chrisharley9 Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 Whilst searching through a cemetery register I found this unusual casualty Name: BLACKLEY Initials: C J Nationality: Australian Rank: Worker Regiment: Australian Munition Worker Date of Death: 06/11/1918 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: LL. I. 45. Cemetery: IPSWICH CEMETERY I was under the impression that CWGC did not commemorate civilian deaths from the Great War. Can any Pal shed any light on this. All The best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gem22 Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 Chris You'll find another example in Cambridge, mill road cemetery. Name of Langley I think. Garth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 17 October , 2004 Author Share Posted 17 October , 2004 Garth Cheers, I'll look that one up as well All The Best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bonza Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 Neither are recorded on the Australian War Memorial "Roll of Honour" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 Chris The Australian War Workers are mentioned in Australia During the War by Ernest Scott, Volume XI of The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918. See pages 266-276 in Chapter VII The Equipment of Armies at http://awm.gov.au/histories/ww1/11/index.asp Some 6000 Australian artisans and unskilled labourers worked on war projects in the UK and in France. As well as workers recruited for the task in Australia, their numbers included soldiers who were discharged from the AIF in the UK as being physically unfit, and who elected to remain in Europe and do war work. 67 of the Workers are recorded to have died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Others must have died in industrial accidents. I hope this helps you. Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 Whilst searching through a cemetery register I found this unusual casualty Name: BLACKLEY Initials: C J Nationality: Australian Rank: Worker Regiment: Australian Munition Worker Date of Death: 06/11/1918 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: LL. I. 45. Cemetery: IPSWICH CEMETERY I was under the impression that CWGC did not commemorate civilian deaths from the Great War. Can any Pal shed any light on this. All The best Chris Search the CWGC by putting "WW1" "Civilian" and "Australian" into the correct fields, and a couple of asterisks instead of a name. This produces around 150 names, mostly police and munitions workers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coulson Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 There are two Australian munition workers buried beneath CWGC headstones in Brotton Cemetery in East Cleveland. M Jackson March 18th 1919. J Reid August 4th 1917. Believe both worked at the nearby munitions factory at Skinningrove. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 I was under the impression that CWGC did not commemorate civilian deaths from the Great War. Can any Pal shed any light on this. Chris This is not strictly true. In both world wars CWGC is obliged to recognise civilians from the 'Recognised Civilian Organisations' under certain conditions. These were organisations (far more in WW2 than WW1) which worked closely with the military and often under their control. To qualify for war grave status, the death had to meet two additional qualifications. The person had to die on duty AND from a war cause or an increased threat brought on by war. The largest such civilian organisation in WW1 was the Mercantile Marine - others were the British Red Cross and Order of St John. The dominions supplied their own lists of such qualifying organisations and Australia included Australian munitions and war workers who were recruited as a body for overseas service. There are several buried in the UK. I have a list of these organisations if anyone is interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 Here is the list of WW1 organisations as per above. Recognised Civilian Organisations WW1 Mercantile Marine Admiralty (Civilian Employees) Civilian Workers aboard HM Ships British Red Cross Society Order of St John of Jerusalem Voluntary Aid Detachments Young Men’s Christian Association British Ambulance Committee Friends’ Ambulance Unit Scottish Women’s Hospitals Pilotage Service French Red Cross (British Personnel) Chinese Labour Corps (British Civilian Employees) AUSTRALIA Australian War & Munitions Workers Australian Red Cross CANADA Canadian Merchant Navy Canadian Dockyard Employees INDIA Indian Merchant Service NEWFOUNDLAND Newfoundland Merchant Navy SOUTH AFRICA South African Voluntary Aid Detachment Only those recognised organisations above suffered qualifying casualties though other groups may have been accepted if they had suffered any appropriate casualties (but they didn't). It, therefore, follows that only some graves from these organisations are official war graves and listed by CWGC - others are not because they did not meet the extra criteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bonza Posted 17 October , 2004 Share Posted 17 October , 2004 The AWM has a picture of SS Kenilworth Castle at Capetown: "Delayed 3 weeks when returning to Australia with munition workers owing to a serious influenza outbreak aboard" Its a bit morbid, but it was a serious outbreak, and there may well be a number of CWGC burials in Capetown cemeteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 17 October , 2004 Author Share Posted 17 October , 2004 Many thanks to everyone who answered - now I know why in this instance All The Best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 19 October , 2004 Share Posted 19 October , 2004 Neither are recorded on the Australian War Memorial "Roll of Honour" Hi Pat For people that died while serving in a non-AIF capacity, the AWM website has many of them (including Blackley) listed under the 'Commemorative Roll Database'. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bonza Posted 19 October , 2004 Share Posted 19 October , 2004 G'day Andrew Have entered 19/10/04 as a black day. The shame of having to be told where to find something on awm.gov On top of being squelched re Ned Kelley! Still you had to come up with a "magpie" link for Monash. ooRoo pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 19 October , 2004 Share Posted 19 October , 2004 Still you had to come up with a "magpie" link for Monash. We all know that Eddie's claws stretch far and wide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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