Private Daniel Morrison, 2nd Battalion, KOSB, born Strathblane

[StrathB]

“Of a quiet and retiring disposition, he put his heart into whatever he took up.” Milngavie & Bearsden Herald October 1917

At 38, Daniel Morrison is the oldest man on Strathblane War Memorial. A brief article in the local Milngavie & Bearsden Herald in October 1917, entitled “Strathblane Soldier Killed” noted that Private Morrison of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) had been twice wounded and “seen a good deal of fighting and hardships”. They are words that could sum up his life.

In March 1879 he had been born Daniel Jolly, the illegitimate son of Mary Jolly, a domestic servant, in the Edenkiln area of Strathblane. There is no father’s name on his birth record but by the time he was two years old, Daniel’s surname had been changed to Morrison. Could this be his father’s name? In 1881, mother and son were sharing their three-roomed home not only with Daniel’s 19-year old half-brother William Renfrew (also illegitimate) but also a 25-year old Irish lodger along with her week-old baby.

Daniel was studious, receiving merit certificates at Strathblane School. The 1891 Census lists him as a 12-year old scholar and Mary Jolly as a laundress. At some point Mary may have worked where the current Blanefield takeaway is located, as the building housed a laundry in the early 20^th century. Ten years later, Daniel is described as a self-employed labourer but meanwhile he had developed into a prize-winning athlete competing throughout Scotland. He remained a batchelor, living with his mother right up to 1914.

Home was Dumbrock House near the foot of the Glen at the end of Dumbrock Road in what is now known as “the horses’ field” but this was no grand abode. According to Alison Dryden’s local history “A Century of Change”, it was a two-storey building, commonly known as Thom’s House, which was divided into various small dwellings available for rent. There was no sanitation and water had to be fetched from a nearby spring. The proprietor was Sir Eric Buchanan of Craigend and it is likely that some of the tenants worked on his estate.

Before the war Daniel became a road surfaceman, employed by the Western District Committee, the equivalent of today’s local authority. District Committees had been formed under the Local Government (Scotland) Act of 1889 and were responsible for the maintenance of the regional road network. The Stirling region was divided three District Committees (Central, Eastern and Western). Western included the west Stirlingshire villages, which then included Campsie, Baldernock and New Kilpatrick.

Daniel volunteered soon after war was declared, when thousands were pouring into recruiting stations in response to a wave of patriotic fervour, stoked by the press. A short war and a glorious victory were the general expectations.

The Stirling Observer reported on October 10 that Daniel had left the previous Wednesday to start his training with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in Berwick. In January 1915 he joined the thousand strong 2nd Battalion KOSB, which was already part of the British Expeditionary Force. In his book “The KOSB in the Great War”, Captain Stair Gillon described how in its journey through France to the front the battalion had been “feted all along the line in this new and beautiful country, loaded with fruit and flowers and benedictions…They rolled along towards the unknown in the intoxication of excitement” … and blissfully unaware of the hell awaiting them.

Second KOSB became part of 13th Brigade (circa 5,000 men), forming the infantry for the 5th Division (approximately 20,000 strong) alongside the 1st Battalion, The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment. These two brother battalions were to fight in unison throughout the war, facing unimaginable horrors together, thus creating an enduring bond and respect for one another.

Contrary to the Milngavie & Herald’s announcement, the Stirling Observer reported that in fact Daniel had been wounded on not two but three separate occasions. The first notice was dated May 8 1915, which reported that Morrison was slightly injured and in hospital in France. This coincided with 2nd KOSB in action at St Julien. (It was part of the Second Battle of Ypres and, incidentally, the action in which two other men on the memorial, Jack Barr and Eric Yarrow, both lost their lives). On December 16 1916, under news of “Boys”, the newspaper noted Daniel was recovering at Stobhill Hospital back in Glasgow. In all probability this was a result of wounds suffered at 2nd KOSB’s last action of that year at the Battle of Morval in Northern France in late September. He was wounded a third time in May 1917, probably during the Third Battle of the Scarpe, part of the Arras offensive.

