fathers war I found that on his way to the middle east they stopped at Durban for a couple of weeks and were at a large military camp at Clairwood Racecouse, which also was a POW camp. It appears that the convoys between Durban and Suez carried Allied troop reinforcements north and returned south with both Axis POW and wounded Allied soldiers. Maybe this is the location?
Geoff, I would not exclude the possibility that German (and Italian) POWs after Tunisia were moved to South Africa and beyond. May be even to the UK itself. Plus, four months after his surrender he is in POW Camp (which is not in the UK) and six weeks later he is registered at the Polish Forces in the U.K. No POW Camp 203 can be readily id'd in South Africa and the only indications I could see were for Italian POWs. I would expect the soldier was identified or self-identified as a Pole / Polish during the initial POW registration process and as Polish forces were part of the 8th Army he could have been seen by them too - once id'd. Screening and vetting proceed slowly and are finalised in the UK by the Poles.
David, Your link is clear to me. British POW Camp 203 and the TNA record states it was open 1943 July- Dec. See: Camps: 203 POW Camp | The National Archives Now the big question is where was that POW camp. Unfortunately I can't visit the National Archive.
Found this webpage re AXIS POW camps in South Africa https://stampssa.africa/wp-content/...nt-Camps-in-SA-and-their-mail-Jim-Findlay.pdf Maybe of help, but there is a comment the POW of German origin were sent to OTHER Commonwealth Countries
And in Canada German prisoners of war in Canada Prisoner of War Camps in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Geoff, Well done, just read through the stamp collecting document. Alas no Camp 203 is id'd and the South Africans held very few German POWs, one passage refers to two thousand and the vast majority were Italians, from North and East Africa. Curious how many were held in Zonderwater Camp, 100k plus and the number of French held too. For the curious about 100k see: http://www.zonderwater.com/en/ The puzzle remains.
back to the Poles in German uniform aspect, juts encountered several posts on the theme (minus sources though). See:Russian soldiers KIA Holland
P.O.W. camp 203 Was in Algeria in 1944. I have a letter my grenfather write to my grenmather from Algeria...
Hi Miroslav, Thank you for clarifying about the 203 P.O.W. camp. I can tell you that the German soldier was captured in Grombalia Tunisia may 1943. In September 1943 he was in prisoner camp 203, so Algiers Algeria. In October 1943 he was in England. Case closed for me.
Oscar 8, There were Free Polish contingents in the region, not in North Africa from memory, building up for Italy - yet to be invaded in May 1943 - and they were probably in Palestine / Syria. At some stage he was extracted from the German POW contingent and shipped back to the UK, where the Free Polish forces were assembling for D-Day. Probably in the anticipation the invasion would be bloody and any willing Pole was acceptable. I do wonder if Camp 203 @ Algiers was for POWs who were changing sides? Plus, was he shipped back on a Polish ship (which would allow for more assessing of him). The scale of the German POWs from the end in Tunisia: From: Annandale History - German Prisoners of War in Fairfax County, Annandale History, The History of Annandale during WWII. I know from previous research Italian POWs were held under loose conditions in Algeria as late as May 1945, with many working on farms.
Camp numbers. In Britain, camp numbers did not apply to a location. They were given to the 'management team' or the administrative unit running a camp. This could mean if the management moved, they took the number with them to the new location. Roger Thomas's lists show, for example, Camp 2 moved around several times between 1942 and 1948.There are several other examples in his list, which is the best we have, but is not totally correct. More camps are appearing with fresh research that one could not expect him to have found, given his limited remit.
Osborne2: Didn't think camp could have been moved. As Miroslav wrote, his grandfather's letter was in 1944. So camp 203 may be a different location in September 1943. Case not closed.
There was a protocol between US and USA for the segregation of Polish nationals who were forced into the Wehrmacht by blackmail, coercion or conscription (latterly because they lived in parts of Poland considered as truly German). The identified persons were interrogated to ensure they were Polish and pro Allied, before being allowed to join the Polish forces in the British Army. Some were brought to Britain pre D Day but few in comparison with the thousands who changed sides post 6 June. Some Polish researchers indicate 89,000 by war's end. Postscript. What goes round comes round. The Russians seem to be conscripting Ukrainians in captured areas of Ukraine as videoed interviews of 'Z' prisoners now in Ukraine are starting to show.
I was recently in The National Archives in Kew and viewed the file for Camps 203-212, Signatures WO 175/1295-1303. These were all Algerian camps. Camp 203 was in Rocher Noir, Algeria - and took mostly Italian POWs, incl. generals, field marshals, etc. Sorry I didn't scan it in, I was looking for the camp in Bone, Algeria, which turned out to be Camp 205, which I scanned in. Just fyi, Camp 204 was BouFarik - which had high level German generals, incl. Von Arnim. Camp 207: Algiers then Alma, then Alleliguia, Algeria. Camp 208 was in Constantine, Camp 209 in Ouled Rahmoun, Camp 210 in Mart Sidi Ali. Cap Matifou, Camp 211 in Chateau de la Rasanta, and Camp 212 was in Morris.
Thank you for the specified information. On "The National Archives" WO 175/1295 is until June 30, 1943. But WO 169/13621 is from July 1, 1943 to December 31, 1943. Can I assume that both POW 203 files were at the same location in Rocher Noir. Thanks again aquarya
