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Remembered Today:

CWGC Error ?


ss002d6252

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As soem may knw I'm currently going through my list of 6th DLI men and Ive come across this MIC.

According to the MIC - Arthur H Letby 2395 died in France.

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?htx=View&r=5538&dbid=1262&iid=30850_A000950-00559&fn=Arthur+H&ln=Letby&st=r&ssrc=&pid=649558

SDGW also shows Arthur H Letby died of wounds on 1 May 1915.

however

CWGC shows 2395 J Letby - http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=200352

How do I go about having this apparent error corrected ?

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I've always been very lucky when dealing with the CWGC and through my contact there (Roy Hemington) we have been able to have several entries on the CWG database revised. One of our more notable achievements was to have a name put on the grave of an unknown RAMC soldier, although that took a bit longer -- two years, to be precise...

Changes to the CWGC database can be made relatively easily, provided that you have the necessary documentation to prove your case. If you go to the link below, select Debt of Honour/Casualty Enquiry, followed by the appropriate sub category then that should get the ball rolling.

http://www.cwgc.org/...ct.asp?menuid=7

Regards,

Simon.

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Thanks, what will they normally take as evidence ?

There a couple more possibles I've come across which I need to look in to.

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Ive also found 2391 FEATHERSTONE, NORMAN who is in the CWGC as 2341 Norman Featherstone (2341 is actually William Eddy).

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It needs to be official documentation. In the past the CWGC have asked me for birth certificates, etc. but if you are referring to a date of death then in my experience the relevant page from the war diary of the unit in question served to provide the necessary evidence. That said, in that case I was corresponding with them about an officer who was specifically mentioned by name in the diary, rather than a reference to other ranks. The fact that there was a name made it so much easier.

The problem you may encounter (as I did with the grave of Sergeant William Sharpe) is that the names/initials are slightly different. This doesn't mean that your information is wrong, because God knows I've found enough typographical glitches in all sorts of official records, but when I was trying to prove that it was a Sergeant William Sharpe in a particular grave, although the CWGC was convinced I still had a hard time proving to the MoD that the Corporal Stephens mentioned in the 1919 grave registration unit correspondence didn't actually exist.

If you have any official documentation, such as service records or attestation papers, etc. that have a date of death then this is the sort of thing that will help the CWGC to process any claim.

Hope this helps,

S.

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Thanks, what will they normally take as evidence ?

MIC and SDGW entry is a start and in the case of Norman Featherstone, William Eddy's MIC for comparison, if Service records exist, they'd also be a bonus.

In my Great Uncles case I also provided a birth cert, census records, newspaper death notice, image from the War Memorial, death plaque and his Brothers CWGC entry as I was getting his surname changed from MacDonald to McDonald, but yours should be easier.

Sam

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Good idea, I have the war diary so that may help if they need further evidence although parts of the diary are very bad at showing the right numbers for the right man. .

William Eddy's Service Records exist so the front page of the record should help.

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Some of these types of things simply result from the scanning process when the records were computerised. It's likely that the change from a 9 to a 4 is one such, so in these cases the first thing is just to ask them to verify the database record against the printed registers.

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Some of these types of things simply result from the scanning process when the records were computerised. It's likely that the change from a 9 to a 4 is one such, so in these cases the first thing is just to ask them to verify the database record against the printed registers.

I have a feeling that it may, I also have a third one that Ive come across with the wrong number.

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I had one where the date of death was way out, long before the man's unit went to France. I provided a copy of the MIC, showing his date of entry into a theatre of war as I recall several months after their recorded date of death, but that was insufficient to satisfy them. The unit of course did not have a war diary at that date as it was still in the UK.

Keith

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I have provided CWGC with a death certificate for my great uncle and his service records also survive both showing the same date of death, but this is still not enough for the CWGC to change his date of death on the database.

Mandy

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I'm most surprised at that, Mandy. What reason did the Commission give for not amending the date to conform with the death certificate and service papers?

The reason I ask is that the certificate is, in my experience, the one document that they accept as definite evidence.

The second usually accepted evidence are the service papers - as these are inherently army documents and, again in my experience, I have never known them to reject a request for change based on the papers.

Therefore, I'm gobsmacked that they have rejected your request when you've been able to supply them with evidence from their own accepted "gold standard" documents.

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Hello John

Thanks for your interest. They said " the copies of the excerpts from the service record are virtually illegible and as such I am afraid can not be included as supporting documents". They did not mention the death certifcate at all in their reply. I agree that the service records are very faint, but you can still see that the date is the 24th May and not the 22nd May as recorded by CWGC. One of the pages I sent is the telegram that his parents received saying he had died on 24th. There is also a telegram in the service records stating he was dangerously ill on 22nd and they could not visit.

If you have access to ancestry, he can be found here

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&rank=1&f4=harry&f5=hall&rs_81004011__date=0&f19=royal+sussex&f2=452&prox=1&db=britisharmyservice&ti=5538&ti.si=0&gss=angs-d&pcat=39&fh=24&h=866877

CWGC entry

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=518036

sorry to hijack your thread ss002d6252, coincidently you replied when I asked somebody to confirm the date difference.

Mandy

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Mandy

I suggest you resubmit your request, making particular reference to the death certificate. The service file is also quite clear that death occured on the 24th. Pages 50277, 50289, 50290 and 50291 are very clear that his death was on 24 May. There can be no realistic dispute about legibility.

The Commission has an "appeals procedure" if you remain disatisfied with their initial response although I'd be really surprised to hear that they had again rejected it.

John

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