Catalogue description War Office: South East Asia Command British Army Aid Group, China: Microfiche Copies

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Details of WO 343
Reference: WO 343
Title: War Office: South East Asia Command British Army Aid Group, China: Microfiche Copies
Description:

This series consists of a microfilm copy of the records of the British Army Aid Group (BAAG), set up during the Second World War to organise escapes from prisoner of war camps in Hong Kong and famine relief and medical aid in China.

Date: 1942-1945
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Physical description: 1 microform
Access conditions: Available in microform only unless otherwise stated
Immediate source of acquisition:

From 1989 Ministry of Defence

Custodial history: The British Army Aid Group (BAAG) was organised by Lt Col (later Sir) Lindsay Ride. After his death in 1977, his widow donated the Group's files to the Australian War Memorial, who presented the Ministry of Defence with the microfiche copies that form the basis of this collection.
Administrative / biographical background:

The British Army Aid Group (BAAG) was a military escape and evasion organisation in China from 1942 to 1945, working first from Kukong and after August 1943 from Kweilin. It set up a special operations and intelligence network to the prison camps of Hong Kong primarily to organise escape routes for PoWs. As part of MI9 it reported to the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), GHQ in New Delhi. It also organised famine relief and medical aid in China.

The Kweilin headquarters were evacuated before the Japanese advanced in 1944 and operations were then organised from Kunming. After the Japanese surrender BAAG moved to Hong Kong where it was disbanded on 31 December 1945.

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