David, Gefgsch. = Gefangenschaft / captivity, prisoner of war. Unfortunately the documents about the WW1 are lost since the military Archives in Potsdam burned in April 1945. However, you may contact this Archives which keeps documents about the WW2 (and only a few documents about the WW1 which don't burned): http://www.d-d-wast.de/ (also in English available). Good hunting, Stefan Rückling ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Armstrong" <davidrli@iinet.net.au> To: "Prussia List" <PRUSSIA-ROOTS@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 3:39 PM Subject: [PRUSSIA-ROOTS] First World War Casualties G'day everyone, I've had a 'win' on Ancestry's German First World War casualty list. Deutsche Verlustlisten (Pr 198) 5879 14 April 1915 Füsilier-Regiment Nr 34 12 Kompagnie Gesechte vom 11 bis 17 III 15 Füs. Heinrich von Thun - Altona - in Gefgsch. I have some questions. They are: 1) I think that "Gefgsch" is an abbreviation of "gefänglisch" but the nearest I can find (in a 1892 pocket German-English dictionary at that!) is "gefänglich" or "in prison", thus Heinrich is a Prisoner of War. Can anyone with a better knowledge of German please? 2) Does anyone know of sources for finding WWI Prisoner of War records? (The casualty list doesn't even state which front Heinrich von Thun was serving. He's the son of a Great Great Aunt). 3) And finally, does anyone know of sources for the Regimental History of the 34th Fusilier Regiment, particularly for the period 1914-1915. Cheers David Armstrong Maylands, Western Australia ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PRUSSIA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Many thanks Stefan for sorting out the abbreviation for me. I've tried the website you suggest before in regard to a cousin who died at Stalingrad and received a polite reply, that they couldn't help unless I had the authority of the next of kin. Unfortunately, while I'm related I'm not the next of kin. I'm also on the Schleswig-Holstein List and received a suggestion there that I should try the "Axis History Forum" < http://forum.axishistory.com/ > which has a WWI section. After a very brief first look, it appears as if I could receive very useful advice on researching the military careers of my German cousins (I have one who died at Stalingrad in January 1943). As regards WWI Prisoners of War, I think that I'll try the International Red Cross. Apparently they have a huge WWI archive. In recent years an Australian amateur historian used the archives and found information on a mass burial of British and Australian troops in the aftermath of the Battle of Fromelles. The burial had taken place in the immediate aftermath of the battle, and it was from the records kept by the German Army and given to the ICRC that the burial site was identified, allowing the soldiers to be exhumed and given a new burial in a dedicated War Cemetery. Many of the soldiers' remains have been identified through DNA etc, and their status changed from MIA to KIA, and their next of kin informed. Thanks again David Armstrong Maylands, Western Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Stefan Rückling To: prussia-roots@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 9:50 PM Subject: Re: [PRUSSIA-ROOTS] First World War Casualties David, Gefgsch. = Gefangenschaft / captivity, prisoner of war. Unfortunately the documents about the WW1 are lost since the military Archives in Potsdam burned in April 1945. However, you may contact this Archives which keeps documents about the WW2 (and only a few documents about the WW1 which don't burned): http://www.d-d-wast.de/ (also in English available). Good hunting, Stefan Rückling