On this occasion, his battalion, having just relieved the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, faced a terrifying three and a half hour German bombardment which commenced at 2.00am on May 8. By the following day Daniel was one of 138 KOSB soldiers wounded, with 22 of his comrades killed. He was shipped back to England but again seems to have made a good recovery because on August 4 the Stirling Observer announced that Private Morrison was home on leave looking fit and well. It was the last time his friends and family would ever see him.

Upon his return to the front line, Daniel’s battalion was straight back into action in the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), which consisted of three “bite and hold” offensives launched by General Herbert Plumer’s Second Army to capture the Gheluvelt Plateau in the east of Ypres, near Zonnebeke.

The first two attacks, at Menin Road Bridge (September 20 to 25), and Polygon Wood (September 26 and 27) 1917, which both claimed the lives of men from the village, achieved their initial aims. It was hoped that the third would consolidate the success. This was to be the Battle of Broodseinde.

On the September 28, and as part of 5th Division, the 2nd KOSB was allotted to X Corps, now under the command of General Sir Thomas Morland. The main objective was the occupation of Broodseinde Ridge and the Gravenstafel spur. To the north of the line they were joined by four divisions of the Australian & New Zealand Army Corps (1^st and 2^nd ANZACs).

On the night of October 1 Daniel’s battalion, with 1^st Royal West Kents on their right flank, began to prepare for an assault on Polderhoek or Goldfish Chateau. By this stage of the conflict it was reduced to nothing more than rubble, but still considered vital territory. The next day they relieved 70th Infantry Brigade, one mile west of Polderhoek, in an area coincidently christened Stirling Castle by the Allies.

As soon as they were in position, Daniel and his comrades, led by Lieutenant Colonel Cecil Furber, who was to receive the DSO during this action, were forced to endure a terrifying 24 hour barrage from the German Fourth Army. To compound their misery further, torrential rain fell on the eve of the attack. Stair Gillon described how “the rain soused our troops, swelled the becks, and put shell-holes into good drowning condition”. Lieutenant Thomas Carlyle wrote of how “the utter physical and mental misery of toiling to covert a morass into a fort in the dark and wet was increased by a crashing barrage”. Not even Daniel’s road building and labouring skills could have made much difference in the slurry-filled terrain: as fast as they laid duckboard tracks, the Germans destroyed them.

Zero hour was 6 a.m. on October 4, with 2nd KOSB having already climbed silently out of their trenches during the night to a taped advance position in No Man’s Land. A heavy ground mist blanketed the area, greatly hindering progress. But as the battalion had experienced before, the Germans chose to attack ten minutes before them, stealing the initiative. Confusion reigned as the artillery of both sides began to pummel each other mercilessly. Communication between platoons was nigh impossible. Second KOSB lost contact, was counter-attacked and two companies were completely overwhelmed in this fog covered swamp. In was in these conditions that Daniel fell.

This action almost annihilated his battalion. Only 90 men made it back to safety, and as a result the battalion faced drastic reorganisation. However, they did achieve their objective, if such a term can accurately describe it. They dug in only 250 yards from Polderhoek Chateau and denied eight German counter-attacks through the nights of the October 5 and 6 before being relieved. Their sacrifice did contribute to an overall Allied victory at Broodseinde. October 4 1917 was recorded as a “black day” in the official German history of the war.

Lieut Col Furber wrote afterwards: “I never want to go through another phase of war worse than that. It was horrible all through. The men were literally standing to their knees in water from the time they went into the line till they came out. The whole thing to me was a nightmare. The men were simply magnificent; how they stick some of the situations beats me, and they were so cheery through it all.”

Daniel’s body was never recovered, his grave “known only unto God”. His name is written on Panel 66-68 at Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, which forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, outside the town of Zonnebeke. The area was christened ‘Tyne Cottage’ by the Northumberland Fusiliers because the original German pill-boxes resembled typical Tyneside workers’ cottages.

The Memorial commemorates nearly 35,000 servicemen from the UK and New Zealand who were never found. Inscribed are the names of 326 soldiers from the KOSB regiment including 75 from 2nd KOSB, including Daniel, who were killed that day at Broodseinde. Posthumously, Daniel was awarded the 1914-15 Star as well as the Victory Medal and British War Medal. Cold comfort for poor Mary Jolly.

