My Grandad was listed as missing on July 10th, 1944. He was recorded as being "In German hands" Yet he was reported to the WO casualty branch on August 12th, 1944 & again at the WO casualty branch on September 15th, 1944. Does this make sense to anyone?!
Hi Yes it makes sense. War Office Casualty Branch would not be satisfied with a casualty remaining on the Missing list, but they would only change casualty type if they had reliable evidence to do so. There are various combinations of casualty types, but if he was listed a further two times, the sequence could be something like: Missing (i.e. reported as such by Unit) Previously reported Missing, now believed Prisoner of War (reliable witness statement received by Casualty branch e.g. from comrade who saw him being captured) Previously reported Missing believed Prisoner of War, now reported Prisoner of War (i.e. list of names received via Red Cross from POW Camp) Publication dates for individuals on lists often had no bearing to actual date of event, they could be weeks or months apart. They also split up unit casualty lists, so that not too many casualties from the same day and unit appeared on the same published list. This was a deliberate WO practice, so as not to disclose information that might be useful to the enemy.
I just finished reading a book on Allied POWs in Europe. The WO certainly dragged its feet when it came to POWs and notifying relatives and do a poor job even then. POW's would fill out little cards but those could take up to 3 months to arrive back home, but that was often the first time anyone knew that they were a POW. Aircrew would be reported 'Missing' if their aircraft went down and no chutes were seen. If they survived then it may be a few months before the WO was notified that they were POWs. Same with when an Aircraft did not return or if they bailed out over enemy territory. Not ever airman survived on the ground - in some cases, they were beaten to death by local civilians (mostly in Germany) for being 'Terror Bombers'... I wonder if the multiple listings are from being moved to a different POW camp at which point some sort of notification was sent out, or if it was confirmed by multiple sources at different times?
See this thread for British Army Cas. Branch POW procedures. History of Prisoner of War Casualty Branch Information about movements between camps would I believe have been forwarded to Casualty Branch POW department for forwarding to NOK and not published in the form of official casualty lists. Cas. Branch would not give out any information which was not reliable enough, and for that they were criticised, especially at peak casualty times, e.g. after large operations. Apparently the British Red Cross were also criticised - for acting too hastily and reassuring relatives when in fact their information was little more than hearsay. Sometimes NOK received correspondence directly from the POW before the WO got their official lists via Geneva; relatives were told to contact the WO to let them know of any information received. (A few casualties remained on the Missing list at the request of relatives. While some relatives needed to expedite matters, i.e. have someone declared dead for pressing financial reasons, others weren't prepared to accept it was highly likely, given the weight of evidence, that their relative was dead.) Here's a statistical breakdown for British Army 'Missing' cases dealt with by WO, by Theatre and over the course of the war. British Army: Casualties Recorded as Missing, Yearly Statistics - WWII Open Resource Group
