CWGC Headstone/Memorial Error Reports and results.

I have sent a mail to CWGC about this grave previously.It is even worse now.

WOOLFORD, JAMES ALFRED
Rank:
Gunner
Service No:
6853635
Date of Death:
21/06/1942
Age:
20
Regiment/Service:
Royal Artillery
Grave Reference:
Sec. 39. Grave 6177.
Cemetery:
HARROW CEMETERY
Additional Information:
Son of William Francis and Caroline Woolford. of Harrow.

 

Seems you are fighting a losing battle in many areas where cemetery administrative co-operation and pledges with the CWGC to keep these graves in a "nice" state is also being cut back due to financial problems.
They may maintain the entrances and drive/walk paths however leave other areas off the beaten track to revert to their natural state. I found the same situation when people were photographing my WW1 Air Force deaths in the UK in many of the very old cemeteries eg Kensal Green and Highgate where most were overgrown with Brambles and took a determined effort by my volunteer to have them cleared.

Thank God this is not the case in Australia however prolific vegetation growth in many areas is not a problem here except in the major public cemeteries where they have continual income.

Good luck with it and don't let it get you down - You do a magnificent job in "keeping alive" the memory of those who gave/lost their lives to keep us free whether at home or at the front.

Cheers

 

I know they have a never ending job


Thank you for your email of 18th October 2016 regarding the grave of Flight Lieutenant Donald Urquhart Lowson DFC, in Harrow (St. Mary) Lower Churchyard. Please accept my apologies for the delay in my reply.



Please note that your comments about the condition of the headstone were passed on to our Supervisor for Greater London. He has advised that the inscription was within our legibility standards when it was last inspected but he will check it again when he is next in the area.

its been the same for a number of years i sent photos to CWGC

 

The below would appear to be for CWGC standard headstone not private

"We aim that they are legible from a range of 2m [6ft 6in], which is usually where people will stand back to look.


Shielding Commonwealth war graves from the ravages of time - BBC News

 

Thank you for your reply, and for the photographs that you have provided regarding the graves of Aircraftman 2nd Class Robert Claude Carlton, Stoker 1st Class James Thomas John MacLeod, and Aircraftwomen 1st Class Annie Dorothy Hill.

In the UK, all war graves are inspected on an approximate 3-4 year cycle by Regional Supervisors who check for accessibility, legibility and damage.

In the cases of MacLeod and Carleton, both graves are marked with a private memorial presumably erected by their respective next of kin, and we would not have the authority to remove the private memorial and erect a war pattern headstone without the permission of the owner of the grave. Our concerns would be, however, that the name of a war casualty is legible on a private memorial for a commemoration to be considered as adequate. When a private memorial is inspected, if the casualty is no longer adequately commemorated, steps will be taken to remedy the situation.

Our records show that both Southall (Havelock) Cemetery and Southall (Hortus) Cemeteries were last inspected three years ago. In view of your comments regarding these three graves, as well as your concerns regarding the other war graves at these sites, I will copy our correspondence to the Regional Supervisor for his information and action where necessary.

In closing, I would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.

 

Can anyone find the burial location of a fellow commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial by any chance, please? The name is Rifleman Harry John Richards, KRRC, 10th (The Rangers) Battalion. He was one of six soldiers drowned while on exercise on Windermere in July 1945. The other five who lost their lives at the same time have their actual burial locations recorded by the Commission.

According to the newspaper article I came across, all six bodies were recovered so presumably the body of Rifleman Richards was taken back to his home area (wherever that may have been) for burial. These are the CWGC details:

Rifleman Harry John Richards
Name: RICHARDS, HARRY JOHN
Rank: Rifleman
Service No: 14450486
Date of Death: 20/07/1945
Regiment/Service: King's Royal Rifle Corps, 10th (The Rangers) Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 13. Column 2.
Memorial: BROOKWOOD 1939 - 1945 MEMORIAL
...................

What happened was that while going across the lake from Bowness Bay to Belle Isle, an assault craft capsized in a heavy gale, Three of the nine men aboard were rescued while the other six were unfortunately drowned.

The other five who died in the incident were:
Second Lieut. Rodney Nigel Holt, 20, buried at Southampton
Rifleman Henry Frank Albert Thorp, 18, commemorated at Mortlake Crematorium
Rifleman Reginald Ernest Taylor, 19, buried at Stratford-upon-Avon
Rifleman Ronald William Digby, age unknown, buried Willisden New Cemetery
Rifleman Jack William Weir, 19, buried at Kilchuiman Burial Ground.
...................

Perhaps someone else can trace where this fellow came from originally and narrow the search parameters.
Thanks

 

Looks to be London area.

Name: Harry Richards
Given Initials: H J
Rank: Rifleman
Death Date: 20 Jul 1945
Number: 14450486
Birth Place: London N
Residence: London (not otherwise specified)
Branch at Enlistment: Infantry
Theatre of War: United Kingdom
Regiment at Death: King's Royal Rifle Corps
Branch at Death: Infantry

 

RCG's info is from the UK Army Roll of Honour.

