pow

[roseway20]

hi can any body tell me if pows were paid while they were prisoners and would all there pay details be in there records thanks Andy.

[sheldonesque]

Accumalated back pay for the period on captivity was paid upon release (except amounts that may have been paid to a dependent that had been agreed upon prior to being taken prisoner).

As to the details in the records, I have not seen much detail regarding payment. Usually a record will state when a person was taken Prisoner, and a seperate section about outstanding financial payments that were made and on what date(s).

There is an excellent book that deals with some of these issues:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Welfare-Prisoner-Families-Politics/dp/0719078547

When I borrowed it from the library a year or so ago I was looking for other details, so I did not note the information you are interested in. But it is worth getting a copy via your library.

[Boere]

Hi,
I have my father's pay book which he from enlistment to when he was captured North Africa.
There is no record of payment as a POW.
I also have his Red Cross documentation as a POW, also no record of payment, only mail and Red Cross parcels. He was held in Italy.
Cheers Will

[ADM199]

Reports made by the International Red Cross usually give the rates paid to various ranks of POW. It is mentioned that workers "double rations" were given as with civillians, but deductions were made for "pension contributions".

Those I have spoken to over the years consider they were underpaid and the final settlement post 1945 were made at ludicrous exchange rates.

[seaweed]

Not directly concerned with your query but the whole issue of WW2 POW's  needs to be aired and evaluated rather than swept under the carpet.
Merchant Seamen were not paid from the time their vessel was sunk. They may have spent days or weeks in an open boat but this time was not paid for. The ship owners were reluctant to pay those unfortunates who were taken POW. It was not until 1941 and the provisions in the Fifth Register of Merchant Seamen that MN POW's  families were paid  by MOWT rather than the ship owners.
The Fleetwood Trawler CALDEW was sunk by the German Submarine U-33 on 24/9/39 the crew were rescued by the Neutral Swedish vessel KRONPRINSESSAN MARGARETA.
 3 days later this vessel was stopped by German Destroyer FREDRICH IHN and the crew of the CALDEW were illegally taken POW.
They spent the next 5 years and 7 months as POW, the longest serving British POW's and the only British Fishermen who were incarcerated  in WW2. They nor their families received not a penny from the Trawler owners or MOWT.
 Lest we forget. Not only those who made the ultimate sacrifice but also those who suffered extreme hardship not only as the result of the ramblings of a mad man but  the indifferent attitude of the British Government, which still continues today.

[Boere]

Unfortunately it is a reality in South Africa that the younger generation do not care about the hardships our parents went through during two wars to give them the quality of life they now enjoy.
Cheers Will