Headstones

[Swally]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering?

After having done a good part of my family tree and having spent many an hour in graveyards I have just came across a thought.

My Great Uncle Robert Alexander died of wounds at Lagensalza P.O.W camp in Germany in 1918, he is buried at the cemetery over there.

He is named on the Great War Memorial in Bo'ness and his name appears on the headstone of his mother & father.

Why does he not have an individual headstone like so many others who lost their life?

any info would be greatly recieved,

Swally

[Coldstreamer]

if its as below, he does

Name: ALEXANDER, ROBERT

Initials: R

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: Royal Scots

Unit Text: "A" Coy. 16th Bn.

Age: 27

Date of Death: 13/05/1918

Service No: 39312

Additional information: Son of Thomas and Mary Alexander, of Bo'ness, West Lothian; husband of Joan C. Alexander, of 68, South Brae Drive, Jordan Hill, Glasgow.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: X. B. 6.

Cemetery: NIEDERZWEHREN CEMETERY

not unusual to have the soldiers name added to the grave in the Uk even though buried abroad

[Swally]

Coldstreamer,

thanks for the reply.

Yes I knew about the Commonwealth War Graves one, what I meant was why does he not have one at home?

cheers,

Swally

[59165]

Swally,if your uncle Robert died & was buried in Germany,how could he ,reasonably, have a headstone back home too?

He may be on a local war memorial in or near his home town,if thats what you mean.

Good luck either way,

Dave.

[PhilB]

Swally, did you think he was buried in Britain? Phil B

[Coldstreamer]

Ive seen a grave locally to a chap that was killed in action on 1st July - yet he is commemorated in France

My guess is that the family wanted a memorial closer to home

[Terry Denham]

You mean a commemoration locally rather than a grave. No men were repatriated after mid-1915.

[Coldstreamer]

Yes, to clarify

He has a grave stone (which is what i should have said and not just grave) with his details on it (KIA 1/7/16) in a churchyard in Castor , yet his body was never found and he is comm. in France

Im sure any one else that saw if would think he was buried there as normally youd expect some one to be buried if there is a grave stone with their name on it - it was only the KIA in made me look into it

[Greyhound]

I know of a similar case. Many years later the soldier's mother was buried in the grave, and her name was added to the stone; but it had been an empty grave for all those years, despite having a headstone.

[MartinWills]

It was very common practice to add the name of a loved one (husband; son etc) lost in the war as a name on a family grave by way of commemoration. Last years Burnley pals trip looked in detail at the local cemetery and found lots of these inscriptions. They are not graves as such, becuase the burial is elsewhere, they are just a family commemoration. Technically these count as war memorials and a significant number have been recorded by the National Inventory of War Memorials. If you come across any you may want to record them for the NIWM project.

[Chris_Baker]

A recent trip around my local cemetery - Milverton, part of Leamington - revealed about 30 such commemorations. All sons or fathers names, added to the graves of parents or wife.

[Swally]

Guys,

Thank you all for your replies,

maybe I was not clear in what I was asking-

His death is on his mother & father's headstone in Bo'ness Cemetery, he is also mentioned in the town's War Memorial plus he is on the CWWG site and I would imagine have a grave stone at the cemetery in Germany.

I know that he is not in the grave at Bo'ness, I can't imagine that they would have shipped his body home.

I was only wondering if he should / would have a gravestone with the regiment's crest placed alongside his parents.

thanks for the help-

Swally

[Coldstreamer]

Private "grave" they could do what they wanted

[ian turner]

Swally,

Your original question was clear enough.

The CWGC will only provide the one headstone at the actual grave site, whether that is for an overseas burial or a home burial.

If the casualty is buried overseas, then as you see from above, relatives are free to erect their own memorial headstone or include the name and details on another family member's stone, all at their own cost and on their own initiative.

But what does not happen is that the CWGC provide both. It is just the one headstone at the actual site of the burial.

If you have seen them at home (in the UK) then either they are actual CWGC headstones for actual burials, or they are a private stone acting as a memorial (or, I think, if so chosing, an actual home burial could have a private headstone). Sometimes private headstones are made to look similar to real CWGC headstones.

But the main point is private initiative rather than official duplication

Ian

[Uplandsboy49]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering?

After having done a good part of my family tree and having spent many an hour in graveyards I have just came across a thought.

My Great Uncle Robert Alexander died of wounds at Lagensalza P.O.W camp in Germany in 1918, he is buried at the cemetery over there.

He is named on the Great War Memorial in Bo'ness and his name appears on the headstone of his mother & father.

Why does he not have an individual headstone like so many others who lost their life?

any info would be greatly recieved,

Swally

Would you like a photo of your Great Uncle's Grave?

[Uplandsboy49]

Try http://www.filehigh.com/viewimg.php?f=38109&i=424636