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Hello Frank

Yes, they do have a number of interestingly titled databases but no description as to source, content, completeness etc.

Regards
Meurig

Hello Meurig,
That is a very interesting point you make, I have to say that I have never had any real doubt about their reliability though.
If you have any concerns in that respect, I think that I'd actually write to them and see what they have to say for themselves if I were you.
I know that the Boers compliled their own rolls actually in the some of the camps and I have seen two examples of these myself in the past.
I would also suggest you contact the SAMHS, they may be able to help you and in addition I think I would speak to SADF documentation centre in Pretoria as well.
In the case of ABO recipients, both Vorm B and C are very interesting.
But there are still a number of roads to go down here, at Kew, in addition to the roll David has mentioned i.e WO108/303-305, take alook in WO108/368-369.
There is some interesting memoranda in CO537/403-409 regarding the actual camps and if you are interested in the foreign volunteers, such as the German Commando and the Irish Volunteers, FO2/824-826 does make for very interesting reading.
Good Luck with your research Meurig,
Regards Frank

Hello Frank

Thanks for your considered reply. The internet is full of information - some good and some bad. Anyone wanting to be considered reliable needs to explain where they got the data. Without this a researcher cannot judge if the source is reliable - this is critical for any researcher.

I am trying to tie down a J Viviers who was POW in Trichinopoly, India. I have consulted Forsyth's ABO roll and a roll of POWs who died. Now I need to be sure when I check a roll of POWs.

The Foreign Vols are an interesting bunch - I wrote a dissertation on them for my History degree.

Regards
Meurig