British prisoners of war: interviews and reports

Prisoners of War (Cat. ref. FO 383/413)

You can now search and download First World War interviews and reports for over 3,000 named individuals. These reports have previously been available online, but we have just completed a project to improve access to them by enabling you to search for them by the names of the authors of each report.

These documents, from the series WO 161, were compiled by the Committee on the Treatment of British Prisoners of War and provide the main source of personal information for Prisoners of War (PoWs) captured during the First World War. They consist of pre-Armistice reports made by repatriated, escaped or interned Officers, Medical Officers and Other Ranks, and occasionally Merchant Seamen and Civilians. Unlike many other records, they often describe what happened after the battle. However, it should be noted that they represent a tiny percentage of the estimated 192,000 British and Commonwealth captives.

The Structure of the reports

Hospital Enquiry Sheet (Catalogue reference WO 161/98)

A few early reports contain straightforward answers to specific questions. You can see the standard questions from the Hospital Enquiry Sheet by clicking on the image on the left.

In contrast, most reports are a narrative that can include details of: unit; home address; events in No Man's Land; when and where captured; wounds suffered; transfer between camps; comments on treatment and conditions in camps; and escape attempts.

Searching in DocumentsOnline

Each search result corresponds to one of these reports. The description provided in the search results gives the name of the author of the report, along with their rank, regimental number and corps, and the page number(s) on which the report is printed.

Each description also includes the names of any other people or organisations mentioned within a report. "People mentioned" can include both other officers or soldiers, or named individuals from other organisations. Organisations mentioned can include Red Cross or embassy staff (where specific names are not given).

You can search on any combination of First name, Last name, Corps or Other Keywords. Other keywords could include regimental number, other people or organisations (for example Red Cross or an Embassy) mentioned within the reports.

Record availability

Pages 822-1575 of the Other Ranks reports have not survived. For help in searching for other relevant documents please see Further information and research guides below.

Catalogue reference	Content
WO 161/95	Officers: Pages 1 - 538
WO 161/96	Officers: Pages 539 - 1169
WO 161/97	Medical Officers: Pages 1 - 398
WO 161/98	Other ranks: Pages 1 - 821
WO 161/99	Other ranks: Pages 1576 - 2402
WO 161/100	Other ranks: Pages 2403 - 4177
WO 161/101	Indexes

The Name and Place Index images in WO 161/101 are printed files, contemporary to the reports. The description indicates whether an index covers name, subject or place. The index has been split into 12 separate downloads which can be viewed free of charge.

Name indexes are separated further into country lists, for example, British, Irish & Colonial. If the word "report" is next to the name, it indicates that there is a report filed by the individual. If the word "reference" is next to the name, it means that the individual is referenced in a report. If neither word is present, there will be a mention of the individual in a report.

Further information and research guides

Although pages 822-1575 of the Other Ranks reports have not survived in WO 161, some can be found in the series FO 383 which you can see at The National Archives.

The reports in FO 383 can be searched by name in the Catalogue. If any references are produced, click on the description text in blue. This opens the expanded indexing. Then if you scroll down the page, any matches will be highlighted in yellow. FO 383 also holds Inspection Reports on individual camps. You can search for these by name in The Catalogue.

Officers service records might be worth investigation; after repatriation all Officers were required to complete a report concerning the circumstances of their capture. If this survives, it will be held in the individual's service record.

It's also possible that a soldier's Regiment has its own list of Prisoners of War. You can search for the contact details for Regimental Museums in ARCHON.

Other records you might wish to search at The National Archives include:

AIR 1: indexes for Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS)

ADM 12: registers for Royal Navy, RNAS, Royal Navy Reserve (RNR) and the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR)

ADM 201/111: Royal Marines known to have been held in German camps

MT 9 (code 106): Merchant Navy records, some files are indexed by individual name and/or ship

Click on the links to see these free National Archives research guides:

British Prisoners of War, c1760-1919

War Dead: First & Second World Wars

Prisoners of War in British Hands: 1698-1949

British Army Officers' Records: First World War 1914-1918

There is an online exhibition hosted by The Imperial War Museum at Collections Online which focuses on Prisoners of War, featuring photographs, newsreels and other filmclips.

The National Archives Bookshop

If you would like to read more on using World War One records, these books are available from The National Archives bookshop:

Tracing Your First World War Ancestors, Simon Fowler (Countryside Books, 2003)

First World War: The Essential Guide to Sources in the National Archives, Ian F.W. Beckett (The National Archives, 2002)

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