I have found death register entries for the ‘other’ five in the England & Wales Civil Death Index with the following entries:

Holt, Rodney Nigel /age 20 /District Westmorland S /Volume 10b Page 603
Thorp, Henry Frank Albert /18 /Westmorland S /10b 604
Taylor, Reginald Ernest /19 /Westmorland S /10b 603
Digby, Ronald William /21 /Westmorland S /10b 603
Weir, Jack William /19 /Westmorland S /10b 603

Harry John Richards is not there BUT what there is:
Richards, Harry C /19/Westmorland S /10b 604

Too much of a coincidence so I would stick my neck out and say this is him with the wrong initial.

There is a possible birth entry: Richards, Harry J /Mother =Richards /Camberwell /1d 1157
Only problem is that Camberwell is south not north London.

Getting late now, will do some more hunting another time, but perhaps this is getting close.

 

Panel from Brookwood attached
Rifleman Harry John Richards
Name: RICHARDS, HARRY JOHN
Rank: Rifleman
Service No: 14450486
Date of Death: 20/07/1945
Regiment/Service: King's Royal Rifle Corps, 10th (The Rangers) Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 13. Column 2.
Memorial: BROOKWOOD 1939 - 1945 MEMORIAL


Panel from Mortlake Crematorium attached
THORP, HENRY FRANK ALBERT
Rank:
Rifleman
Service No:
14455049
Date of Death:
20/07/1945
Age:
18
Regiment/Service:
King's Royal Rifle Corps
Grave Reference:
Panel 12.
Cemetery:
MORTLAKE CREMATORIUM
Additional Information:
Son of Henry James John and Dorothy Nellie Thorp, of Hammersmith, London.

Headstone attached
DIGBY, RONALD WILLIAM
Rank:
Rifleman
Service No:
14488921
Date of Death:
20/07/1945
Regiment/Service:
King's Royal Rifle Corps
10th (2nd Bn. The Rangers) Bn.
Grave Reference:
Sec. E. Grave 2123.
Cemetery:
WILLESDEN NEW CEMETERY

 

The mystery continues …..

The Lancashire Daily Post, Monday, July 23, 1945

Full personal details of the drowned men were revealed. They were 2nd Lieut. Rodney Nigel Holt, aged 20, of Mile End House, Romsey, Hampshire; and Rifleman Jack William Weir, aged 19, of View Mount, West Hill, Culloden, Inverness; Reginald Ernest Taylor, aged 19, of 45 Bordon-place, Stratford-on-Avon; Harry Cohen Richards, aged 19, of 48 Wedmore-street, Upper Holloway; Henry Frank Thorp, aged 18, of 19 Colvin-street, Hammersmith, and Ronald William Digby, aged 21, of 172 Doyle-gardens, Willesden.

The identity of the lieutenant in charge, who swam back across the lake and ran through fields to Bowness for help, was disclosed as Lieut. Dourish Evelyn Joel. He was praised by the Coroner for his action.

 

Worth dropping CWGC a line to ask them to confirm the name

middle name Cohen so perhaps changed in case he was sent to the front line?

there is a H C Richards (but Henry Charles) buried in a North London cemetery (Islington) but he died in Feb 1945 Royal Navy


regards
Clive

 

The incident is still topical in the local area, see:
http://www.nwemail.co.uk/Plaque-remembers-six-soldiers-who-drowned-in-lake-442e9b54-0ebd-4fd6-a734-4022d08a0a1e-ds
[Note, the text gives his first name as Harvey but the inscription on the plaque is Harry, the surname seems to be Cohen-Richard, I can find no trace of this surname anywhere]

Is it worth contacting the paper or the Windermere RBL?

Also
http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/13342651.Soldiers_drowned_in_1945_Windermere_training_exercise_to_be_remembered_on_Remembrance_Sunday/

I have also looked at the electoral registers for 48 Wedmore Street, there is a Gladys Richards there in 1950, but there are no Richards there in 1939 or 1947.

 

So Rifleman Richards was probably interred / cremated in the London area as that was his home area. The discrepancy about his middle name may have been the reason for his burial place not being correctly matched up after the war.

 

Perhaps Chris Harley could assist.
I sent a pm

 

I have noted this one on my Brookwood spreadsheet. I have checked the available on line cemetery searches for the London area & have not found him. I will see what else I can turn up.

 

Thanks to everyone for looking. It is rather difficult tracing the burial place without other information.

 

Private headstone completely weather worn
CWGC advised along with a number of others from Hanwell /Hanwell Kensinsgton/Chiswick old and Chiswick new
FRIES, FELIX THEODORE
Rank:
Officer Cadet
Service No:
1098392
Date of Death:
04/04/1942
Age:
29
Regiment/Service:
Royal Artillery
Grave Reference:
Block G. Grave 60.
Cemetery:
CHISWICK NEW CEMETERY

 

Thank you for your recent e mail concerning the private memorial marking the grave of Pilot Francis Walter Cale. Would you happen to have a photograph of the grave marker concerned? This would be most helpful if you have, and if so, could you forward it for my attention.

 

Thank you for your email.
It would be very helpful if you are able to send us a photographs of the private memorial.
We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Received from CWGC

Thank you for sending us a photograph of the private memorial of Pilot Officer Francis Walter Cale, in Hanwell (City of Westminster) Cemetery.


This will be passed on to the Area Office's Operations Team for their information.


Thank you again for bringing your concerns to our attention.