On 20th June 1944, The Red Cross sent a letter to Edwards family fully confirming his new status, as a Prisoner of War.
Whether this was the first correspondence of this type received or rather a more generic follow up letter is unknown but its purpose appears clear. The letter provides guidance to the families of those soldiers who have been taken prisoner abroad.
What is apparent from the covering letter is that at this stage the Red Cross are not aware of his current location but now conscious he is a prisoner have sent out Circular PW/99c/43 to provide guidance on the sending of letters and Circular PW/99c/42 providing similar guidance in relation to parcels (a presumed "standard procedure").
Having searched Forces War Records it appears Edward went into action or is recorded as having done so on 24/02/44. He is subsequently reported as "missing" on 12/06/44 only for his record to corrected to Prisoner of War on 15/06/44 prompting the above Red Cross letter to be sent five days later to his family.
The accompanying circulars provide detailed instructions to families wishing to send letters or parcels whilst interestingly enough also advising how the imprisoned soldier may reply.
This letter is the first confirmation provided in the documents that Edward is in fact a prisoner of war. However many details are yet to be confirmed on 20th June 1944 and these details will prove important, not just for the continued investigations of this blog but seemingly to the ability of Edwards loved ones to contact him as advised in the circular above.
It appears there may well have been a number of different forms of communication at this time when seeking information on loved ones, as demonstrated by the far from official hand written letters already examined in previous blogs. The Red Cross appear aware of this inviting the family to inform them of any further information they receive also to enable them to provide support.
What is clear is in order to provide correspondence lines, updates and support, the family will need to receive confirmation of both Edwards prisoner of war camp name and prisoner of war number and will have been anxiously awaiting further news.
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