CWGC Date of Death

[Steve Bramley]

Name: KEETLEY, GEORGE WILLIAM

Initials: G W

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment: Lincolnshire Regiment

Unit Text: 2nd/5th Bn.

Date of Death: between 21/03/1918 and 06/04/1918

Service No: 204319

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: Bay 3 and 4

Cemetery: ARRAS MEMORIAL

Hi,

Can anyone (Terry perhaps) explain the 'date of death' for this man above. I can understand the first date but what is the significance of the second and how is it worked out?

Thanks,

Steve.

[Terry Denham]

Steve

This is an example of an 'exact date unknown' death.

There are many deaths where the exact date is not known for all sorts of reasons (eg death as a PoW where records have been lost). In this case the date range in which death occured is known and so it is shown. The dates would have been supplied by the military instead of an exact date.

Sometimes this can be as little as 'between 03.10.15 and 04.10.15' or the other extreme of 'between 03.08.14 and 31.08.21' (also quite common - mainly for colonial troops).

[Steve Bramley]

Thanks Terry,

Steve.

[Ali Hollington]

The german offensive begun on the 21st March 1918, the area south of Arras was one of the areas attacked. According to the mother site the 2/5 Lincs were part of the 59th Div and this unit is mentioned in one of the battle summaries:

http://www.1914-1918.net/bat22.htm

Perhaps your man was posted missing at the start of the offensive, but as the line stablised either his body was recovered (unlikely, but not impossible, if on Arras memorial) or his death was reported by his colleagues after the battle.

Another option, and I think the most likely (for whats its worth) is that the link above dates this battle as 21/03/18- 05/04/18. Maybe the units reorganised on the next day and reported their casualties in the "lull" that followed.

Apologises if you have already considered the above.

Had a quick look on SDGW, it lists 54 deaths of the 2/5th between 21/03-06/04. Of these 6 died of wounds on various dates, 1 died (no further details), 2 Killed in action various dates, 3 killed in action 06/04 (including your man) and the rest all listed as died on 21/03.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Ali

[Terry Denham]

The fact that this man is on the Arras Memorial shows that his body was either never recovered or recovered but not identified.

The chances are that he was posted as missing and, when he did not turn up later or was not listed as a PoW, was then reclassified as died between the given dates. Had a colleague been able to report seeing his death, the exact date would preumably have been known.

[Steve Bramley]

Thanks very much for the replies,

Steve.