Mark Abbott Posted 8 March , 2004 Share Posted 8 March , 2004 Following advice from elsewhere on this forum, I obtained Cpl. Hurst's death certificate from the GRO. The date of death is recorded as 16.11.1918, with the cause being " Killled in action". I have the unit War Diary for November 1918, which makes no mention of his death. Does anyone have any ideas? On the SDGW cd-rom, he is shown as being from Ashton and enlisting in St. Helens. Did any form of hostilities continue in France after 11.11.1918? Any help would be most welcome. Regards, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Johnson Posted 8 March , 2004 Share Posted 8 March , 2004 Mark, Just a thought, but as your man was a member of the RE he may have been killed in the process of clearing up the trenches. Although his death occured only 5 days after the armistice work had soon begun on clearing arms & ammunition from the immeadiate battlefields, and this work cost the lives of many men. SDCD often shows such accidental deaths as KIA. As I said, Just a thought. Regards PAUL JOHNSON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gord97138 Posted 15 March , 2004 Share Posted 15 March , 2004 Name: HURST Initials: C Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Corporal Regiment: Royal Engineers Unit Text: 423rd Field Coy. Date of Death: 16/11/1918 Service No: 428355 Awards: MM Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: A. 16. Cemetery: ATH COMMUNAL CEMETERY regards gordon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Abbott Posted 6 May , 2008 Author Share Posted 6 May , 2008 I have the War Diary for 423 Field Coy RE. No casualties are recorded on the date of Hurst's death; is it possible that he was attached elsewhere? Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 6 May , 2008 Share Posted 6 May , 2008 Mark SDGW needs to be treated with a degree of caution. It may be that he actually died of wounds that were received prior to the armistice. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian turner Posted 6 May , 2008 Share Posted 6 May , 2008 Regarding Ath Cemetery, from CWGC: The 38 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in Ath Communal Cemetery date from November 1918 to March 1919, and are mainly those of men who died at No. 2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station Since hostilities had ceased on 11th November he would not have been killed in action. It looks like ''died of wounds'' perhaps, especially as there is no mention of a casualty in the Bn war diary at that date. Had it been an accident I would have thought that event would have made the diary. Of course we cannot rule out sickness - eg. the 'flu at that particular time. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Abbott Posted 7 May , 2008 Author Share Posted 7 May , 2008 Ian and Terry, Thanks for your replies. I will be re reading the War Diary to check for any casualties in the weeks leading upto 11th November. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Abbott Posted 6 December , 2008 Author Share Posted 6 December , 2008 I have been continuing with my research into the death of Cpl Hurst on the 16th November 1918. Happily, his papers have survived and they confirm the date of death as the 16th November 1918. This is recorded in several places and is noted as "killed in action". I have a roll of all the men who were wounded/killed/missing whilst serving with 423 Field Company RE. One of these men was 141863 Sapper A A Broatch. His service papers have survived on Ancestry and they confrim that he was seriously wounded near Ath in Belgium on 16th November 1918 by the explosion of a German booby trap/mine. Another man, 216870 Spr W Hearne was also wounded in the same explosion and his papers which have also survived, confirm this. I think we can safely assume that Cpl Hurst lost his life in this explosion and was buried in Ath near where he was killed. It has taken me many years to prove the theory I had regarding Hurst's death. Thanks are due to Ancestry for this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 7 December , 2008 Share Posted 7 December , 2008 Excellent result, Mark. Well done for pursuing this one to a satisfactory conclusion. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Abbott Posted 8 December , 2008 Author Share Posted 8 December , 2008 Ken, I am still puzzled as to why there is no mention of the casualties in the relevant War Diary. More research I guess. Herewith the page from the papers of 141863 Spr A Broatch 423 Fd Coy RE that nailed this one for me. Interestingly, the wound is noted as being received "in action". Ancestry at its best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 8 December , 2008 Share Posted 8 December , 2008 I don't see the image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Abbott Posted 8 December , 2008 Author Share Posted 8 December , 2008 Sorry about that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Abbott Posted 15 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 15 April , 2010 Christopher Hurst's family grave, Downall Green, Lancashire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Abbott Posted 15 April , 2010 Author Share Posted 15 April , 2010 His grave in Ath, Belgium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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