773645 Gunner Thomas CROOK, 23 Field Regiment, RA: Help with POW number please

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by Tim091, Aug 2, 2019.

  1. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    Hi Barbara, I am very aware of your uncle after reading the thread here and having just finished Steve Foster's excellent book. An extraordinarily moving story.

    I had an uncle die last year and cleared out his house. In so doing I found the letters from his cousin who was the one in XXa and B. Unfortunately I was in the middle of moving house at the time and still have a lot of stuff in storage to unpack, including my relatives POW letters! As soon as I find them I will post.

    I am also waiting for the ICRC records requests to re-open in September to see if I can get his file from them. I have his Mi9 questionnaire which details that he was in several work camps. Consequently I have been focusing my reading on the work camps at the moment.

    In the meantime I have been reading everything I can find about those camps, and also managed to buy some letters and photos from ebay from other prisoners there.
     
  2. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    Mod edit: Threads merged

    Help with POW Number
    My subscriptions to FMP and Ancestry have lapsed and I can't afford to renew at the moment. I wonder if anyone could please find me the POW number for Gunner Thomas Crook RA. Service number: 773645. Died in XXA August 1944.

    I have posted about him previously here, but am only now getting prepared to apply to ICRC for his record and realise that I don't have his POW number.

    Many thanks in advance.
     
  3. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    773645 Gunner Thomas Crook, R.A. POW No. 15012. Seems he was shot by a sentry.
     

    Attached Files:

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  4. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

  5. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    Just edited my post with his R.A. Casualty card. Shot by a sentry.
     
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  6. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Threads merged. (Multiple threads cause duplication of effort/info ;) )




    Full CWGC details, for the record:
    Gunner Thomas Crook | War Casualty Details 773645 | CWGC
    GUNNER THOMAS CROOK
    Service Number: 773645
    Regiment & Unit: Royal Artillery, 23 Field Regt.
    Date of Death: 01 August 1944
    Age 34 years old
    Buried or commemorated at MALBORK COMMONWEALTH WAR CEMETERY
    Grave Reference: 5. A. 13.
    Location: Poland
    Additional Info: Son of Thomas and Frances Crook; husband of Olive Irene Crook, of Matthewstown, Glamorgan.
    Personal Inscription: SUNSHINE PASSES, SHADOWS FALL BUT LOVE AND MEMORY OUTLIVE ALL. OLIVE
     
  7. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    Update: Received the records from ICRC today (very quick!). Attached files are death certificate and capture card. I was hoping there would be more documents of an investigation into his death as my assumption is that the Red Cross would investigate deaths in POW camps; maybe I am mistaken in that.

    Google Translate has the text from the death notice as:

    "The funeral took place on August 4th, 1944 at the garrison cemetery in Thorn. A German honorary (unclear) was provided, which laid a wreath of the German armed forces at the grave. Comrades formed the escort, who also laid wreaths on the grave. The British pastor from m. Stammlager XXA held the eulogy".
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Jul 20, 2022
  8. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

  9. Tim091

    Tim091 Active Member

    Thanks vitellino. Maybe worth a trip to Kew.
     
  10. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    There are other war crimes files in the TS series. Male sure you check these out before visiting. They often have the name of the victim in the title, unlike the files in the WO 309, WO 310 and WO 311 series, which sometimes do.

    I have noted that the files in the above link all refer to deaths on marches in 1945, whereas Gunner Crook was killed in 1944.
     

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