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Remembered Today:

In From The Cold - 14.07.08


Terry Denham

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CWGC added the following 'new' WW1 casualties to its Debt of Honour database today – Monday 14th July.

Pte Thomas BARRASFORD

95575 Glasgow Yeomanry (Queen’s Own Royal)

Died 25.08.17 Age 27

Commemoration: Brookwood (United Kingdom 1914-1918) Memorial, Surrey, UK

L/Cpl Alfred BLACKLEDGE

1393 1st/4th Bn, The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment

Died 15.06.15 Age 20

Commemoration: Le Touret Memorial, France

Pte David Ritchie ORR

4/9516 4th Bn, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

Died 09.08.15 Age 31

Commemoration: Brookwood (United Kingdom 1914-1918) Memorial, Surrey, UK

NOT FORGOTTEN

The above are further discoveries by the In From The Cold Project. The volunteers who found these men are listed below.

Pte Barrasford – Suicide by shooting – St Marylebone, London (Volunteer: Peter Woodger)

L/Cpl Blackledge – Killed in action (Volunteer: Andy Riding)

Pte Orr – Died of meningitis in War Hospital, Haddington (Volunteer: Kevin O’Neill)

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May they Rest In Peace

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Raising a glass to the memory of Thomas, Alfred & David. Each must have gone through their own personal struggle before departing.

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Well done to all concerned.

I am interested in the case of L/Cpl Blackledge. Is it rare for a battlefield casualty to have been overlooked? Were there any peculiar circumstances for the oversight in this particular case?

Regards

Mel

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Is it rare for a battlefield casualty to have been overlooked? Were there any peculiar circumstances for the oversight in this particular case?

Mel

In the great scheme of things, yes, it is rare for a man to have been overlooked. Although, of course, it depends on your definition of "rare". Our project is tending to confirm that it might have been rarer than even some of those involved with IFTC previously though. Certainly, when I first suggested the idea of the project I felt that we would find more. It is, no doubt, to the credit of the recording systems at the time that so many have, in fact, been properly commemorated for all these years.

As far as I am aware, there is nothing of significance about Blackledge's case. We are finding non-commems killed during major attacks and on quiet days in the trenches. I can discern no pattern there. All non-commems can really be attributed to unknown administrative error either during the war or shortly thereafter.

John

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John

Many thanks for the information.

Regards

Mel

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Mel

To give some idea of possible scale, Terry has just finished doing his final checks on possible missings from the names submitted by the volunteers checking the GRO lists for men whose name starts with B. He utilises his "black arts" to ID men that we've have been unable to. But this has still left about 200 names worth considering for submission to CWGC/MoD. When we have the death certificates, experience indicates that will sort out approx. half of them (name spellings, etc). So we will perhaps expect to submit 100 "genuine missings" with a realisitic expectation of them being brought in from the cold.

One might say that's a small number compared with the number of Bs commemorated by CWGC. Or one might say, it's largish number. Either way, it will be 100 guys commemorated by their country who wouldnt otherwise be commemorated. Makes the boredom and eye strain of the checking somewhat worthwhile.

John

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Rest in Peace Thomas, Alfred and David

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  • 12 years later...

Pte Thomas BARRASFORD

95575 Glasgow Yeomanry (Queen’s Own Royal)

Died 25.08.17 Age 27

Commemoration: Brookwood (United Kingdom 1914-1918) Memorial, Surrey, UK

 

Grave found East Finchley Cemetery and St, Marylebone Crematorium, Middx

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