German POWs in England

Discussion in 'User Introductions' started by Rachel Guy, Jun 1, 2021.

  1. Rachel Guy

    Rachel Guy New Member

    Hi all!
    I have a friend whose step father (Werner Schutze, b 1922 Germany d 1994, Germany) was German. The family story is that he was a German POW in England, after which, he met and married her mother. How does one go about finding the records of the German POWs who were in this country?

    Thank you !
     
  2. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    Welcome to the forum.

    As with an enquiry about British POW your starting point ought to be the Swiss Red Cross via this link.

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

    The next enquiry window in September will only last a couple of hours. An online application form will appear on the day.

    You need as much family history information as you can gather plus a soldier number and date and place of capture for the application form. In pre Covid times you would get a reply through the post after a minimum 4 months wait. It will list all the camps where he was detained plus - if you are lucky - copies of original documents from his ICRC file.

    Once you have Red Cross information you could apply for his military service records from the Gernan archives.

    Good luck

    Steve
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2021
    alieneyes likes this.
  3. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    Hello,

    Did he happen to marry in Cambridgeshire in 1954? If so, his name is in the BMD records under "Scheutze"

    Regards,

    Dave
     
  4. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    Welcome Rachel.
     
  5. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Ancestry results
    Werner Scheutze Apr 1954 Apr-May-Jun Whittlesey Cambridgeshire Elsie M Hudson Or Arnold

    Hermann W Scheutze Apr 1954 Apr-May-Jun Whittlesey Cambridgeshire Hueson Or Arnold

    Could be interesting - wonder if some transcription errors have happened??

    TD
     
  6. pete mully

    pete mully Member

    Hi Rachel there were very many pow camps for german pows in th uk one of them was a large pow camp for german prisoners of war it was called camp 186 it was at Berechurch Hall, Colchester in Essex,a book was published about this camp with information about some of the pows it was writen by a guy called Ken Free the title of the book is The lost town at Berechurch Hall this book can still be bought off amazon camp 186 held over 6,000 german pows many of them were held there untill quite a long time after the war ended the book tells the the story of one of the most amazing PoW Camps of the second World War. Camp 186 held 6,000 mostly 'other ranks' - ordinary Germans who had been forced into an abnormal situation. Home to extreme Nazis and to strong pacifists they formed a volatile mixture. Largely using original articles and letters by the prisoners, it tells some of their stories, from capture to arriving at night in a desolate field. Living in bell tents and huts its just possible that your friends step father may of been a prisoner in camp 186, my father saw out the period whilst he was waiting to be demobed from the army at the end of the war as a guard at camp 186 .below is a list of pretty much evey other known prisoner of war camps for german or italian pows in ww2 please click on the link below l
    https://historicengland.org.uk/imag.../prisoner-of-war-camps/prisoner-of-war-camps/

    once on the site keep scrolling down and down and you will come to the quite extensive list of POW camp names and the locations of were these camps were located in the uk,also its possble that the guy your looking for may of been sent to Canada or the USA as some german pows were sent to both countries as pows during the war ,i know the info may not help you find his records as a prisoner of war ,but if he was at camp 186 he may be menioned in the book about the camp 186 or possibly the reference libaray in colchester may have information or some records of prisoners names who were held at camp 186. i myself know that one of the german prisoners was a guy called willie smitt before the war willi was a artist who lived in hamburg he was taken prisoner when his uboat was attacked and he managed to survive the attack ,he draw a excellent portrait drawering of my father when he was a pow in camp 186 this drawing has now been lost or misplaced in my familys papers /belongings .Best regards and good .luck with your search hope you find his records pete mully
     

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