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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Known grave and memorials


johnboy

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If a soldier has a known grave would he still be listed on a memorial? I ask as someone says they know their relative is buried at Ypres but is listed on the Menin Memorial.

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When you say 'on a memorial' do you mean a memorial to the missing? How do they know that their relative is buried at Ypres? I recently wrote the short military history for a lady who was sure that the reason her relative was named on the Thiepval Memorial was that he was buried beneath it along with all the others (names). she was heartbroken when I explained the reason. Is it possible that the family of this particular person you're dealing with were informed of a death and burial place when later this was lost in the tide of war and is now 'missing'?

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I have got to ask them how they know he is buried at Ypres. I have been under the impression that that if they are in a marked grave that they would not be on a Memorial. I want to make sure that I am right before I too have to explain it to them.

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If he was killed in the Salient in the early part of the war, he might well be one of those who was buried in a named grave at the time, and his family notified and maybe even sent a photograph, but the grave was then lost in later fighting. Conversely, there will be a number of men who were initially commemorated on the Menin Gate who have since been found and identified, and whose names will one day be removed when the panel in question needs to be replaced (which may be no time soon if it is on the interior face of the memorial).

Are men commemorated on a Duhallow block (a stone pillar placed in a cemetery to commemorate casualties known to have been buried elsewhere .... usually nearby .... but whose graves have been lost) also commemorated on a Memorial to the Missing?

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Thanks for the help. I will now ask about the where the burial info comes from. I have a strong feeling that he is one of the missing ie the grave was never recorded or was later destroyed.

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... their relative ...

A more sensible, factual answer to this question might be possible if the soldier's identity was revealed.

Tom

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Case closed. Killed Ypres NOT buried Ypres.

Out of interest, another similar story posted under Angus Brodie.

The OP has not replied yet.

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If he was killed in the Salient in the early part of the war, he might well be one of those who was buried in a named grave at the time, and his family notified and maybe even sent a photograph, but the grave was then lost in later fighting. Conversely, there will be a number of men who were initially commemorated on the Menin Gate who have since been found and identified, and whose names will one day be removed when the panel in question needs to be replaced (which may be no time soon if it is on the interior face of the memorial).

Are men commemorated on a Duhallow block (a stone pillar placed in a cemetery to commemorate casualties known to have been buried elsewhere .... usually nearby .... but whose graves have been lost) also commemorated on a Memorial to the Missing?

A more well known example and contentious case being that of John Kipling who now has a headstone.

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