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Remembered Today:

Soldiers found,what next?


59165

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Have a quandry.

Three allied soldiers (more than likely Aus)were found together by a farmer friend who notified the authorities who said someone would be out to collect them.

This was nearly three years ago.In the past,identifiable troops were left in place for collection(& mili funeral) & no tag soldiers were transfered to the Office(trying hard not to mention anyone orginisation here as I'm new to this).A German troop was found ,reported etc.& my farmer mate was told to leave him there,not to drop off any remains,do nothing,to stop informing 2nd office of any new finds.

Does anyone know any officials or anyone who can offer advice as this sticks in my craw a bit.

I dont know if this is posted in the right category & please excuse my coyness as I dont mean to infer shoddiness by any official bodies at all.

I'm back home in France in 8 days for half term so,any links advice etc.will be greatfully received.

David.

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The polıce should be ınformed fırst of all.

They wıll ınvestıgate to ascertaın ıf they are war remaıns. If they look lıke Commonwealth, CWGC wıll be ınformed.

I suggest that the local polıce and CWGC Area Offıce ın France are ınformed at the same tıme.

Technıcally the polıce wıll turn over the remaıns to the mılıtary of the country concerned and they pass them to CWGC although, ın realıty, CWGC probably take the remaıns dırect from the polıce.

Don't post the locatıon on the Forum untıl thıs has been done.

Let us know what problems are encountered. It ıs hard to be more defınıte wıthout more detaıls about to whom they were reported.

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  • 2 weeks later...

May I ask if there is any further movement on this issue. Has it rung any alarm bells with CWGC? Has it been formally reported? I hold the CWGC in the highest regard and would like to see clarity on this subject.

I would ask for reasonable treatment of this thread. I am interested in facts and solutions (if required).

Des

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Please be aware that CWGC are not the people to whom to report any bodies found. It is not their responsibility. They are a grave maintenance organisation and cannot act over reports of bodies.

All reports should be made by the finder to the local police who will then set in motion their due process.

CWGC will be brought in only after the body has been identified by the police as a Commonwealth war casualty - and then they are called in by the MoD or equivalent in the dominions to take care of the remains and arrange for burial in one of their cemeteries.

Until that point they are not involved other than, if asked, to suggest possible names for any identification or sometimes to store the remains while due process occurs. They have no power to search for or recover remains themselves.

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Terry's advice is correct. The bodies remain with the French authorities until nationality is identified. If they are identified as British Commonwealth servicemen's remains, only then does the CWGC become involved.

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  • 2 years later...
Can you tell us all what the final conclusion to this post was?

That you post under your more 'popular' title.

Hey....whats in a name?

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Rare, but I agree with Roland.

You'd like to hope that, so many months on, the friend took the advice offered here and notified the cops and everything is now sorted. 59165 - are you able to check with the friend and let us all know, please?

John

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Well,John & Roland.

As of the end of last week,2 soldiers* (immediately recognisable as Brit troops & not Aussie as 1st thought)were removed by the authorities & a remaining 3 are in the process of being removed (as they are at a much lower depth)as I type.

I'm off back to the site now & I'll see if any more infos are forthcoming.

*no tags but regiment is 100% identified

Dave.

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Back again.

I should have used the plural.

Of the two blokes pulled out last week (now at HQ Beauraines,I'm assuming) one was Queens & the other a Staffs (I dont know which Staffs yet).The really good news is that one of them may be identifiable,they seem hopeful anyway,as he had some good condition false teeth in.I'm no Sherlock but they do seem confident that a dental record of some type will help in this case.How that works is anyones guess.

Maybe a light at the end of the tunnel after all these years(fingers crossed).

More when I have it,

Dave.

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Back again.

I should have used the plural.

Of the two blokes pulled out last week (now at HQ Beauraines,I'm assuming) one was Queens & the other a Staffs (I dont know which Staffs yet).The really good news is that one of them may be identifiable,they seem hopeful anyway,as he had some good condition false teeth in.I'm no Sherlock but they do seem confident that a dental record of some type will help in this case.How that works is anyones guess.

Maybe a light at the end of the tunnel after all these years(fingers crossed).

More when I have it,

Dave.

Thank you for updating this thread,this is wonderful news.

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