Daniel’s brief obituary in the Milngavie & Bearsden Herald described him as a man with “a quiet and retiring disposition” but one who “put his heart into whatever he took up”.

As was common, the regimental chaplain wrote a letter of condolence to Daniel’s mother. Mary was still living at Dumbrock in 1923 when she died of cancer, aged 81.

[Guest]

Very interesting post:

I'm currently researching the 2nd KOSB action on 4th October 1917 as the CWGC documentation shows Pte B. Smith from this Regiment died on this day and was subsequently recovered and reinterred at Hooge Crater Cemetery. The co-ordinates place his battlefield grave approximately 400 yards west of Polderhoek Chateau alongside  the road which originally led to the Chateau from the Menin Road.

Your post has provided some valuable background on a subject I'm still getting to grips with, having just returned from as visit to the area - it was by walking down this road we learned of the existence of Polderhoek Chateau and its strategic importance.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[SimonMi]

Yes, I also found this to be an interesting post.

I have been researching on my great grand dad Herbert E Shrimpton, 16th bn RWR fell on 9th Oct 1917 during an attack on Polderhoek Chateau.

My son will be on school trip visiting Tyne Cot memorial this Tuesday and I was trying to find location of Polderhoek Chateau when I stumbled on this very informative post.

Thank you.

[Matlock1418]

On 10/07/2022 at 12:06, SimonMi said:

I have been researching on my great grand dad Herbert E Shrimpton, 16th bn RWR fell on 9th Oct 1917

Welcome to GWF.

Herbert E SHRIMPTON, 24879, Royal Warwickshire Regiment 

CWGC commemoration https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/829454/herbert-edward-shrimpton 

WFA/Fold3 pension cards - the very human aftermath - his widow's pension and children's pension allowances.

These index cards were sadly required to be used to help manually administer pensions using ledgers and files [by a small army of pension clerks, most of them female - No computers in those days!].

This pension index card was in soldier’s name and there typically was another briefer card in the widow’s name so they could be cross-referenced/accessed [not found]  These lead to a ledger via the claim case references [not yet found but an Alernative Pension Widow's ledger card can also be seen] and then to an awards file. Unfortunately, the ledger is lost [probably destroyed] and the awards file probably deliberately destroyed once its use was passed [as was the common case]

Much is self-explanatory but here a few interpretations for you and your son, I hope of use:

The original Chelsea Hospital Ministry of Pensions Case No. 3210 2510 claim reference was later replaced by a Ministry of Pensions one of 6/APW/3434 [the 6 representing pension region 6 - West Midland Region, and APW the Alternative Pension Widow's with a case number of 3434 - the widow would have had to produce some sort to evidence that her husband’s earnings before his service were sufficiently high to entitle her to a higher widow's pension rate]  APW details recorded on the other card posted here.

The date of birth, 8.3.82, is his widow’s - required because her pension could be increased to a higher age-related rate if she was >45 [which she obviously was not].

There usually was an approx. 6 month gap between death and paying of a pension - in the meantime standard separation allowances continued to be paid]. The standard pension paid to his widow [<45] would normally have initially been expected to be 13/9 pw for her plus 5/0 [60d], 4/2 [50d], 3/4 [40d] pw respectively for the children [So ??]. Though we can see this was subsequently recalculated overall to the higher APW rate of 53/6 pw overall [£2 10s 2d].

The children's allowances were paid to their mother, typically until they reached 16 when such payments ceased [occasionally up to 21 if they were in some form of further vocational training or sometimes if they had impairment/disability - not visible here] - then the children would certainly be expected to go out to work to earn their keep. Or paid until the earlier death of a child. 

N/S is thought to perhaps mean 'Non-Standard’ i.e. special treatment/calculation.

S.A. means Separation Allowance - A portion of a soldier's pay which was matched by the government and sent to his dependants to make sure they were not left destitute while he was on active service.  SA were often more generous than pensions and children’s allowances because a wife had to maintain a home ready for her husband’s return whilst a widow did not have such a need and costs – after all, apparently, she could then cut back and down-size her home!!

