| Title: |
Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947,
documenting the period 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946 |
| Creator: |
War Department. Adjutant General's Office. (3/4/1907 - 9/18/1947). (Most Recent)
|
| Type of Archival Materials: |
Data Files
Textual Records |
| Level of Description: |
Series from Record Group 389: Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General |
| Other Titles: |
W.D. A.G.O. FORM NO. 0326 |
| Location: |
National Archives at College Park - Electronic Records, National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. PHONE: 301-837-0470; FAX: 301-837-3574; EMAIL: cer@nara.gov |
| Inclusive Dates: |
1942 - 1947 |
| Coverage Dates: |
12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946 |
| Date Note: |
December 7, 1941 to November 19, 1946 are the earliest and latest report dates in the records. The 1942 to 1947 dates indicate the time period when the Adjutant General's Office created and maintained the database. |
| Part of: |
Record Group 389: Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General |
| Function and Use: |
Using copies of reports from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the agency produced records on U.S. military and civilian prisoners of war and internees, as well as for some Allied internees. The agency used these records to generate monthly reports. |
| Scope & Content Note: |
This series has information about U.S. military officers and soldiers and U.S. and some Allied civilians who were prisoners of war and internees. The record for each prisoner provides serial number, personal name, branch of service or civilian status, grade, date reported, race, state of residence, type of organization, parent unit number and type, place of capture (theater of war), source of report, status, detaining power, and prisoner of war or civilian internee camp site. Records of prisoners of the Japanese who died also document whether the prisoner was on a Japanese ship that sank or if he or she died during transport from the Philippine Islands to Japan. There are no records for some prisoners of war whose names appear in the lists or cables transmitted to the Office of the Provost Marshal General by the International Committee of the Red Cross. |
| Access Restrictions: |
Unrestricted |
| General Note: |
The other title, "W.D.A.G.O. FORM NO. 0326," was printed on each punch card. It is the form number that the War Department used to reference this series.
The punch card records were transferred to NARA with virtually no agency documentation. NARA staff constructed documentation from paper records in the Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal (RG 389) and the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (RG 407).
Additional information about the Adjutant General's Office, Machine Records Units and the coding of the POW cards may be found in Lee A. Gladwin, "Top Secret: Recovering and Breaking the US Army and Army Air Force Order of Battle Codes, 1941-1945," in PROLOGUE (Fall, 2000) and "American POWs on Japanese Ships Take a Voyage into Hell," in PROLOGUE (Winter, 2003).
A description of the punch cards is in the NARA publication "Records Relating to Personal Participation in World War II: American Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees" (Reference Information Paper 80, 1992, p. 6-7).
In 1978, the Veteran's Administration (VA) converted to an electronic format, and later transferred to NARA, the file units "World War II Prisoners of War Records, 1941-1946: American Military Prisoners of War Returned Alive From the European Theater, A-V" (ARC Identifier 1515992) and "World War II Prisoners of War Records, 1941-1946: American Military Prisoners of War Returned Alive From the Pacific Theater" (ARC Identifier 1515994). These electronic records files were used in the VA study of repatriated prisoners of war which resulted in the series "Repatriated American Prisoners of War File, November 1978-1980" (ARC Identifier 1128356). In May-June 1998, NARA arranged for the conversion of the remaining punchcards that resulted in eleven additional files based on the breaks imposed by the agency in the original series of punch cards. One of the 11 files, the file unit "World War II Prisoners of War Records, 1941-1946: American Military Prisoners of War Returned Alive From the European Theater, Vititoe-Zywot" (ARC Identifier 1515993) completed the records of European Theater returned alive prisoners of war. In June 2002, to provide for access to these records in the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) system, NARA merged the 13 original files to create the file "World War II Prisoners of War Data File, 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946" (ARC Identifier 1263907).
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| Finding Aid Type: |
Technical Information
|
| Finding Aid Source: |
NARA and Adjutant General's Office |
| Finding Aid Note: |
The documentation package contains 145 pages. |
| Extent: |
12 data files and 3 linear inches of paper documentation |
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