Finding Aid to USNA Claim File
There are more than 84,000 individual claim files for helpers at the US National Archives, College Park, Maryland [USNA].
They are called claim files because there was an Allied policy to compensate helpers financially for the cost of the help that they had given – food, clothing, boots etc. The Allied Screening Commission ASC] actively advertised for claimants, and if an escaped PW said that he had received help from a particular individual, a claim would be opened in that person’s name as a matter of course, even if they did not apply [which was often the case].
Financial compensation was very difficult to assess – how much was a basic meal supplied by a peasant worth, compared to food served at the table of a Count? A scale was fixed which appears now to be rather mean, particularly since inflation hit the Lire after the war. However, it was the only method that the ASC had to compensate helpers [together with Alexander certificates and the grant of medals].
The Claim files were compiled and investigated by the ASC until it was closed in March 1947, and then by the Prisoner of War Claims Commission [PWCC].
The claims are stored by their reference numbers in boxes. There is no index that indicates which claim numbers are in which boxes. The ASC claims fill more than 900 boxes [Entry UD1003A 331/290/25/18/5]. There is an alphabetical card index to these claims, itself comprising 76 boxes [Entry UD 1028 331/290/26/5/5], giving the name and claim number.
There is a separate series of four boxes for ASC death claims [Entry UD 1013 331/290/26/3/3]. I have provided the USNA with an alphabetical index to these four boxes by name of the deceased [previously they were listed by name of the next of kin only]. Each death claim is twinned with an ordinary claim in the 900 box series – i.e. a widow might receive a payment for food and shelter provided to PWs, and then an additional sum to compensate for the loss of her husband in the Allied cause. The same claim number is used, but death claims include the letter D i.e. 1234D.
The PWCC dealt with outstanding claims when they took over from the ASC in April 1947, and created a number of new claims including death claims. There are 39 boxes of these claims [Entry UD 1016 331/290/26/3/5]. There is an index to the boxes by Claim number [Entry UD 1027 331/290/26/5/5], but I have not found this to be very accurate. There is also a four box card index by Claim number for the 39 boxes.
Essentially, to find a helpers claim in every case except a death case, it is necessary to have the claim number. Failing that, it is a question of trawling through the card indices.
There is a route for finding the helpers of any particular PW. Depending how much information a PWs family has, so the route may be easier or more difficult to follow.
If a searcher knows the name of a helper, then go to Entry UD 1028 and find the claim number attributed to that name. Then search [or request] the claim with that number in either UD 1003A or UD 1027.
If the helper’s name is not known, or perhaps only one of many is known, then the starting point is to know or discover the camp from which the PW escaped, or the area where he jumped from a train etc. Then - there is an alphabetical Card Index which lists the towns/comunes visited by the ASC officers who were tasked with investigating the claims [UD 1029 290/26/6/6 – 4 boxes]. Go to this, and search for the village or comune where your father/grandfather escaped. There will be a reference number or numbers on the card which indicates a visit/visits by an ASC investigating officer. Thus, if you search for Fontanellato, you will find a card in the F section for Fontanellato which gives the reference number for the visits to that area.
That takes you to a separate numerical Card Index for the visits [Entry UD 1006 331/290/26/2/7 – 15 boxes]. This lists all the claim numbers investigated in that area. With many, but not all, of these there will be a list of escaped PWs by name, and alongside their names, there will be a series of Claim numbers – i.e. helpers that assisted that particular PW.
That enables a researcher to request a particular claim from the ASC or PWCC files, using the Claim number. Once you have the Claim number, it is simple to order a copy of that claim over the internet.
When the Claim file arrives, it may well contain cross references to other claim files concerning the same escaped PW. You can then follow those.
Good hunting!
They are called claim files because there was an Allied policy to compensate helpers financially for the cost of the help that they had given – food, clothing, boots etc. The Allied Screening Commission ASC] actively advertised for claimants, and if an escaped PW said that he had received help from a particular individual, a claim would be opened in that person’s name as a matter of course, even if they did not apply [which was often the case].
Financial compensation was very difficult to assess – how much was a basic meal supplied by a peasant worth, compared to food served at the table of a Count? A scale was fixed which appears now to be rather mean, particularly since inflation hit the Lire after the war. However, it was the only method that the ASC had to compensate helpers [together with Alexander certificates and the grant of medals].
The Claim files were compiled and investigated by the ASC until it was closed in March 1947, and then by the Prisoner of War Claims Commission [PWCC].
The claims are stored by their reference numbers in boxes. There is no index that indicates which claim numbers are in which boxes. The ASC claims fill more than 900 boxes [Entry UD1003A 331/290/25/18/5]. There is an alphabetical card index to these claims, itself comprising 76 boxes [Entry UD 1028 331/290/26/5/5], giving the name and claim number.
There is a separate series of four boxes for ASC death claims [Entry UD 1013 331/290/26/3/3]. I have provided the USNA with an alphabetical index to these four boxes by name of the deceased [previously they were listed by name of the next of kin only]. Each death claim is twinned with an ordinary claim in the 900 box series – i.e. a widow might receive a payment for food and shelter provided to PWs, and then an additional sum to compensate for the loss of her husband in the Allied cause. The same claim number is used, but death claims include the letter D i.e. 1234D.
The PWCC dealt with outstanding claims when they took over from the ASC in April 1947, and created a number of new claims including death claims. There are 39 boxes of these claims [Entry UD 1016 331/290/26/3/5]. There is an index to the boxes by Claim number [Entry UD 1027 331/290/26/5/5], but I have not found this to be very accurate. There is also a four box card index by Claim number for the 39 boxes.
Essentially, to find a helpers claim in every case except a death case, it is necessary to have the claim number. Failing that, it is a question of trawling through the card indices.
There is a route for finding the helpers of any particular PW. Depending how much information a PWs family has, so the route may be easier or more difficult to follow.
If a searcher knows the name of a helper, then go to Entry UD 1028 and find the claim number attributed to that name. Then search [or request] the claim with that number in either UD 1003A or UD 1027.
If the helper’s name is not known, or perhaps only one of many is known, then the starting point is to know or discover the camp from which the PW escaped, or the area where he jumped from a train etc. Then - there is an alphabetical Card Index which lists the towns/comunes visited by the ASC officers who were tasked with investigating the claims [UD 1029 290/26/6/6 – 4 boxes]. Go to this, and search for the village or comune where your father/grandfather escaped. There will be a reference number or numbers on the card which indicates a visit/visits by an ASC investigating officer. Thus, if you search for Fontanellato, you will find a card in the F section for Fontanellato which gives the reference number for the visits to that area.
That takes you to a separate numerical Card Index for the visits [Entry UD 1006 331/290/26/2/7 – 15 boxes]. This lists all the claim numbers investigated in that area. With many, but not all, of these there will be a list of escaped PWs by name, and alongside their names, there will be a series of Claim numbers – i.e. helpers that assisted that particular PW.
That enables a researcher to request a particular claim from the ASC or PWCC files, using the Claim number. Once you have the Claim number, it is simple to order a copy of that claim over the internet.
When the Claim file arrives, it may well contain cross references to other claim files concerning the same escaped PW. You can then follow those.
Good hunting!