German POW interrogation records - 1st Infantry Division

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by Pietro, Aug 1, 2022.

  1. Pietro

    Pietro Member

    Good evening,
    I was wondering if the the records of the interrogations of the 1st Infantry-Division are stored somewhere. I saw on the National Archives that various records are listed, but they're not from the units.

    In particular I was looking for the records between August and October 1944, so during the period in Tuscany (Mugello and Appennines).

    Thanks in advance and greetings from Italy
     
  2. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Good evening from Tuscany, Pietro,

    I am not sure exactly what kind of record you are looking for. Are you interested in soldiers from 1 Infantry Division who were taken prisoner by the German forces in the approaches to the Gothic Line? Do you have the names and regiments of any of these soldiers? What exactly are you hoping to find out? I am not aware of the existence any German interrogation forms as British servicemen were instructed to give only their name, rank and number if captured.

    The National Archives, London, holds records for all soldiers taken prisoner by German forces throughout Europe and sent to Germany, Austria or Poland but to access them you need the individual soldier's name and service number. Not all of the prisoners' record cards are available on line yet.

    If you explain your specific interest I may be able help you,

    Best wishes,

    Vitellino
     
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  3. Pietro

    Pietro Member

    Hello Vitellino,
    I'm looking for the records of the interrogations of the German soldier who were taken POW by the 1 Infantry-Division. Generally, for what I know, they were generally interrogated. At least the US Army did so.

    Thanks in advance
     
  4. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Do you have an example of the interrogation form used by the US Army?
     
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  5. Pietro

    Pietro Member

    Hello Vitellino,
    I'm sorry but I don't had a direct example, unfortunately. I only have the reference of the US Army material:

    § Record Group 165: Army Chief of Staff, G-2, Intelligence Division (CSDIC), Interrogation Reports.


    Today I found within a British sources a references to this interrogation: it's an "Intelligence Summary Report" (24 October 1944) written by the 78th Infantry-Division where it is stated:

    «Note: For details of 334 Inf Div [German] see 78 Div Interrogation Summaries CSDIC/EHMC/78 Nos 13 and 14»

    So, I believe that something similiar to this interrogation reports exists also for the 1st Infantry-Division. My question is therefore, where can they be stored.

    Greetings from Italy
     
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  6. hutt

    hutt Member

    Sorry that it doesn't really answer your query but for general interest, 1 AGRA diary for 1943 contains a number of intelligence summaries including one that states that part of it at least is an extract from a 78 Div interrogation report and other extracts come from 5 Corps and 8th Indian Division intelligence summaries. When I first saw them I was a bit surprised to see they even named individual German soldiers.

    Sadly 1 AGRA diaries for 44 are 'missing at transfer' .

    Not related to this thread but does anyone have any idea if that means that effectively they no longer exist? DSC03344.JPG
     
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  7. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    Regarding your "missing at transfer" question, not strictly on the topic raised by Pietro.

    If you search the Kew website box for the phrase "missing at transfer" you get this archived webpage:

    https://webarchive.nationalarchives...sts/status-of-records-within-the-coal-series/

    This is the explanation given for someone seeking records of the old National Coal Board:

    "Request & Response
    1. What exactly does “Missing in Transit” mean? Does it mean that files that British Coal should have transferred to you never arrived? And if they are missing is the responsibility clearly theirs?

    “Missing at Transfer” is the term we use to describe documents which were selected for permanent preservation by the transferring department but were not received by The National Archives. The responsibility for locating such documents lies with the transferring department.

    Please note that The National Archives does not use the term “Missing in Transit” to describe misplaced records."

    So the answer seems to be to write to the MOD and ask them to look in their cupboards. Good hunting !
     
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  8. hutt

    hutt Member

    Hi Papiermache
    Thanks for the suggestion of writing to the MOD. Interesting that a few years ago they had some of the diaries on Operation Dodge but those were retrieved for me by the archives.
     
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