50F is Form 50F used to cease the Separation Allowance and start the pension.

DEAD,1934 indicates the claim became dead eventually - likely because her youngest child reached 16 in 1934. But, makes one wonder what had happened to his widow - had she perhaps died or had she perhaps remarried and had her pension stopped??

There a few other pensions admin annotations but probably not now of much significance really.

Hope your son's trip goes well and is suitably informative all round.

M

Edited 11 July , 2022 by Matlock1418
strike edits and to consolidate corrections

[SimonMi]

Thank M for your reply, as I start to trace Herbert's past, thanks to your very informative account, as well as another detailed reply I received from the Royal Fusiliers Museum, I'm beginning to get a clear picture on Herbert's military life and others - the hell they all went through.

I was informed Herbert was originally with 10th bn, RWR, and most likely wounded/hospitilised and when he was healed, he was sent to join the 16th bn RWR.

So you mention "The original Chelsea Hospital Case No. 3210 claim", does that imply that Herbert was sent back to England to convalesce and possibly went home?

He must have been in England around Christmas,1916, as his youngest child was born on 29/09/17.

Once again, thank you for your response - connecting with my family's past has been quite moving.

Simon

 

[ss002d6252]

5 hours ago, Matlock1418 said:

 

The original Chelsea Hospital Case No. 3210 claim reference was later replaced by a Ministry of Pensions one of 6/APW/3434 [the 6 representing pension region 6 - West Midland Region, and APW the Alternative Pension Widow's with a case number of 3434 - the widow would have had to produce some sort to evidence that her husband’s earnings before his service were sufficiently high to entitle her to a higher widow's pension rate]  APW details recorded on the other card posted here.

Which record shows the 3210 reference?

Craig

[PRC]

Hi @SimonMi and a belated welcome to the forum

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website shows 62 fatalities of the 16th Battalion on the 9th October 1917. Most like Herbert have no known grave, (although they may be buried under a headstone showing Unknown British Soldier), and are remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

However a few were found postwar on the battlefield, most likely where they fell. All the map references are to found on Sheet 28. To put things in context on the same map:-
Hooge Crater Cemetery is shown at Sheet 28 I.18.a.9.5
Tyne Cot Cemetery is shown at Sheet 28 D.17.a.00.25
And the B.Smith of the 2nd KOSB died 4th October 1917 refered to in the post of the 31st October 2019 was originally found at Sheet 28 J.16.c.7.0

If you check the Commonwealth War Grave Commission webpage for each of the following 16th Battalion men you will see there are a number of original documents. One of these is a Concentration Report – a list of bodies recoved and moved to a location the CWGC could maintain. By cross-referring to the Grave Registration Report, also attached, you can also usually identify the final resting place of the others recovered at the same time.

It doesn’t always make for pleasant reading, and the work itself of clearing the battlefields took a terrible toll on those involved.

Private 17604 William Barker was found in May 1919 at Map reference J.16.c.9.0 under a stake marked “E.X.” with a letter attached. The same location turned up an Unknown Officer and a Private Leonard Hayes. They were moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery and occupy graves VIA. L.1, 2, and 4.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/457403/w-barker/
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/4032573/leonard-hayes/

Private 202908 William Charles. Collier, originally believed to be of B Company, 5th Battalion, was identified from his paybook when his body was found in early summer 1920 at J.16.c.0.1. The same small 50 yard by 50 yard area that map reference represents turned up at least one unknown British Soldier, now buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery in Plot H. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/457742/w-c-collier/

Private 12009 Thomas Golding was identified from a postcard when his body was found at J.17.c.2.8. He was move to Tyne Cot Cemetery in early 1921. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/462906/t-golding/

Private 28531 Albert Howard Green was identified from his disc when his body was found in April 1919 at J.16.c.2.3.He was moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/458135/albert-howard-green/

Lieutenant John Hughes M.C. was identified from a letter on his body when it was discovered in December 1920. He was found at map reference J.16.c.0.1  He now lies in Tyne Cot Cemetery, in grave LVII.E.30.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/463273/j-hughes/

