Neil Clark Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 No I knew from the outset that this was merely for ITFP. Again I was being silly... I fully apreciate that any dispensation here has been gained through your own personal considerable efforts and that being nice to politicians does indeed grate after a while (You should see my newsletter in which I don't pull my punches). I congratulate you for getting as far as you have on this. Chris, I appreciate how you must feel about this. Perhaps in time the situation might change for the better? I have a few ideas (using the national media/TV) which I hope to get off the ground by next Remembrance Sunday. How about a "Justice for Fathers" spectacular to get these men commemorated and our own personal costs covered? Ideas for direct action gladly accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 24 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Well. Would you believe it! I have just got an email from the MoD. We are still not there yet but it is all good news. We are in the process of sorting some practical issues and it should be sorted soon. Fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Neil how about finding a tame MP to submit an EDM - then sending a white feather to those who dont sign Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Terry A point I have to make here is that a number of my future submissions from the Times Archives I will not be able to prove the in service status until the DC arrives - now should I pass this over to the IFCP boys with the relevant GRO ref? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 24 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Chris If you have reasonable cause to believe they were in service, then pass them over to me as you did before. They will be sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Clark Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 I sometimes wonder if the authorities are aware how and where we find these non-coms? As we know, they don't all come from a huge list of men's names. Many come to notice by their names appearing on civic war memorials throughout the land or in local newspaper reports. The costs involved in tracing a man on a war memorial and then turning a mere name and initial into a finished case far exceeds the costs involved searching a list. I realise ALL the men carry the same weight in terms of commemoration and that the IFCP is now producing some stunning results. It's insulting that some cases get the stamp of official approval whereas others don't. Has anyone within the Commission ever considered having us ALL meet up to discuss these issues face to face? There are probably less than 20 people in the whole UK doing this work on an on-going basis... OR is it a simple case of divide and conquer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Terry When we say in service does this apply to those of the Commonwealth nations as I have picked up several Indian army officers My rant was not aimed at you personally - you have done well to get that far with the MOD Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 24 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Nothing personal taken - We know each other well enough! Logically Indian Army men are not UK and so should not be included. However, it is the MoD that adjudicates on the Europeans (I don't think I have processed one of their cases) I believe and so - send them over. Same for any colonial men and they are counted as UK. It is only those from Oz, NZ, SA and Canada which we should not put down this particular route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Terry you will get plenty of Indian Army officers when I have finished my trawl of the Times I do agree with Neil about a meet up with the CWGC - however our main target should be the MOD as this is will be looking at most of our cases - I strongly believe that they are not aware of the complexity of what we band of brothers get up to & the obstruction that we receive from some local authorities - a little something to the fact they we are carrying out specialist research on behalf of our country at no charge & would they waive their charges to that end. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Carrying on from the above what is to be done about those local authorites who do not bother to acknowledge enquiries about war graves - this particularly happens when a private company is in control of the cemetery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 24 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2008 MoD makes no charges. You should aim yourself at GRO. They are the source of the information you want and they make the charge. Not all local authorities make a charge for their services but that is likely to change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Clark Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Yes Terry is right, the MoD doesn't charge for it's services but it doesn't charge for anything it does. The CWGC gets all it's expenses from the donor countries (70% UK) therefore there is no need to charge (although I'm sure some individuals within that organisation would like to charge us if only to put us off what we are doing). I think we can all relate to that comment re local authorities Chris. I'm no lover of them either although I think that parish councils are often even worse! There are ocasionally helpful L.A's but they are in the minority from my experiences. Most are run as businesses these days and services are often designed to generate revenue (they aint services anymore). Why can't we all get together with the CWGC and the MoD to iron out all our problems and then there wouldn't be any need to "snipe" behind anyones back like this? I'd prefer to vent my spleen face to face!This can only happen if one of those organisations organised it. All OUR efforts in this respect are dis-jointed, we need to speak as ONE. Whats the gripe with Medway? I have a high placed contact there, PM me if it's delicate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Re local authorities - from my own experience my own local authority Fenland are great - Dover are great - Liverpool has waived all charges so far - but what we need is a friend in government who says to these people "you will provide this information free of charge". Does the CWGC have to pay for information it gets off LAs for burial information. Then you get people like Whitchurch Cemetery who just put the whole burial book on the net Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Whats the gripe with Medway? I have a high placed contact there, PM me if it's delicate. Neil See This Thread - despite my explaining what the enquiry was for their stance was that is was for family history research so I would have to pay Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 24 November , 2008 Share Posted 24 November , 2008 Neil Re Parish Councils - I dont bother with them anymore as the response is always the same - very nice to start with, but then tails off to nothing - I get off my backside & do some cemetery searching - but not at this time of year Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now