CQMS William Hustwayte Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

[Bordercollie]

I came across William Hustwayte (alias Jack Rayner) while working on the Alias Project.  His pension record card gives his cause of death as “chronic bronchitis and dropsy contr’d on Active Service”. He died on 10/4/16 and was discharged on 10/11/15.  I could find no CWGC record for him and so I thought he might be a non-commemoration case.

Fortunately some of his service records  have survived.  These show that he enlisted in the 12^th Lancers in 1884 under his alias, Jack Rayner, and served seven years with the colours followed by five years on the reserve. Then some eight years after completing his reserve service he re-enlisted with the special reserve of the Royal Irish Rifles for service as an instructor sergeant.  This time he enlisted under his true name and so perhaps he is not directly of interest to the Alias Project but I have recorded his details on the basis that he might be of interest.

His discharge papers indicate that he was discharged in November 1915 due to a heart condition arising from “ordinary military service”.  The medical board took the view that he was too old for the rigours of the work upon which he had been employed. He served with 11^th (Service) Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers between 22/9/14 and 17/4/15 and the remainder of his service was with 12^th (Reserve) Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.  So he had been posted out of the 11^th Battalion before they left for France and it looks as though the pension record card is a little misleading.

I am not now sure whether this is a case of non-commemoration and I would welcome an expert opinion.  

[Terry Denham]

He could qualify depending on his cause of death.

 

His record shows his heart disease was due to or aggravated by service so if he died by 31.08.21 of this heart condition, he could qualify. You will need his death certificate to progress.

 

Note that simply contracting an illness during service which proves fatal after discharge is not the qualification. It has to be proven to have been 'due to' or 'aggravated by' service and not merely 'contracted during'.

[Bordercollie]

Thanks Terry for the advice, I will see if I can track down a death certificate although I am not sure what sort of service the GRO is able to offer at present.