Private 200442 Harry James was identified by his disc when his body was found in spring 1919 at map reference J.22.a.2.3. He was moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/458383/harry-james/#&gid=2&pid=1

Lieutenant Wilfrid Evelyn Littleboy was identified by his disc when his body was found in June 1919 at J.16.c.1.0. He was moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/458570/wilfrid-evelyn-littleboy/

Private 18018 William Thomas Marshall was identified from his disc when he was found in mid-1920 at J.16.c.9.4. He too was moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery along with a number of unknown British soldiers. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/458788/w-t-marshall/

Private 32631 James Denly Mills was initially identified from his disc as serving with the 6th Dragoons when his body was found in November 1920 at J.17.c.50.25. The area being searched turned up a number of Unknown British Soldiers. All were re-interred at Tyne Cot Cemetery. Soldiers Died in the Great War records that James was formerly 33148 in the Corps of Dragoons.

Concentration Report Image courtesy the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/463969/j-d-mills/

Private 32472 Harold Moorcroft was found in May 1919 at J.16.c.8.0 and identified by a disc and a locket. He was moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/458865/h-moorcroft/

Private 32985 John Simpson was found with his disc in too insanitary a state to be able to remove. The legible details were believed to be 32986 P. – PSON (or something similar) of the “18th H”. Found in May 1919 at J.16.c.8.0  he was moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/459290/j-simpson/

Private 32918 Alfred (John) Stimpson was found at J.16.c.8.2, period not known, and identified by his disc. The same area turned up a DCLI soldier, an unknown British Soldier who it was hoped could be identified by a letter found on the body and an unknown British soldier with nothing to identify him. They were all moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/459382/a-stimpson/

Private 15/1621 William Thomas Upton was found at J.22.a.2.5 in April 1919.  The surrounding area brought to light a number of unknown British and Australian soldiers. They were all moved to Hooge Crater Cemetery.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/459533/william-thomas-upton/

@WhiteStarLineGiven how shortly your son will be at Tyne Cot I wonder if we can prevail upon forum member @WhiteStarLine to map the location of those recovered men in relation to Polderhoek Chateau – or indeed anyone else with the requisite skills  

In summary:-

J.16.c.0.1 – Collier, Hughes
J.16.c.1.0. - Littleboy
J.16.c.2.3.  -  Green
J.16.c.8.0. – Moorcroft, Simpson
J.16.c.8.2. - Stimpson
J.16.c.9.0. – Barker, Hayes
J.16.c.9.4.  - Marshall
J.17.c.2.8. – Golding
J.17.c.50.25  - Mills
J.22.a.2.3. – James
J.22.a.2.5. - Upton

Of course this area was fought over many times by many units so impossible to say which of those Unknown British Soldiers might be 16th Battalion men who fell on the 9th. But as the CWGC has a policy that they won’t agree to exhumation for the purpose of dna testing, then “adopting” one of these unknowns may be the closest you will get.

BTW the CWGC currently have an error on their website showing Herbert Shrimpton serving with the 19th Battalion although their own document the Memorial Register shows him with the 16th. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/829454/herbert-edward-shrimpton/

You may want to request they change that – they made quite a few mistakes when they initially set up their website.
Scroll down to the bottom of this page on their website to access the form to request an amendment. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/about-our-records/

NB  - as he didn’t turn up in my original search that makes 63 fatalities.

Hope that is of interest

Peter

Edited 11 July , 2022 by PRC
Typos

[WhiteStarLine]

7 hours ago, PRC said:

map the location of those recovered men in relation to Polderhoek Chateau

Very close indeed!  Click to enlarge, but first a quick word on precision.

Maps like this can be misleading as it looks as if you could pinpoint the actual spot.  For most of these exhumations, disregarding errors made by the battlefield recovery team and in the modern conversion, the closest you can get is a 2500 square yard area (50 x 50 yards).  For Mills, the location narrows to 5 x 5 yards (25 square yards).  @PRC mentions how awful this work was and getting an accurate reference may not have been their highest priority.

