Time of Death

[MDPMicahDominicParsons]

Hello everyone,

 

I have been undertaking some research on two soldiers who were killed in action who's dates were recorded as 10/03/1917 and were later changed to 11/03/1917. I was wondering when a roll call would have taken place when a battalion was in the line and if there was a period of time which I could establish a time of death for these two soldiers?

 

Best Wishes,

 

Micah Dominic Parsons

[ss002d6252]

Roll Calls would be done when they could.

 

If it happened in the general day to day routine then this sort of case is normally down to the way deaths were reported. The cut-off point for submitting deaths wasn't midnight - it was usually at some point in the morning, so it spanned two days. A death on the 10th could be reported in the return sent in on the 11th and thus the death, which actually happened on the 10th, could be dated the 11th.

 

If it happened during action - an offensive etc - the date of death is often just recorded as the next available roll-call. These deaths are sometimes recorded as a 'range'.

 

Craig

[Tom Tulloch-Marshall]

The "answer" to your question is that there is probably no definitive answer to your question. There are probably a dozen or more theories (or guesses) as to what the answer to your question is - if you are given any of those then ask for evidence - and then remember that there was a war on and rules and conventions only rarely worked in a front line environment.

Tom

[MDPMicahDominicParsons]

Hello everyone,

 

Thank you so much for your help. This is really interesting! I am guessing a roll call would be taken in the morning with any deaths being noted from the previous 24 hour period obviously this would change during times of offensive or defensive actions.

 

Thank you so much for your help.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Micah Dominic Parsons