Catalogue description War Office: Japanese Registers of Allied Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees held in Camps in Singapore, Second World War

This series comprises three registers which record the names of some 13,500 allied prisoners of war and civilian internees of British and other nationalities. The registers give minimal information about each prisoner, apparently compiled for the Japanese camp administration although the majority of the information is given in English.

The registers refer to camps numbered 1-4; the identity of these had not previously been established but it is now believed that these refer to:

• No 1 PoW camp - Changi
• No 2 PoW camp - Serangoon Road Camp
• No 3 PoW camp - River Valley Road Camp
• No 4 PoW camp - Adam Road Camp.

Across each two-page spread, information in respect of each prisoner is given under the following headings:

On the left-hand page:

• Name;
• Registration card no;
• Rank;
• Unit;
• Occupation (service or previous civilian).

On the right-hand page:

• Registration card no (repeated);
• Dispersal. (The greater part of the movement revealed here is noted as 'Overland' at various dates in 1943. Sometimes the reference is 'Overseas', 'Rtd' which means Returned (e.g. to Changi), or 'Died' with a date and - usually - 'Thai' [land]. There are other references to River Valley Road and Sime Road camps etc).

For related Japanese index cards of Second World War allied prisoners of war and internees see WO 345

War Office, Adjutant General, Directorate of Prisoners of War, 1940-1945