CWGC- UNKNOWN SOLDIERS/REGIMENTS-LISTS?

[Guest]

Pray pardon if this is a hoary old topic with an obvious answer.

 

          CWGC  website lists names- either where the man is buried or where he is listed on a memorial to the missing (Thiepval et al).  The cemetery descriptions also contain the basic statistics of named and unknown graves.

BUT- the "unknowns" come in 2 main groups- the entirely unknow-"A Soldier of the Great War known unto God"= OR, Unknown but with whatever could be discovered of his identity- "A Corporal of the Black Watch", "A Soldier of the Middlesex Regiment"

 

     Now-the question- Is there any listing anywhere of what these unknwons are by regiment, corps, nationality, etc. Reason for asking- Looking at the GRU listings on CWGC and the concentration reports, if looks as though many casualties were listed as unknowns but almost certainly from a particular regiment or particular action

 

    So-hypothetical example-  The Blankshires lose 23 men in one action- 5 have known graves (identified by post-war GRU from some personal effect)  but 18 are listed as Unknown. Thus, reasonable- if unknowns by regiment can be discovered somehow- that a casualty of that date,place and regimentis likely to be on an Unknown" grave-perhaps with regiment and/or rank in that particular cemetery

 

        Constructing a Roll of Honour for Wanstead in East London, I have one casualty identified by initials on his knife when a group of bodies was concentrated-but, pound to a penny, the other unknowns in the same grave are from the same regiment and killed at the same time.

 

     It would be good to be able to write up the "missing" not only with which "missing" memorial they are on but also if there is a high likeliehood that they are an "unknown of a particular regiment in a separate grave in a cemetery.

 

     Short of asking CWGC for an answer for a particular cemetery from time to time- or visiting- is there any source which lists "unknowns" in cemeteries in more details- by regiment,rank,etc.

   My recollection is that this is one of the ways in which Lt John Kipling was identified(OK,its an ongoing debate-but it serves to make the point)

 

            I dont want to go into micro-history to show that Casualty X must be so-and.so because he is the only Captain of the London Rifle Brigade when all other named casualties are from a particular day-BUT being able to say that a casualty is likely to be an unnamed of a particular regiment in a particular cemetery would help.

 

             Any thoughts???

 

             

[trajan]

I have no idea if this type of thing has ever been attempted but it is certainly a road worth travelling. Logically it follows that a group of chaps found buried together are somehow associated, and so perhaps / probably the same unit, but given all the churning over of the fields on the F&F front over that 4 year period there can never be any certainty on this.

[GrahamC]

 

 

Lieutenant Kingdon Tregosse Frost was one of the Officers k.i.a. on 24 August 1914 during the 1/Cheshires heroic stand at Audregnies. His grave  in  Wiheries Churchyard was unidentified for about 80 years, but (pertinent to your initial query) bore the inscription "Unknown Officer 1914" and the Cheshire badge.

 

Thanks to the work of Alan Gregson, using the sort of deduction you are suggesting, Lt. Frost was finally given the recognition he deserves on 24 August 1994.

 

You can read more about this process on Lt. Frost's page on my "Grandads War" website - here - with apologies for the quality of the site in parts, it is in need of some updating, but such a process takes a long time.

 

Hope this helps

 

Graham