Roger34 Posted 20 September , 2021 Share Posted 20 September , 2021 The first WW1 cemetery commemoration service for nearly two years is scheduled for 10:30am on Tuesday 28th September 2021 at Douchy-les-Ayette British Cemetery. The man being commemorated is Corporal 3023 Bertie Jeffs RFC who was KiA on Oct 10th 1916. The date of death of his pilot Sergeant 649 Ernest Haxton (who is buried beside Bertie) is also being corrected. This follows acceptance of the case presented for these two men by Tom Tulloch-Marshall and Jonathan Porter. The relevant authority say that they have “… no desire to limit numbers and truly want this rededication (the first for almost 2 yrs) to be well, but safely attended.” They also want to try to have an idea of the likely number of attendees “…so I can insure I order plenty of orders of service …”. If anybody here intends to attend the ceremony could they please advise. I’m told that the date of the ceremony came about because of changing operational commitments for 11 Squadron RAF, who will be sending currently serving representatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 20 September , 2021 Admin Share Posted 20 September , 2021 Seems a bit at odds with this announcement ? https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/events/autumn-2021-ceremonies/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 20 September , 2021 Share Posted 20 September , 2021 5 hours ago, Roger34 said: The relevant authority say that they have “… no desire to limit numbers and truly want this rededication (the first for almost 2 yrs) to be well, but safely attended.” "The relevant authority" is that CWGC or JCCC? I know that a ceremony is scheduled for Bertie Jeffs in the end of September but have no further details yet. They also stated that it could be cancelled at any moment when Covid regulations change. This could be rules in France, British rules for army personnel travelling into France, etc... Serious doubts here whether the "no desire to limit numbers" is correct considering the announcement on the websites of CWGC and JCCC (which is exactly the same) and the information that I have received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger34 Posted 20 September , 2021 Author Share Posted 20 September , 2021 Hello Michelle. That info came to me via another private online group. I understand the information doesn’t appear on any of the official websites and it has been stated that news of these ceremonies (including the one above) have not been advertised as a matter of policy because of Covid. I expect the two researchers will know more about the situation but neither of them seem to post here. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger34 Posted 20 September , 2021 Author Share Posted 20 September , 2021 1 hour ago, LDT006 said: "The relevant authority" is that CWGC or JCCC? I know that a ceremony is scheduled for Bertie Jeffs in the end of September but have no further details yet. They also stated that it could be cancelled at any moment when Covid regulations change. This could be rules in France, British rules for army personnel travelling into France, etc... Serious doubts here whether the "no desire to limit numbers" is correct considering the announcement on the websites of CWGC and JCCC (which is exactly the same) and the information that I have received. Hi. The info I have is that the authority is the JCCC at the Ministry of Defence and I’ve been told that despite announcements on their website the CWGC have no authority over ceremonies after commemorations have been approved. I can only tell you what has appeared elsewhere, though the source is consistently reliable. I’ve asked and I’m told that the “no desire to limit numbers” statement (etc) is a direct verbatim quote from a JCCC email about the Jeffs and Haxton ceremony on the 28th. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 20 September , 2021 Share Posted 20 September , 2021 Roger, ceremonies are indeed organized by JCCC. CWGC is only involved for maintaining the records and the cemetery. This is how I understand it but still have a problem with the “no desire to limit numbers” statement when nothing is announced on either websites and details are still not communicated to people who might or could be invited. Family, the researchers and local authorities will of course have all details and are invited. I wonder what the source is for "what has appeared elsewhere". Luc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger34 Posted 21 September , 2021 Author Share Posted 21 September , 2021 Hello Luc. I am advised that the statement “I have no desire to limit numbers and truly want this rededication (the first for almost 2 yrs) to be well, but safely attended.” was made in an email from the JCCC to a third party at 15:37 hrs 10/9/2021. Are you claiming that that is untrue ? Are you saying that the person who has now told me that is a liar ? Do please advise. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 21 September , 2021 Share Posted 21 September , 2021 No I don't. It looks weird to me that he seems to be the only one with the details of the ceremony and JCCC wants it well attended and no desire to limit numbers. A very strange method to invite people, that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 21 September , 2021 Share Posted 21 September , 2021 Update: The origin (with the full text) of the announcement is at The Aerodrome Forum: http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?p=757842#post757842 It seems that this was posted by one of the researchers who is inviting people, makes sense now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger34 Posted 21 September , 2021 Author Share Posted 21 September , 2021 The JCCC have now posted specific details of the 28th September ceremony on their website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mod-war-detectives-the-joint-casualty-and-compassionate-centre-commemorations-team-our-future-services-current-appeals-and-past-cases Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend because of work commitments. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger34 Posted 28 September , 2021 Author Share Posted 28 September , 2021 Interesting to see that of today’s date the CWGC is making no mention of tomorrow’s Bertie Jeffs commemoration. In fact the CWGC website sections “Commemorations”, “Calendar of upcoming events” and “Autumn 2021 ceremonies” effectively deny by omission that tomorrow’s commemoration is actually taking place. How strange is this ? Why have they done this ? Is the rumour possibly true that the CWGC are so embarrassed about their obstructiveness during the Bertie Jeffs case submission that they are doing all they can to deny the existence of the case ? Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDT006 Posted 28 September , 2021 Share Posted 28 September , 2021 It appeared on their website in the "News" section today after the ceremony took place............ https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/news/grave-of-royal-flying-corps-observer-killed-in-action-in-the-great-war-identified/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger34 Posted 4 October , 2021 Author Share Posted 4 October , 2021 Interesting to see that the founder of this forum has picked up on this case and tweeted as follows. It does seem to be very odd that the CWGC appear to want to deny that anybody but themselves and the MoD had anything to do with the investigations and identification. Why is that ? Has anybody else here experienced this as well ? Do neither of the named researchers post on this forum ? Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Regiano Posted 4 October , 2021 Share Posted 4 October , 2021 4 hours ago, Roger34 said: Do neither of the named researchers post on this forum ? I note you have asked this question previously and had no reply. One does not. As for the other - you need to ask the mods! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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