6th Northants man - 18382 Pte George Ernest Stanley - Killed at Trones Wood?

[Jim Hastings]

Dear All,

I am researching a cousin of my nan, the above George Stanley of the 6th Northants, a Wellingborough area man, and luckily his service docs survive and he is well covered on both Ancestry and FWR with documentation. He is listed as being KIA on 13th July 1916, although he is regarded as 'Missing' until Sep / Oct 1916. There is nothing in the 6th Northants war diary about casualties on the 13th, he being listed the only one on CWGC from his battalion, but so many of his comrades were killed on the following day assaulting Trones Wood he was surely killed then? His body was never recovered and he is listed on the Thiepval Memorial. 

He also goes over to France on 17th September 1915, but according to records does not join the 6th until the November? Seems a long spell? (I know records can be wrong as my own service record had me down as working in the Motor Transport section of my Battery and an Arctic Driving instructor and I never was either ... turns out a confusion with my room mate!)

I suppose considering the events on the 14th a lone casualty on the 13th would be overlooked, but the WD seems very thorough. It could be such discrepancies were / are in fact a commonality. 

Appreciate any advice / direction, meanwhile I'll keep digging through the docs.

All the best

Jim

[ss002d6252]

33 minutes ago, Jim Hastings said:

suppose considering the events on the 14th a lone casualty on the 13th would be overlooked, but the WD seems very thorough. It could be such discrepancies were / are in fact a commonality. 

It's not uncommon to see even comprehensive dairies fail to record deaths, even where the would ordinarily do so, but...

The date of the 13th may simply be the last date he was known to be alive - if that was the last roll call before he was killed then it's not uncommon for that to be used for CWGC purposes, especially so where a man was marked as missing and the exact date could not be stated. The battalion diary would not record him as being killed on the 13th, as at the time it was compiled he was alive, but diaries also tended not to run from 00:00 - 23:59 for record purposes, rather something like 09:00 - 08:59, which can also cause confusion.

Craig

[Jim Hastings]

Hi Craig.

Thanks very much. He could, looking at the WD again been part of either C or D Coys sent up to Dublin Trench late on the 13th, and somewhere between  Maricourt and there his last official 'sighting' ? No doubt we will never truly know. 

Two months 'in country' before going to Battalion seems odd too, but maybe its just that I've never come across such a stretch before

Thanks again

Jim