Terry Denham Posted 3 June , 2004 Share Posted 3 June , 2004 Having just managed to complete my collection of IWGC/CWGC Annual Reports from 1919 to 2004, I am discovering that they contain all sorts of interesting historical facts and statistics as well as a mass of photos of cemeteries in their early days (both wars). Each (until WW2) contains details of bodies recovered each year from the battlefields of the Western Front. Out of interest, below are the details for the last year before WW2. The period covered is April 1938 to March 1939 (the UK's financial year). - There were 532 bodies recovered in total - Only 148 were identified - 155 were found in Belgium and 377 in France - 288 of those in France were found on the Somme battlefield - 183 were found by 'metal-searchers' - 78 were found by French official search parties - 271 were found by farmers and other individuals In the 1930s, the year with the most recoveries was 1933/34 with 1306 found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 3 June , 2004 Share Posted 3 June , 2004 Terry, This sounds like a very useful resource. How detailed is the information contained in these documents? Do they discuss cemetery consolidation, named individuals etc? Regards, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 3 June , 2004 Share Posted 3 June , 2004 Terry - this is an interesting subject and it's great that these figures exist. It was also interesting to see that the French authorities were still actively searching the battlefields in 1938/9. I think the last big organised British search of the Somme was in 1936. I would be interested in seeing totals recovered and numbers identified for each year, if it isn't to much to extract and post them. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 3 June , 2004 Author Share Posted 3 June , 2004 Ken No individuals are mentioned but there is a mass of detail about the completion of individual cemeteries including the completion and opening of the many war plots in the UK. I have not had time to go through all the data yet but will let you know more when I do. Tom I'll post a list as soon as I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 3 June , 2004 Share Posted 3 June , 2004 Terry, Very interesting stuff. Look forward to the details. Jacky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 3 June , 2004 Share Posted 3 June , 2004 Tom I'll post a list as soon as I can. Thanks, Terry. As I said before, it's really interesting to think that these figures exist and I look forward to seeing them when you have time. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 3 June , 2004 Author Share Posted 3 June , 2004 There is a whole mass of info in these Reports! Cemetery completion dates, details of cancelled memorials etc. Months of interesting reading. (I have found out that the bounty in France for a civilian finding a body was 10 francs). The Commonwealth bodies found for the inter war years are listed below. Belgium and France were not separated at first and WW2 put an end to these figures appearing. The Army Council ended official British searches in November 1921. All years are April to March. 1921/22 3086 1922/23 3021 1923/24 4000 (approx) 1924/25 4100 1925/26 3842 1926/27 3200 1927/28 3361 1928/29 2341 1929/30 1884 1930/31 1333 1931/32 1221 1932/33 Bel 45 Fra 872 1933/34 Bel 98 Fra 1208 1934/35 Bel 85 Fra 887 1935/36 Bel 63 Fra 821 1936/37 Bel 94 Fra 768 1937/38 Bel 92 Fra 546 1938/39 Bel 155 Fra 377 Breakdowns are given for some years plus details of French and German finds - too much to post here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 3 June , 2004 Share Posted 3 June , 2004 Thanks for letting us see these figures Terrry. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia Posted 4 June , 2004 Share Posted 4 June , 2004 Hi Terry and Tom, Question - when they did find personal items, such as watches, rings, or other things, what did they do with them? If they had any identifying marks or engravings, was any attempt made at the time of the clearances to locate the families, or was it just too overwhelming at the time? What has become of these things? You know I have an ulterior motive for asking, as Robert Stark wore an engagment ring that was a masculine version of his ladylove's gold buckle ring. I often thought if that was found, he may have been nearby. My guess is that things like gold rings would have been snapped up straightaway, but wondered if these items were collected, catalogued, and where they are now. Thank you, gentlemen! Cynthia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 4 June , 2004 Author Share Posted 4 June , 2004 Cynthia If the effects were found on an identifiable body, they should have been returned to the n-o-k. However, I do not know what happened to the effects from unidentified bodies or to those whose n-o-k were untraceable. Interestingly, these same Annual Reports sometimes list the number of bodies that were found with personal items leading to identification (eg In 1930/31 personal effects were found on 1195 of the total of 1333 bodies) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 4 June , 2004 Share Posted 4 June , 2004 Terry, Anything in those reports concerning concentration of graves ? Jacky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 4 June , 2004 Author Share Posted 4 June , 2004 Jacky Some data - mostly total numbers reburied - no details on individual cemeteries cleared. The concentrations were an army operation and therefore it is not a subject which would appear in IWGC Annual Reports with the sort of detail you seek. The Reports concern themselves with IWGC activities - ordering and delivery of headstones, completion of individual cemeteries etc - masses of detail on those. Exhumations and clearances are listed just as totals for the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 4 June , 2004 Share Posted 4 June , 2004 Thanks mate!!!! Whend do you come over again ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 4 June , 2004 Author Share Posted 4 June , 2004 July 17-18 should be next visit. See you then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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