28.J.16.d.17.23    Polderhoek Chateau  lat: 50.841597, lon: 2.995939

28.J.16.c.0.1      Collier, Hughes     lat: 50.840991, lon: 2.988339

28.J.16.c.1.0      Littleboy           lat: 50.840587, lon: 2.989000

28.J.16.c.2.3      Green               lat: 50.841828, lon: 2.989613

28.J.16.c.8.0      Moorcroft, Simpson  lat: 50.840641, lon: 2.993544

28.J.16.c.8.2      Stimpson            lat: 50.841463, lon: 2.993520

28.J.16.c.9.0      Barker, Hayes       lat: 50.840648, lon: 2.994193

28.J.16.c.9.4      Marshall            lat: 50.842292, lon: 2.994145

28.J.17.c.2.8      Golding             lat: 50.844035, lon: 3.002536

28.J.17.c.50.25    Mills               lat: 50.841797, lon: 3.004550

28.J.22.a.2.3      James               lat: 50.837718, lon: 2.989734

28.J.22.a.2.5      Upton               lat: 50.838540, lon: 2.989710

[SimonMi]

Hi Peter and WhiteStarLine,

That is quite incredible information you both have provided, thank you for your time. I will send copy (whatsapp) of map to my son. I dropped him off at school at 5am, now he is travelling to France. Yesterday, my aunt managed to find a photo of Herbert with his wife, son and daughter. It is quite amazing how much information is coming forward in such a short time. I found reading all 11 names of the 16th bn a common connection with Herbert and tried to imagine that day.

I have requested the change, thanks Peter for the link.

 

Simon

[Matlock1418]

On 10/07/2022 at 17:16, SimonMi said:

So you mention "The original Chelsea Hospital Case No. 3210 claim", does that imply that Herbert was sent back to England to convalesce and possibly went home?

On 10/07/2022 at 19:05, ss002d6252 said:

Which record shows the 3210 reference?

Sorry, my apology - 3210 is a massive typo/mistake [was tryng to juggle a couple of topics. ]  Hope I have got it right this time = 2510

No, it does not imply that he actually went to the Chelsea Hospital - It's just that CH were originally administering his and other pension claims and using their numbering system before the Ministry of Pensions later took over and started to use their own particular method.  Edit:  2510 was a MoP reference

M

Edited 11 July , 2022 by Matlock1418
Strike -See correct info provided below

[ss002d6252]

4 hours ago, Matlock1418 said:

Sorry, my apology - 3210 is a massive typo/mistake [was tryng to juggle a couple of topics. ]  Hope I have got it right this time = 2510

No, it does not imply that he actually went to the Chelsea Hospital - It's just that CH were originally administering his and other pension claims and using their numbering system before the Ministry of Pensions later took over and started to use their own particular method.

M

Easily done.

#2510 in this case seems to be the widows branch reference rather than a Chelsea one.

Craig

[Matlock1418]

22 minutes ago, ss002d6252 said:

#2510 in this case seems to be the widows branch reference rather than a Chelsea one.

@SimonMi

Again I must apologise for my error and my recent further rather muddled thinking.

I thank Craig for providing the correction on the subject of 2510 [He is the GWF expert on pensions]

M

[Pat Atkins]

Herbert Shrimpton's wife made an enquiry to the Red Cross as to whether he had been taken prisoner by the Germans; the answer was no, of course ("Nègatif envoyé 14.5.18"), but it does tell us he served in D Coy and suggests that he wasn't immediately reported as killed in action. Picture of his IRCRC card courtesy of https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/.

Edited 11 July , 2022 by Pat Atkins

[SimonMi]

 

16 minutes ago, Matlock1418 said:

@SimonMi

Again I must apologise for my error and my recent further rather muddled thinking.

I thank Craig for providing the correction on the subject of 2510 [He is the GWF expert on pensions]

M

@Matlock1418 No worries, just so grateful on all the detail coming through.

@Pat AtkinsThank you for that, I guess Charlotte was hopeful that 'missing' meant there was a slight possibility he was still alive.

another interesting piece of the puzzle

[Pat Atkins]

Yes, it's not at all uncommon to find "Nègatif envoyé" cards in such circumstances; they're very poignant. Poor woman. Good luck with your research.