Neil Clark Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 I have been looking at a few old threads and came across a few which on the face of it and in light of recent developments might have been thrown out without good reason. Just because a man happened to die from heart failure or Pneumonia it doesn't mean that he can't be submitted as a non-com. Someone really needs to have a good look at these older threads and sort out the chaff from the wheat. It would be awful if we let these casualties remain forgotten second time around. I have already found at least 3 possibles where blantently wrong advice was given (sometimes by people who really should know better). On a few occasions no further work was done once the poster established a man died of heart failure or something which sounded unlikely to have been caused or aggravated by the war. I don't want to re-erect undeserving cases or indeed cause upset by questioning anyones past advice or motives. This wrong advice was always given in good faith and only recently has it emerged that heart failure can be as a consequence of infection etc... I will have a close look at report back the cases I think may need looking at again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Clark Posted 26 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 26 November , 2008 First one - http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...showtopic=61423 Plenty more to follow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest geoff501 Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 There must be a number like this. For example what, if anything, happened here: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...ost&p=81337 Service records, which survive, say the illness was attributable. I think we should be more organized and assign a 'Case Number' to each case as it crops up. We would need of course someone to keep a log of these cases and sign them off either way on completion, or else leave them open. Perhaps too much work for us? I've searched for a number of cases following Neil's lead and the thread stops like the one above in quite a few. A subsequent tedious search has sometimes found a successful commemoration - but the original thread is left hanging in the air....... I also remember a few cases where Terry's last advice to someone researching a memorial is get the DC. Said researched may not be bothered to go so far, or maybe can't rightly justify the expense, or perhaps only wanted to identify the man. End of the thread, or did the researcher not bother to return with the outcome? No one else is going to do this, it's up to us! geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Clark Posted 26 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 26 November , 2008 Geoff - Fill yer boots! There's plenty to go round... Where is Chris? Great idea about closing threads off once they have been either submitted (pending a decision) or aborted (Rejected or discontinued case). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest geoff501 Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 Geoff - Fill yer boots! There's plenty to go round... Where is Chris? Great idea about closing threads off once they have been either submitted (pending a decision) or aborted (Rejected or discontinued case). I was thinking of something like a pinned post at the top of the sub-forum. Any possible non-com cases can be listed there - only name, link to original post and status (open/close/pass/fail) to be included, no banter. The post could be edited when a pass or fail is notified. We don't then lose sight of cases that slip down the listing. (Mods - can this be done?) I'm thinking in particular of a fairly new member's post (may have been a couple of years ago now) researching a memorial and found a very likely non-comm. He/She was asked to get the DC. Don't think it went any further. Can't find the thread now. It a shame if a bloke gets so close to being accepted and is lost because no one cares enough to follow it up. Its impossible to keep track of all the non-com threads, the search engine is not that good, even if you remember what to search for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 26 November , 2008 Share Posted 26 November , 2008 I'm thinking in particular of a fairly new member's post (may have been a couple of years ago now) researching a memorial and found a very likely non-comm. He/She was asked to get the DC. Don't think it went any further. I suspect that this is probably the norm for most war memorial researchers. The vast majority are doing basic research to ID the names on the memorial so they can produce their local history booklet, or whatever, and that's as far as their interest goes. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Clark Posted 26 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 26 November , 2008 I agree with John in that many new forum members are really only interested in transcribing their own civic war memorial and that is where their interest ends. For these individuals all that matters is to identify the casualty PERIOD. We can't criticise these people because they are all doing very sterling work regardless whether or not they are taking these non-com cases forward. It would certainly help if we could ensure these kinds of threads were kept updated as the circumstances change. The REAL problem here is that there are so many of us now conducting our own cases that it's become almost impossible to properly co-ordinate. Even if this were possible (which I'm not convinced it is yet) someone would need to oversee all non-com efforts. In the past Terry has done a superb job in keeping everything on the level but as more and more people get involved it all becomes dis-jointed. Besides, Terry has over the years done some really fine work (and continues to do so) in this area and deserves a rest. He's universally revered by all of us here (and that includes me)... I can't speak for others but personally I don't know exactly how many of us there are doing this work on an on-going basis? There are always going to be the odd pal who has stumbled accross a non-com in addition to those who are more serious in their endevours. Perhaps we should all be aware of eachothers activities? It might be helpful to all of us if a thread can be started which identifies those who are doing non-com work on an on-going basis? Perhaps we could also identify all forum pals who have an interest in this specialist area of military history. We should encourage and welcome anyone else wanting to get in on the action, there are plenty of cases to go round afterall. Most people with an ounce of common sense are able to do the work with a bit of guidance to start with. It's NOT a closed shop! I know that Terry and John are pretty organised with their excellent "In From The Cold Project" but the rest of us are all just doing our own thing... I'm not sure if I even understand what I'm trying to say here... Where does this leave us? All I know is that there appears to be a high number of past threads which on the face of it still remain outstanding... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 27 November , 2008 Share Posted 27 November , 2008 Where is Chris? On a course in York Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 27 November , 2008 Share Posted 27 November , 2008 Got an idea - when a new enquiry re a non comm comes in it could be recorded with details etc on a excel spread sheet with the dates of follow up actions/ completion/ alternatively a database with the same details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Clark Posted 27 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2008 Good idea Chris, You have just been promoted Perhaps Geoff can advise us with regard to the database idea? I'm rubbish at that kind of thing...(but I do have an iffy copy of MS Office Pro 2003) We will have to have a good look at past threads to I.D those that need clarification or follow up action. If anyone wants to help then just dig in and get involved. I suppose the best thing to do when you have found one is to post the link here on this thread. Don't worry if it turns out the case has been actioned or already approved - no one will think bad of you here. Those of you out there who want to join the elite "non-com club" are most welcome to get involved too. The more the merrier. If you fancy going the whole hog, and wish to investigate and then submit a case, then go ahead. Guidance will be cheerfully provided by one of the gang I haven't the time at the moment to start but I will try and start looking next week... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 27 November , 2008 Share Posted 27 November , 2008 Neil I have just reviewed all my threads & have closed those needing no further action. If there is someone with the skills who wants to keep a register relating to threads I would welcome a volunteer Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Clark Posted 27 November , 2008 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2008 Chris, Good idea, I will do the same starting on Monday.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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