UK Prisoners of War in the Great War held by the Germans

 

Essex Regiment POW Fund
Guide to POW Records
Life in a POW camp
POW Records Held at the National Archive
Repatriated POW - Dinner at Brentwood 1919
Repatriated POW - Dinner at Chlemsford 1919

It is estimated that over 190,000 Allied servicemen were taken as prisoners of war during World War One.

Essex Regiment  men taken prisoner by Germans on the Western Front

210 members of the 1st Essex

410 members of the 2nd Essex

86 members of the 9th Essex

186 members of the 10th Essex

220 members of the 11th Essex

410 members of the 13th Essex

Battalion men taken prisoners by Turkish Army in Turkey and Egypt

146 members of the 4th,5th,6th and 7th Essex of which only 78 were repatriated.

Although the German complied with the basic conditions of the Geneva Convention there was a considerable variation in conditions although none would be regarded as good.

After the Armistice the POW's were repatriated quickly with the first batch arriving at Dover a week after the Armistice was signed.

Some were in poor condition especially if they refused to help the Germans with war work as was the case with Private Howarth of the 13th Essex who weighed 12 stone when captured but by his release weighed just 5 stone.

 

Click here to read about German POW's in Great Britain