Summary heading

K1174 - Italian prisoners of war files, alphabetical order 

Function and purpose

This series is comprised of dossiers, restriction orders and other correspondence relating to Italian POW's during the 1939/45 War. 

Related legislation

National Security Act of 1939 (9 September 1939 to 31 December 1950)

National Security (Prisoner of War) Regulations

Using the series

 

Language of material

 

Physical characteristics

This series is comprised of paper files that also contain photographs and negatives.

Forms that are likely to be found in the dossiers are:

-          Dossier (Form AAF A121, Introduced April 1945) or plain form: These were a record of the personal details of the POW such as full name, date of birth, place of birth, location where they were captured, rank and position, date of entry to Australia, ship and port of arrival, previous military history, movement record etc

-          Identity Card – Prisoner of War (AAF A116) (Introduced May 1943), Department of Army – Commonwealth of Australia [125mm x 178mm brown fold out double sided card that includes fingerprints, identification photographs, physical description, Registered employers and changes of employers]

-          Charge Report (Form AMF AAF A4)

-          Property Statement – Prisoner of War (Australian Military Forces) (AA Form 114A) [green]

-          Australian Military Forces – Report on Internee (AA Form A111) [green]

-          Report of a disability resulting from an injury – Australian Military Forces (Form AAFD11, Revised November 1943)

-          POW Camp Card [150mm x 100mm double sided card that provides details of the POW Camp]

-          Army Form W3000 (Italian) – Prisoners of War – Part 1

-          Character sketches, transcripts of inquiries, disciplinary actions

-          Some of the dossier covers themselves are Form A3091 (Adapted)

The black and white photographs are of head and shoulders of POWs - left profile and face on. Photographs range in size from 30mm x 42mm to 83mm x 123mm and are often found attached to the brown Identity Card Prisoner of War as visual identification. In many instances loose photographs within files are duplicate copies – either exact or a different size. Each photograph also includes a POW’s PWI or PWIX prefixed number and is either a sign behind which the individual stands/sits or as a placard or sign that was held by the individual. There are a few where no number has been included in the shot.

Negatives of the photographs have also been found in the files and vary in size between 24mm x 36mm to 60mm x 57mm. A more common measurement is of 35mm negatives. There are also glass plate negatives measuring approximately 39mm x 59mm. A majority are an obvious match to the photographs but there are a small number where the background is different. There is little or no documentation within the files themselves or notation on the forms contained within that outline this difference. 

System of arrangement and control

The files have a file number on them, single number with 'PWI' or 'PWIX' prefix, but are held in alphabetical order. These are different to the related series (K1171 and PP246/3) which have different dossier number recording systems.

Of the total number of items listed on RecordSearch, 3459 are the paper files and the remainder are the sub-items which can be easily identified by the addition of ‘[nitrate negative]’, ‘[nitrate negatives]’, ‘[nitrate negatives and 2 photographs]’, ‘[glass plate negative]’ or ‘[acetate negatives]’ in the title.

Box 1 to Box 87 contains the paper files; Box 88 to Box 91 contains intact nitrate film negatives and the glass plate negatives, Box 92 contains deteriorated and unsalvageable nitrate film negatives and some photographs, Box 93 contains the acetate film negatives. 

Relationships with other records

 

Finding aids

All items are listed in RecordSearch at item level and can be found by limiting a search to K1174.

Access conditions

The majority of the negative films have been found to contain nitrate – typical of the material used during the time the records were created – and is an Occupational Health and Safety risk due to the corrosive by-product of the film’s natural degradation over time. To minimise this risk all film that has been found has been removed physically from the parent files and are controlled separately as sub-items and stored in controlled environmental conditions to slow down degradation as much as possible. Film negatives are not to be issued to the Reading Room.

A Document Removal form and a 1:1 photocopy of the item/s have been placed in the original file. This copy is only representative of the item itself.

Series history

This series was converted from PP303/1. 

Provenance

 

Immediate source of acquisition

 

Custodial history

 

Quantity in agency custody

 

Disposal history

 

Publication note

 

Additional information

 

End notes

 

Sources

National Security Act 1939 - Assented to 9th September, 1939, ComLaw website: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C1939A00015 

Australia’s War 1939 – 1945, Australians At War, ‘All in – “living with war”’, http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/allin/livingwar.html