1st Royal Sussex Regiment - Died in Denmark 1919?

[SteveB]

Hi

I am interested in L/10005 Pte John Aukett, 1st Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment. Died  on 7th March 1919.

He is buried in Eastbourne, but the CWGC records, attached, state he died in Denmark. 

Any ideas how this would be the case?

Thanks a lot

Steve

[FROGSMILE]

I vaguely recall reading that as part of the Armistice conditions, British POWs who were ill in German hospital captivity, but where local conditions (effects of naval blockade) meant that they could not be adequately cared for, arrangements were made (I think by Red Cross) for them to be evacuated to medical facilities in neutral countries such as Denmark.  I suspect that might be the case here and that the man concerned succumbed to his ailments.  Quite a number were casualties of the German Spring 1918 offensive.

Edited 11 July , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[JWK]

http://www.thedanishscheme.co.uk/

On page 35 of the dissertation it says “By 13 January [1919] all British POWs had been cleared from the Danish rest camps and hospitals “

 

CWGC states that John Aukett "died of malaria contracted in Mesopotamia"

 

Could "Hospital Denmark" perhaps be the name of a British hospital?

 

"Soldiers returning from a wide diaspora were admitted with malaria to the London Hospital during 1918 and 1919 (Table 4). ":

https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2875-13-497

 

"King's College Hospital at Denmark Hill was requisitioned during WWI and became the Fourth London General Military Hospital."

https://www.kch.nhs.uk/wwi/wartime-history

 

 

 

 

 

[tootrock]

There is a John Aukett, died Jan/Feb/Mar 1919, death registered in Lambeth. Aged 24, same age as the man above according to CWGC Cemetery details.

His death certificate would confirm what the cause of death was.

Does not explain reference to Denmark though.

Martin

Edit: The 1st Bn Royal Sussex were apparently in India for the duration of the war, so death in Denmark very unlikely!

Edited 11 July , 2020 by tootrock
Further information

[Acknown]

According to his Pension Card (Fold3 by Ancestry via WFA), L/10005 Pte John Aukett, Royal Sussex Regiment died of influenza and pneumonia (no locations mentioned).

Acknown

[Acknown]

There is a family tree on Ancestry (click here) which states (without evidence) that he died on 7 Mar 1919 at the 4th London General Hospital in London. According to LLT, this was Maudsley Memorial Hospital at Denmark Hill.

Acknown

[FROGSMILE]

14 hours ago, Acknown said:

There is a family tree on Ancestry (click here) which states (without evidence) that he died on 7 Mar 1919 at the 4th London General Hospital in London. According to LLT, this was Maudsley Memorial Hospital at Denmark Hill.

Acknown

I think you’ve [with JWK] cracked it.  Died at Denmark Hill Hospital (which I know well) of Spanish Flu complicated by Pneumonia.  I think that that period of 1919 was the second wave of the Pandemic in Britain if I recall correctly?

Edited 12 July , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[SteveB]

Thanks for all your contributions, very pleased you  got to the bottom of it for me.

 

Cheers

Steve