WW2 Australian casualties - RAAF / RAF etc etc

Thanks for that - regarding "the clue that this is correct is that the registration district is Ruthin, you will see that CWGC record the reporting authority as Ruthin" - I still can't find him on CWGC

Can you provide a link?



Good info from the Grave photo link too: Charles Arthur Coatman - Air Ministry Lands Officer

 

Cheers - I will pass this on and see if it changes things regarding his status / acceptance

 

Hi DaveB

His probate

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
Name: Charles Arthur Coatman
Probate Date: 26 Nov 1942
Registry: Manchester, Chester, England
Death Date: 17 Jul 1942
Death Place: Cheshire, England


Oddly it does NOT say he died on 'