map reference of original burial site

[Walter Kortooms]

Hello,

I’m researching an officer who was killed in 1917. Soon after his death his family were given the map reference of his burial site. His grave was obviously lost during the war, because he is mentioned on a memorial for the missing.

Is it possible to obtain/buy a list from the C.W.G.C. which names all the soldiers that were found at a specific map reference.

Thanks,

Walter Kortooms

[Terry Denham]

Walter

You cannot simply buy a list from CWGC of original burial sites because this information is not held on their database. The original burial returns are still held in paper form - where they still exist.

Send an enquiry to CWGC giving the name of your casualty and the map ref. and ask what information they can add.

[munce]

What was the criteria to be classed as 'missing'? I ask because my great-uncle was a similar case to the man Walter's researching, in that his original grave was destroyed during further fighting. He is now commemorated on a special memorial, rather than being 'missing', and because of this I took the term 'missing' to refer only to those who were never found, identified, and buried.

[Terry Denham]

You are correct in believing that 'missing' means just that.

It should only apply to those never found at all - although, in truth, they may have been found but not identified. The term would encompass those originally found and buried in isolated or temporary graves but who could not be found again during later battlefield clearances. Their names appear on CWGC's memorials to the missing.

Special Memorials are used for casualties who had been found, identified and buried in a known location (usually a battlefield cemetery) which was later destroyed causing the bodies to not be found during later searches. These SMs are placed in another cemetery but refer to the true burial location by means of a superscription naming the original cemetery. These men are not 'missing' and their names do not appear on CWGC memorials to the missing.