killed accidentally

[nilis11]

According to Soldiers died only 8 soldiers and 9 officers were officially recorded as "Killed Accidentally". This number seems rather small.

What were the criteria for this? Did anyone do some research on these men?

I have done some on Lt Dawson who was killed during bomb-throwing training behind the lines.

thanks

Niels

[KONDOA]

SDGW is not entirely accurate with regard to cause of death and few conclusions can be drawn from this. I have a war diary where in excess of this number were killed by dismantling German shells!!!

Roop

[Terry Denham]

In SDGW the term 'Died' covers both death through illness and through accident.

However, many men who died accidentally or through illness are missing from SDGW.

[Tom Morgan]

I suppose we need to be careful when looking at the "Soldiers Died....." causes of death. They are only as accurate as the original records from which the database was made. For example, Pte. Stewart Gardner, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, died a few hours after falling down the dark, steep stairs in his UK billet and fracturing his skull. "Soliders Died...." lists him as "Died" though there is no doubt that he died as the result of an accident. I'm sure that Pals could quote many other such examples. I don't think there were any official categories like "Died (accidentally)", "Killed (accidentally)" and "Drowned (accidentally)", all of which appear in "Soldiers Died......" so I imagine that these categories show up because some battalions' records were slightly more expansive than others in categorising causes of death.

I suspect there may be more accidental deaths than are recorded in "Soldiers Died...." though compared to the total number of soldiers who died in the war, the number of accidentals must still be small.

Tom

[jhill]

I have been perusing old newspapers and have noticed, bytimes, public controversies regarding pension benefits being related to the circumstances of the casualty. That is, at some times and in some places, a widow of a man killed in action might receive a greater pension than one whose husband had died accidentally or of disease.

I know such situations may not have been uniform, but the fact that they were the subject of public debate suggests to me that there may have be a tendency in many places to record deaths as "killed in action" , just in case.

I am, of course, speculating.

[6th Shropshires]

Hi Niels

Most of the men accidentally killed with the 6/K.S.L.I. are recorded in SD and C.W.G.C. as died.

Annette