“Nobody Would Tell You Anything”: The War and Foreign Offices and British Prisoner of War Families During World War II

Abstract

This article surveys the ways in which official information was communicated through the Foreign and War Office to the relatives and dependants of British prisoners of war during World War II and how, driven by apparently more successful “unofficial” channels, an imperative developed as the war proceeded to improve systems of communication with prisoners' relatives and dependants. A detailed examination of the methods used by state agency highlights both the exasperation experienced by many ordinary civilians in their attempts to obtain official information and the problems faced by the state in creating and maintaining reliable channels of communication with both the Axis powers and the Japanese. The article demonstrates how dissatisfaction with official channels led to an increased role for the charitable agencies such as the Red Cross and the Soldiers, Sailors and Air Force Families Association, together with the formation of local prisoner of war committees.