Index to Internees held at Knockaloe

There were some 34736 named individuals in the now lost Knockaloe registers - one surviving register known as the final camp orders book allocated the final camp numbers to those returning to the camp from hospital or prison - some individuals are entered several times as on return from a stay away from the camp a new camp number was allocated on return - these are indicated as (1), (2) etc. in my lists.

Some numbers can be found in the surviving letter books and various other surviving documents - the weekly lists supplied to the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) from mid 1916 onwards give the local camp number as well as the PoWIB central index number. So far I have extracted some 9600 names and associated camp numbers - these numbers can date the arrival at camp - the PoWIB index can serve to link records of the same individual within a camp (e.g. transfers to/from Noble's Hospital or Prison as well as inter-camp transfers. I anticipate adding several thousand more names - there are already some two thousand that are mentioned in the surviving Douglas register as arriving from or being transferred to Knockaloe but for whom there is no record of the Knockaloe camp number though often I can place it within a range of a few hundred or better.

Some internees died whilst held in the camp - these were generally buried at Kk Patrick churchyard and each death required that a public inquest be held; transfers between Douglas and Knockaloe Camps was relatively common - I estimate over 60% of those held at Douglas had stayed for some time in Knockaloe.

Those internees transferred to the Asylum at Ballamona (Union Mills) have left a paper trail that along with the inquest files can be seen at the IoM Public Records Office. Court cases involving internees are also held there - there are some late records of internees transferred to Nobles Hospital but the more useful registers from before 1917 do not appear to have survived.

The linked lists are at present experimental and will appear, and be updated, as my work continues.

I can provide some more details on request - it is likely that I will need to provide such on an off-line CD - the ICRC records should give an address either the last UK address occupied (and where any family may have remained) or that of a non-UK contact (usually a family member).

Index to Internees

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor © F.Coakley , 2026