This series contains records of the Prisoners of War and Aliens Department, and is one of the series of Foreign Office records arising from, and employing, the FO central registry system for correspondence for the period from 1906. The records in FO 383 relate to the imprisonment or internment of members of the armed forces, civilians and merchant seamen during the First World War, both allied and foreign, and during the period following the Armistice, leading up to the conclusion of the various peace treaties with the enemy countries in 1919.
The correspondence concerns prisoners and internees in all the First World War theatres of war. Apart from relating to the UK, the records are designated according to the countries and territories specified in the FO's correspondence system from 1906 (these are the countries and territories which are stamped on the actual documents and which appear in the first line of the individual catalogue descriptions for each piece). Specifically in FO 383 these countries and territories are as follows: Austria-Hungary, Balkans, Belgium, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, America, and Portugal. It should, however, be noted that there are also references to prisoners and internees in various other countries. These include British dominions and colonies where there were prisoner camps (in particular Australia, Canada, India and South Africa) or internment issues (for example, in Ceylon, New Zealand, Gibraltar, Malta), but also German colonies in Africa and the Pacific, together with other countries in Europe, the Far East, North and South America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Several of the prisoner of war and internment camps feature prominently in the records, particularly Ruhleben camp near Berlin in Germany. There are papers concerning many other camps and places (including ships) of internment in the UK, such as Donington Hall in Leicestershire, Alexandra Palace in London, Lofthouse Park camp at Wakefield in Yorkshire, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man (notably Knockaloe camp, and also Douglas), and also overseas, particularly Australia (at Liverpool, NSW), India (at Ahmednagar, near Bombay) and South Africa (at Pietermaritzburg), and others.
At government level, there are high-level policy documents relating to negotiations between the British and German and other foreign governments (through the channel of a neutral foreign embassy, primarily the USA until they joined the war in 1917) on policy matters such as the age limits for release or repatriation of prisoners, and issues such as reciprocal schemes for the repatriation of sick and injured prisoners. These documents also reflect the activities regarding requests to the neutral power to carry out inspections of prisoner camps in both countries, and to ask for investigations into particular cases. These include investigations into alleged breaches and violations of the Geneva Convention(s) and The Hague Convention of 1907. There are also documents in respect of the frequent contacts by the Foreign Office with other UK government departments about the advisability of repatriating certain prisoners or the fate of prisoners. There are also papers relating to specific outstanding cases, such as the shooting of the British nurse Edith Cavell.
No overall consolidated nominal list of prisoners of war survives, but many FO 383 documents contain lists (of variable size and content) of individuals, including prisoners and civilian internees of both sides.
The correspondence in these records originates from a variety of sources. There is a large quantity from the prisoners and internees themselves, as well as from their friends, relatives and other interested parties, such as Members of Parliament and representatives from neutral consulates who acted as the liaison points between the hostile countries. Requests include those by relatives to send money and food parcels to prisoners; or by firms to send clothing or sports goods ordered by prisoners, or enquiring after the welfare of their interned employees. The mediation of the International Red Cross, the Vatican, and foreign royalty is represented; and the work of benevolent institutions and hospital units (often founded and run by society ladies, for example Lady Paget in Serbia), religious groups or trade unions. The content of the records is wide-ranging in reflecting many issues relating to imprisonment and internment, and includes the following recurring subject areas and key themes, amongst others:
- Enquiries into the welfare or fate of individual prisoners or groups of prisoners, and searches for missing soldiers and individuals in alien countries.
- Treatment of prisoners of war; official reports of camp inspections, interviews with escaped or repatriated prisoners, and conditions of prisoners of all nationalities and living conditions in camps (many of which are first-hand accounts by prisoners of their experiences).
- Nationality issues, including investigations into proof of nationality of individuals requesting relief and assistance, or from seamen removed from neutral merchant vessels.
- Arrangements for the compilation and transfer between governments of lists of prisoners, with many documents containing those lists.
- Individual requests for repatriation and financial assistance.
- Queries regarding the delivery of letters and parcels.
- Censorship of correspondence.
- Arrangements for repatriation or transfer of individuals to neutral countries.
- Personal papers, including applications for emergency British passports (most of which have photographs of the individuals and details of their family), and some birth, death or marriage certificates.
- Investigations into accusations of espionage and contraventions of alien restrictions legislation.
- Trade issues, such as trading with the enemy, and firms requesting whether they may supply prisoners of all nationalities with goods.
- Communications with missionary societies regarding missionaries in Africa and India.
- Property matters, including safety of houses, furniture and personal effects in the belligerent countries, and applications for assistance in recovering luggage and property.
- Relief organisations, including activities of the national British Relief Fund and private and charitable schemes.
- Red Cross activities in distributing parcels of food and medical supplies to prisoners, and the transmission of mail between prisoners and their families.
- Legal matters, such as transference of powers of attorney, the execution of legal estates following deaths of internees and prisoners, and the disposal of personal effects.
- Financial enquiries regarding individual insurance policies, bank accounts, share dividends, inheritances, pensions, deposits of securities, etc.
- Refugees, including treatment and care of refugees, such as the deportation of Jewish refugees.
- Casualties and survivors, including lists and reports from specific campaigns, or from lost ships and submarines.
- Visits, including requests by representatives of official and voluntary organisations or other individuals to travel to neutral countries, or foreign subjects to come to the UK.
- Consular and diplomatic arrangements.
- Minutes and agendas for meetings and conferences of various bodies and inter-departmental committees.
This is not an exhaustive list, and many other associated subjects are to be found amongst the documents.
Some documents include reports that are contained in the indexes to the First World War Unregistered Papers in WO 161/101 which do not exist in WO 161/95-100.
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