31
votes
Accepted
Does a reputation for cruelty to PoWs give a tactical advantage?
Both sides of this tactic has been used throughout human history. On the one hand, mistreating POWs may make soldiers run in fear rather than fight. On the other hand, those same soldiers will be less ...
- 54.4k
31
votes
Accepted
How did the Japanese treat captured "Flying Tigers" in World War II?
According to Daniel Ford's "Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942" (and this page) only four Flying Tigers were ever captured by the Japanese. One of those, Arnold ...
- 8,627
16
votes
Accepted
How many British prisoners of war were taken by the Wehrmacht and how many died?
The Imperial War Museum, in association with the publisher J.B. Hayward, has published a series of volumes listing all British & Commonwealth POWs held in Germany and German Occupied Territories.
...
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15
votes
Accepted
Did the Czech Legion bring POWs to Czechoslovakia? And if so, why?
Yes, Czechoslovak Legion did bring POWs during the evacuation. Details are available on the Czech Wikipedia page about the Czechoslovak Legion.
Look at the section "Evakuace" and use Google Translate....
- 2,724
15
votes
Accepted
Why try to escape a POW camp?
As noted (paywalled) the majority of POW could not escape, and many did not try to for various reasons including those in the original question and the simple fact that if several thousand POW try to ...
- 507
14
votes
What treatment did Allied Jewish POWs get when captured by the Germans?
British and American POW's were treated as POW's. Soviet Jewish POW's were usually treated as Jews, if their national origin could be determined. The justification was that Soviet Union did not sign ...
- 38.1k
13
votes
Can anyone find "War Department General Order No. 207, 3 July 1863" in which "prisoner conduct after capture" was mentioned?
The G.O you are looking for is in fact G.O. 207 (see below) of July 3, 1863.
G.O. 205 is the minutes of a court martial convened on March 24, 1863.
G.O. 206 is a direction to the commanding officers ...
- 70.2k
11
votes
Before his arrival at St Helena, was Napoleon legally a prisoner of war?
In the book Napoleon After Waterloo: England and the St. Helena Decision
By Michael John Thornton the status of Napoleon is discussed in great detail, including questions of law.
There are several ...
- 6,779
8
votes
Can Japanese Americans held in Concentration Camps in WWII be considerd as POWs?
There are international agreements on the definition of POW dating back to the Lieber Code declared by Lincoln in 1862
Art. 49.
A prisoner of war is a public enemy armed or attached to the hostile
...
- 70.2k
8
votes
How did the Nazis justify the differences in the way they treated Jews v. POWs?
I'll try to explain briefly the big picture, because the full answer would be book length. So this answer is simplified and designed to give you a good idea about where to keep learning.
The Nazis ...
- 311
8
votes
Accepted
Why did India release all Pakistani Soldiers captured during Indo Pak War 1965
That was because of the Peace treaty which was signed between the two nations, moderated by Soviet Union.
Following were the figures for losses of both nations:
India: 3000 men killed or captured ...
- 8,153
8
votes
Were British officers able to return home after the American Revolution?
Perhaps you should ask about the prisoner of war conventions in European society in the 1780s.
If the prisoners survived being imprisoned, the probability of which would vary greatly, they would ...
- 18.4k
8
votes
What are some examples of rulers immediately incorporating conquered population's army into their own?
The question is extremely vague because the main concepts are too generic (conquering armies, conquered populations; and that covers the entire time span of war history up to the present); different ...
- 1,920
7
votes
Why try to escape a POW camp?
Get to the end of the book
I've also read this book. Towards the end of the war the German guards were ordered to kill all of the remaining prisoners in Stalag Luft III, and presumably the same orders ...
- 13.4k
6
votes
Accepted
How did the Swedish army deal with prisoners of war in the Thirty Years War?
Some aspects of the below were specific to Sweden while others common to most belligerents in the war. Where possible, I used Swedish examples as that was the OP's topic of interest.
Changes during ...
- 10.6k
6
votes
What kinds of WW2 POWs were treated best?
If you are asking about people who were prisoners of the Germans, then British and Americans did the best, although this was certainly no joyride.
According to Wikipedia, German prisoners in the ...
- 13.4k
6
votes
What treatment did Allied Jewish POWs get when captured by the Germans?
In general, the treatment of Jewish POWs was at the "low end" of what it was for others of their "nationality."
POWs who were Soviet Jews were treated very badly--because they were Soviets. Things ...
- 104k
6
votes
What kinds of WW2 POWs were treated best?
There was large difference between Eastern and Western fronts.
Generally, Western POW (British, American, French, German) were treated by their western captors according to the "laws of war", that is ...
- 38.1k
6
votes
Did Germans refuse to take Cossacks prisoners in WWI? If so, why?
I checked the book
"THE COSSACKS AND HIGHLANDERS DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR,"
Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific Conference,
Rostov-on-Don, 18–19 September 2014.
The number of ...
- 6,085
5
votes
Accepted
Battle of Queenston Heights, 13 Oct 1812: 23 American soldiers held as British deserters
I didn't find the names themselves, but the practice of the British claiming
anyone born on British soil as 'deserters' caused a lot of controversy, with U.S.
also taking 'hostage' prisoners, and the ...
- 36.2k
5
votes
Did Germans refuse to take Cossacks prisoners in WWI? If so, why?
Cossacks were taken prisoners after that incident. They were not all shot on sight. This single, unsourced line on Wikipedia is not credible, and certainly at least an unsustained vast exaggeration if ...
- 80k
4
votes
What kinds of WW2 POWs were treated best?
I doubt that a generalized answer is possible. Contrary to myth, nazis were not efficient. Many of their policies were made up as they went along. POW camps, concentration camps, and forced labor ...
- 16.4k
4
votes
How did the Japanese treat captured "Flying Tigers" in World War II?
This book on Pappy Boynton's life talks about his time as a POW and the general idea was that it was harsh and they were severely underfed.
He mentions that Boynton ended up working in the mess and ...
- 141
4
votes
What's the origin of differentiating between civilians' and soldiers' "rights" in war?
First, let's clarify; declaring something illegal does not prevent people from doing that thing. Burglary is illegal, but it happens. Sexual harassment is illegal, but it happens. So all of the ...
MCW♦
- 31.7k
4
votes
Why try to escape a POW camp?
Duty, Boredom, Chance of Success
Why would a service member escape? A prisoner in a POW camp is, almost by definition, being kept by his/her captor as cheaply as possibly without actually being ...
- 41
4
votes
Do you recognize this story of prison resistence?
Found it: Alexander Solzhenitsyn in “The Gulag Archipelago,” describes Ukrainians arrived at a camp in Ekibastuz in the Soviet Gulag system during WWII.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed this question.
- 71
3
votes
Did the Czech Legion bring POWs to Czechoslovakia? And if so, why?
Just to build on Lubos excellent answer.
First of all, the Czech Legion consisted of Czechs who were fighting on the Allied side, under Russian command, in World War I. That was a bit unusual, because ...
- 104k
3
votes
Were British officers able to return home after the American Revolution?
Were defeated British officers able to return home after England [sic] lost the war
Just as defeated American officers were able to return home after they lost a battle, officers of both sides were ...
- 3,177
3
votes
Protected Merchant Ships in WWII used for the relocation of Prisoners of War
There is a book "Mercy Ships: The Untold Story of Prisoner-of-War Exchanges in World War II" which covers this topic.
The two principal ships used were Swedish: Drottningholm and the Gripsholm.
...
- 37.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible