Pte Dodd, 77876 Manchester Regt

[corisande]

I cannot determine if one or two men died in this incident. One is on CWGC the other not

I have been researching this man John Kelly -click here for my notes on him - A Private in Manchester Regiment who died 26 Aug 1920 - shot accidentally by a fellow soldier. He has CWGC recognition - for CWGC click here.

I had a lucky break (perseverance) to find his records on Ancestry which I thought was quite good from what was available on CWGC. And there are two relevant papers - the rest of any inquiry appears to have been removed from his papers in weeding, or, more likely is in a separate inquiry in WO files

The first refers to wounding, the second to the death

So did Dodd die or not. I cannot find him on CWGC, not on Irish GRO deaths (not unusual). I cannot get anywhere with Dodd, although I have his number from the two letters above.

[themonsstar]

Have you tried the lads on the Manchester Regimental site at:-

http://themanchesters.org/forum/index.php

Robert Bonner, on the site as covered this period in depth, try asking him as he come across Pte Dodd.

Or you could try Mack, who researches a lot of the newspapers within the area of Manchester, and if your chaps came from Stockport area, You could try John Hartley as he has a depth of knowledge within that area of Greater Manchester,I'm sure John will disagree with me and call the area Cheshire

[corisande]

Thanks for those useful suggestions

I have just now registered for that Manchester site - I invariably find that they put you through the hoops and never get round to verifying the account on the regimental sites, so I await my ratification!

I will PM Mack and see as I have a precise date for the death(s) - Kelly was buried in Cork but Dunn was not, so he could have been brought back home for burial, though I don't know what town he came from

[John_Hartley]

You need to recheck Ancestry - the details of the enquiry board are there, although I can't see the two extracts you've given.The evidence confirms Kelly died in the ambulance on the way to hospital but, presumably, Dodd was alive when they reached Cork.

As far as I can see, there's nothing in the two extracts to indicate that Dodd died and, indeed, on the standard letter the words "met his death" appear to have been crossed out. With no local death certificate, the presumption must be that he didnt die, at least not in Ireland. Of course it's possible that he returned to Britain and died soon after but, without a forename, that might be tricky to pin down, as you'd have no idea what part of the country he came from or what part of the country a hospital may have been in.

[corisande]

You need to recheck Ancestry - the details of the enquiry board are there, although I can't see the two extracts you've given.The evidence confirms Kelly died in the ambulance on the way to hospital but, presumably, Dodd was alive when they reached Cork.

John

Thanks, that makes me think that there are 2 records on Ancestry - one you have found, and I have not, and vice-versa if you have not seen the two extracts I have given

I will have another trawl to find the other

As far as I can see, there's nothing in the two extracts to indicate that Dodd died and, indeed, on the standard letter the words "met his death" appear to have been crossed out.

I agree, or sort of agree, which is why I posted this here. With the water damage it is difficult to be sure if "met his death" are crossed out or not

Death certs for British soldiers in Ireland are "problematical" as the British did not always register deaths of soldiers.

[corisande]

I have now got the 2nd record for John Kelly, which is the one you happily found

It covers his reenlistment from 1919, whereas the other one I had found was mainly his enlistment from 1916 to 1919.

I see he also should have a RN record for 1914/1915

He is not exactly the ideal soldier, & appears to spend more time in detention barracks that in the army

Teach me to keep on looking even if I find a record, I think I was too pleased to track down the one I found that I never thought to look for another

Once I have distilled the gist of it, I will update the page I have on him

[corisande]

And...the relevant bit from the Inquiry is from the MO

Which is the evidence, as you say , that Kelly died and Dodd looks bad. Poor Dodd seems to have been left in limbo and I cannot find any reference to him having died. And the "rules" of the army appear to preclude a Private having initials in any reports. I could not find Dodd's initials in any of the reports, so I cannot see what happened to him, if he were to have died in England.

I am still awaiting "clearance" to post on Manchester's forum - my application must have caused consternation!