WW1 sailor died of TB 1919 -CWGC - yes or no?

[pgis]

Hi all.

Can someone tell me what was the protocol in operation for sailors who died of TB in 1919, having served during WW1, for inclusion and acceptance by CWGC ?

Was one general rule applied or were a number of case specific rules applied?

To give some more details,

The man in question was a 2nd engineer on a Mercantile Marine paddle steamer. This was requisitioned by the Admiralty and used for war duties as a HM minesweeper.

He died in August 1919. His cause of death was given as Pulmonary Tuberculosis and his occupation on the death cert was given as 2nd engineer, HM minesweeper.

He is NOT included on the CWGC website.

Any views or definative facts would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Paul.

[Will O'Brien]

Paul

Mercentile Marine sailors only qualify if their deaths were the result of enemy action. Therefore your man would not qualify

[pgis]

Hi Will,

Thank you for your reply.

The ultimate irony can not have escaped you that immediately below your answer, in your 'In Memory' section,(God be good to them all and may they be carried on the wings of angels to the place they would have wanted to go) you have listed an individual who died of TB also and who has been accepted by CWGC. Does this mean that today's desk dwelling civil servants operate a hierarchical approach of victims(or heros)?

Surely any young man who donned a uniform to fight tyrany deserves to be treated in exactly the same way as any other young man who did like wise, regardless of which service the uniform represented?

(Even as I write this e-mail, I know it is going to sound confrontational.It is not meant to, it is just something I feel strongly about.)

Regards,

Paul.

[clive_hughes]

Hello Paul,

The situation regarding seafarers is a little complicated, but essentially Will is correct - back at the time of the War or just after, it was decided that Mercantile Marine personnel serving in merchant vessels would only qualify for commemoration if their deaths were the result of enemy action. Deaths from illness and accident etc. did not count, sad to say.

However, you mention that this chap wasn't on a merchant ship - he was on an Admiralty requisitioned vessel. That's a different kettle of fish, and could mean he wasn't strictly speaking Mercantile Marine, but had been signed up as a member of the Mercantile Marine Reserve, Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary, or even Royal Naval Reserve. Despite the fact that he was doing exactly the same sort of job as his Merchant Navy colleagues, it put him more in the category of "uniformed organisation", and more latitude was exercised as regards their commemoration.

That said, officialdom often forgot about those who were released from the Forces with TB and similar ailments, and who subsequently died. Our Forum is full of such cases which have now belatedly been accepted by the powers-that-be for official commemoration, and their names are being added to the official memorials and to the CWGC Register (CWGC doesn't make the decision incidentally).

Why don't you give this chap's details here, and others more knowledgeable than myself can better advise you on his case.

Clive

[CGM]

Death while in service, whatever the cause, means automatic commemoration, but there is more to this if death occurs after discharge.

I will use TB and a serving soldier as an example.

Not every soldier who died of TB after serving in the war is eligible for commemoration.

The cause of death must be attributable or aggravated by his service and many men caught TB and subsequently died when this would not have happened had they remained at home - so death was attributable to their service. It would say in his service records that the illness was attributable to or aggravated by his service.

Obviously the important thing with your man is his history.

Was he signed up to one of the "uniformed organisations" listed above?

If yes, was he still serving at the time of death?

If no, was his death aggravated or attributable to his service?

Of course, looking at it another way, as a member of the MM, on his own ship, his TB could have been contracted simply a result of his normal life and death would have occured, war or not.

Regards

CGM