201 Prisoner of War Company - Nominal Roll - 1940

Discussion in 'UK PoW Camps' started by Temujin, Jan 28, 2022.

  1. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    Attached is the Nominal Roll for the above POW Company, British Army on embarkation from Halifax to England, 14 July 1940 on the SS Duchess of York


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  2. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    In the same file I found the above Nominal Roll, I found this information on HMT Ettrick. I “believe” this may be the ship that the above POW Company came to Canada, accompanying POW’s and Internee’s


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  3. Malcolm56

    Malcolm56 Well-Known Member

    I think the first entry is from Quebec, Canada to Halifax, Nova Scotia, rather than from Halifax to England.

    The first transfer of pows from GB was made on 21 June 1940 with c.500 German pows being sent to Canada on the SS Duchess of York, (together with 2,100 German internees). Picture attached of the DofY.

    On 2 July 1940, the second transport ship ‘Arandora Star’ bound for Canada and Newfoundland, carrying 1,213 internees, 86 German pows, 200 guards and 174 crew, was hit by a torpedo fired by U-47. 805 people were killed.

    The Cabinet was informed that two more ships were due to sail for Canada – the ‘Ettrick’ on the following day, with 1,263 internees and 1,348 German and Italian pows – and the ‘Sobieski’ on 7 July with about 1,000 internees and 450 German pows. Three more ships were identified to send internees and pows to Australia and New Zealand.

    The two ships bound for Canada arrived safely, however the ships for Australia and New Zealand were allocated to different purposes and no pows were sent from the UK to those countries.

    DuchessOfYork.jpg
     
  4. Martin Richards

    Martin Richards Well-Known Member

    Just want to add a side note to this line.
    In 1945 with the War in Europe at an end there was a massive reshuffle of PoWs.
    Those sent to the US, Canada etc where put on boats and sent back to the UK. It is for this reason that the PoW number in the UK peaked in 45 & 46.
    At the same time the UK reclassified most of the PoWs as "Guest Workers". This meant that the International Committee for the Red Cross STOPPED being the protective power.
    The role of camp inspection was taken over by the UK Foreign Office. It is for this reason the UK National Archives at Kew which the way is the site of Camp 144 Russell Avenue contains records "FO 939/nnn PoW Camp" Reports dating from the End of WWII.

    Camps 4 Scraptoft, 9 Quorn and 702 RAF Kings Cliff became Repatriation Centres - some details and links can be found on my website:

    PoW Sites in the East Midlands

    Also faced with this big influx of PoWs and the end of the war a lot of restrictions at the camps in the US were eased. Also faced with the challenge of providing accommodation for all these PoWs a rather clever and practical solution was adopted. The RAF pre WWII spent a fortune in building very good RAF Stations with very good and close together facilities to promote efficiency. Those built to War Time Standards were very different. Whilst the Runway and technical buildings had to provide for the front line operation or Aircraft this did NOT apply to Admin, Support and People. These were dispersed from the airfield and comprised of standardised brick buildings plus huts of various types. With the end of the war the RAF almost immediately discharged the WAAF. Also the animosity between Regular SNCOs and NCO aircrew that had been there at the start of the war was gone. As a result the WAAF accommodation was vacated and the Aircrew NCOs moved into the regular sergeants mess. As a result the WAAF and other dissersed sites were often converted to full PoW Camps or Hostels. In some cases of which RAF Kirmington (now Humberside Airport) is a good example almost if not all of the accommodation sites became the home for PoWs.

    Finally as another pragmatic solution as indicated in soe of the FO records a number of people held in German PoW Camps ended up at British PoW Camps as Guards !
     
  5. Foxndlady

    Foxndlady New Member

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    Hello,
    I'm new in this forum and researching the story of the 1.200+ German POW's that were evacuated by Dutch military from the Netherlands to Dover, England on 13th and 14th of May, 1940, only hours before the capitulation to invading nazi Germany. For these Germans, mainly specialized personnel, like Fallschirmjäger, fighter pilots and other aircrew, the war was over. Most of them were subsequently send to Canada within weeks (DOY, Ettrick and Sobiesky).

    My main question is at what location and by what unit these POW's were first registered after arrival in Dover mid May, 1940? Are there nominal rolls available of these first registrations? Perhaps interrogation reports? That would give me a good insight on the names of the Germans that were send to Dover aboard the Dutch vessels Phrontis and Texelstroom.
    Further, in this thread I see that nominal rolls of DOY and Ettrick are available. I can not open the files (because I'm new?). Are these nominal rolls available in open sources or can anyone please repost them or send them to me?
    Thanks a lot!
    Frank
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    Attached Files:

  6. Malcolm56

    Malcolm56 Well-Known Member

    There is a British Pathe newsreel for some of the pows arriving at Dover - GERMAN PRISONERS ARRIVE

    The nominal roles above have 'disappeared'.

    I don't think there is 1 answer to location / unit. I am not aware of rolls or registrations of the captured pows at the National Archive - most were destroyed or sent on to the IRC in Geneva.

    After arrival, pows were sent to a 'Command Cage' for initial sorting. Most O.R. were sent from there directly to a pow camp. Officers and O.R.'s of 'interest' (e.g. technical experts) were sent for further interview at Cockfosters (Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (CSDIC)). Some of these would go on for further interrogation at the London Cage.

    In May 1940 there were a limited number of camps for them to be sent to - see below. Officers went to Grizedale. OR would have been sent to various camps.

    By the end of 1940 it was stated that there were 11 pow camps and 1 pow hospital within the UK;

    1 Grizedale Hall
    2 Glen Mill
    4 Windlestone Hall
    6 Glenbranter
    8 Warth Mills
    9 Kempton Park
    10 Cockfosters
    12 Donaldson’s School
    13 The Hayes
    14 Holywood
    20 Wilton Park

    General Hospital, Knutsford

    Note – There was also a Camp 5 at Duff House in 1940, but it was omitted from this list for unknown reasons.
     
  7. Richelieu

    Richelieu Well-Known Member

    The Canadian movement control files for these transfers are available on Héritage:
    Duchess of York
    Arandora Star
    Ettrick
    Sobieski
    The roll came from the Canadian movement control file for the Duchess of York’s return passage and can be found here. The roll for 202 Prisoner of War Company is also available in the same file.
     
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