D.W.M.C. - Any ideas please? DWMC acronym - possible Eastbourne link?

[johnboy]

I am totally lost now. How did we come to this new man?

[johnboy]

Seen it now. I was concentrating on the two original men.

Soldiers Effects shows Dewdney as died St. Leonards on Sea.

[charlie962]

15 hours ago, TEW said:

The Devon War Memorial bears no names. Why then would the Graves Commission identify certain individuals to the Devon War Memorial Committee?

TEW 

see post 19,24 and 26

[MaxD]

The clear inference is that it was the Graves Commission checking with the Devon War Memorial Committee's roll of honour which formed part of the memorial.  While I can't give an example, I have seen GRU forms that indicate it was information from the family that confirmed the presence of an individual in a particular place - a similar sort of process.

 

Max

[johnboy]

I am still not convinced surely the headstone itself was enough for id?  Anyway , iwill leave it alone for now but keep watching in case some documentary evidence is found.

[RaySearching]

 Let’s recap

 

 

We have a small number of soldiers who died of illness in hospital of measles, pneumonia ect

Or at home following a hospital admission

 

They all appear to be on a manual database, no computers in those days

The details of their deaths accessible or passed on to the CWGC who have annotated their records with  D.W.M.C

 

Hospitals at the turn of the century used a manual filing system, Patients records kept on ledger cards

Not dissimilar to the recently saved pension cards by the Western Front association

 

Each patient had a medical card generated on admission giving details of the illness, treatment and if a patient later died the date of his death along with the cause, the cards would have been filed in a ledger

 

I believe the M.C on the acronym is Medical Card

 

It possible that these details on the card or a copy of the cards were passed on to the GCWC who annotated

There records with D.W.M.C

 

 D.W.M.C = Details With Medical Card ? or something similar

 

Nothing at all to do with any war memorial committee

There was literally hundreds of war memorial committee’s formed after the war

they don’t appear on any CWGC document to my knowledge   

 

 All we need to do is find the evidence, at present non is forthcoming

 

Ray

[MaxD]

There is also no evidence that any of the other imaginative terms suggested so far to fit the initials existed anywhere.  I draw no conclusion from this statement.

 

Max

[charlie962]

The fact that Devon War Memorial Committe went into such detail and actually bothered to distinguish Hospital deaths in their Roll seems to me highly unusual and thus to me (alone ?) seems to justify their being the source of the CWGC refs !

 

Charlie

[johnboy]

can you post a pic or link to Devon War Memorial Committe  Roll

Edited 2 March , 2020 by johnboy

[charlie962]

Just now, johnboy said:

n you post a pic or link to Devon War Memorial Committe  Roll

Unfortunately no, and I would be interested to see if one of the three Rolls is accessible- and even better if there is an archive of the working papers !!

 

But as I said above,

8 hours ago, charlie962 said:

see post 19,24 and 26

which tells you the detail they went into.

 

Charlie

[johnboy]

I think  I read that the Devon Memorial, Exeter has no names?

[charlie962]

7 minutes ago, johnboy said:

I think  I read that the Devon Memorial, Exeter has no names?

If you did then it was incorrect in that although names (11,000) are not inscribed on the memorial they are all in the Roll of which one copy was put in the foundations

[johnboy]

So no evidence at all. 

[charlie962]

Just now, johnboy said:

So no evidence at all. 

??

[johnboy]

If the Roll was put into the foundations it is gone.

[charlie962]

Have you read the newspaper reports ?

[johnboy]

 No, I haven't. I have FMP if you can post a link

[charlie962]

9 hours ago, charlie962 said:

see post 19,24 and 26

You should be able to find the full articles by searching FMP newspapers for these, particularly 1921

[Rewe-Netherexe]

There were 3 copies of the Devon Roll of Honour - foundation of memorial, Exeter Cathedral & County Council which is now (I believe) at Devon Heritage Centre. Will enquire when I am next there (in a week or two probably).

 

There is a SEPARATE Exeter memorial in Northernhay Gardens as 'The city and county memorial committees conspicuously failed to co-operate.'

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon_County_War_Memorial

 

Paul

[MaxD]

The significant point that Charlie makes is that the evidence of a link (which for the record I believe did exist in these cases) would most likely be in an exchange of correspondence that may be as short as one letter with one reply.  The chances of that correspondence surviving are vanishingly small if not non-existent.  Even their names on the roll of honour does not prove that particular  link.

 

Without that evidence one would, as a lawyer might say, have to take a view.   Four instances of DWMC, one of them with the phrase "DWMC records give Sapper RE" (ie someone has looked at those records and reports that they "give Sapper RE".  Three men died in service, one 18 months after discharge.  Two died in Sussex, one in Kent and one in Devon.  The common denominator is that they all, ven the Canadian, had a Devon connection.  Perhaps I am easily satisfied but that is enough to convince me that the initials are most likely to be those of the Devon War Memorial Committee.

 

If Paul is able to find such correspondence or reference to it in the Devo Archives that would be great.  Awaiting events!

 

Mx

 

 

[PhilB]

But, on the assumption that many counties would have had such a committee (WMC), shouldn’t there be similar references to the other counties? Or have they simply not been looked for?

[MaxD]

Can't really answer that.  Until this thread I had never seen that set or similar initials but there will be others who have looked at many more grave registration forms than I have who may be able to comment.  

 

Max

 

 

 

 

 

[charlie962]

7 hours ago, PhilB said:

But, on the assumption that many counties would have had such a committee (WMC), shouldn’t there be similar references to the other counties?

Max has expanded on the point well but I would add that I am of the impression from the unusual level of detail entered into by Devon that they were able to be a better reference than (most,) other counties. How many of you have searched War Memorials and found that the local organisers included such a level of detail as itemised in post 24 and 26 above? I repeat that that Hospital Deaths flag** must be exceptional.  Very often one is lucky even to find that the service number has been preserved. I suspect, from having seen quite a lot of questions posed on this forum, that Devon were well above the norm.

 

Charlie

**(Paul may trace a copy of the Roll and be able to test this for his Hospital Deaths)

 

Edited 3 March , 2020 by charlie962

[MaxD]

Charlie - a valuable expansion, such a thought was at the back of my mind also.

 

Max

[TEW]

Well, I hope a copy of the roll turns up somewhere, I've trawled the Devon Heritage Centre's catalogue and only found programs for the unveiling ceremony. They have now finished their 'Devon Remembers First World War Collection' event which I'm sure would have at least catalogued the roll and inspired someone to photograph or transcribe it.My guess is that they don't have a copy.

 

Also just search Cathedral Archives and only found 2 refs to a wooden model on the proposed site.

 

I note the two unburied copies were handed to the Dean & Chapter and Sir Henry Lopes, chair of Devon County Council. Nothing on their website either.

TEW