I am researching William John Batchelor RA Gunner 1827534 buried in Ranchi. Died 17/5/43. Buried in Plot 1 Row F Grave 8. To his right (F7) is Gnr. A Greet RA 9th Fld Rg. died 10/5/43. To his left (F9) Lt. W Sweby RAMC died 19/5/43. Grave F6 F Falconer Queens Royal Regt. died 2/5/43. Grave F5 C Young RA 51 Fld Reg. died 28/4/43 This being plot 1, should I be correct to assume that the burial was soon after the man's death, rather than being concentration burials after the war? Also being widely spaced, should I assume they were deaths from illness or injury in hospital? Could the RA deaths be related from the same military action somewhere? Did those units fight together somewhere prior to end of April 43? Many thanks for your ideas.
Hi Jamesday + Welcome. Here are the 2 RA Field Regts in 43. Rob. 9th Field Regt RA 1942-43 India 39th + 20th Ind Div. 1943-45 Burma 20th Ind Div. 51st (Westmorland+Cumberland Yeo) Field Regt RA. 1942-43 Ceylon, India 16th Inf Bde, 34th Idn + 70th Inf Div. 1943-44 India Special Forces. They both served together in RANCHI. The 9th were in HAZARIBAGH in Mar 43,RANCHI in Aug 43 and the 51st RANCHI in Feb 43-on
Thank you Rob. So both units were based in or near (50 miles or so) Ranchi. There was no fighting going on in the area as it was the HQ miles from the action in Burma. There was no great stream of casualties coming in with large numbers of deaths. So to me it looks like they succumbed to illnesses which were very prevalent at the time I believe. Does this seem a reasonable theory? thanks
Have you read this? CWGC :: Cemetery Details The cemetery was begun on 1 June 1942 by the army, and used until the end of the war. Afterwards graves from isolated positions and small inaccessible cemeteries were brought in, and in 1952, more than 200 graves were transferred to the cemetery from twelve civil cemeteries. Ranchi is the smallest 'concentration' cemetery in India.
Hi All I managed to track down his daughter who was 5 when he died. Apparently he caught smallpox on the troopship on the way out to India, became very ill and died soon after landing there. Smallpox seems to have been much more common then. Perhaps he caught it on one of the shore leave jaunts during a stopover in Africa.
Grave F5 C Young RA 51 Fld Reg. died 28/4/43 James, the 51st Field regt, ended up serving as Chindits as an Infantry Regt, along side 69th Field Regt, but I think from previous research that Ive done it was after this date of death. 51 (Westmorland & Cumberland Yeo) Field Regt, who were transfered to To 51st Column in 10/43, and are listed as serving as follows Carlisle 1938 - 42 Div UK 1939-40 - 42, 46 Inf Divs Norway 1940 (1 bty) N Africa 1940-1 - W Desert Force (13 Corps Troops & 6 Aust Div) Tobruk 1941 - 9 Aust Inf Div N Africa 1941 - 8 Army Troops (Army Fd Regt) Ceylon, India 1942-3 - 16 Inf Bde, 34 Indian & 70 Inf Divs India 1943-4 - Special Force Burma 1944 - 51 Colm 16 LRP Bde (Chindits) http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/allied-units/22208-51st-bty-69th-field-regiment-royal-artillery.html Gunner C Young, R.A. Listed as having Died (probably illness me thinks) The Times, Friday, Jun 30, 1944; pg. 7; Issue 49896; col E http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/Fetch?banner=4b51718f&digest=317afccc1418db4e48535e5c8f8a2dfe&contentSet=LT&recordID=0FFO-1944-JUN30-007-F&highlight=ff99ff+1+3047+5267+100+30+3140+5269+71+27&format=png&scale=0.330&crop=906+35+230+2023
The Times, Monday, Oct 25, 1943; pg. 6; Issue 49685; col F http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/Fetch?banner=4b51718f&digest=317afccc1418db4e48535e5c8f8a2dfe&contentSet=LT&recordID=0FFO-1943-OCT25-006-F&highlight=ff99ff+1+3822+5417+139+32+3955+5417+73+33&format=png&scale=0.330&crop=1194+34+244+2129
The Times, Tuesday, Dec 21, 1943; pg. 8; Issue 49734; col D http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/Fetch?banner=4b517460&digest=0e98dcbac1054add5d8a3e6536e9df34&contentSet=LT&recordID=0FFO-1943-DEC21-008-F&highlight=ff99ff+1+2560+5415+95+34+2647+5415+125+34&format=png&scale=0.330&crop=709+45+253+2277
Phil Very many thanks for that Times entry. Hadn't found that yet. Got the death cert. yesterday and it was definitely smallpox.
hi I'm looking for information on LONGSHAW, JAMES Service Number 3859444 Died 10/04/1943 Aged 25 1st Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment Buried in Ranchi Plot 1.e.6
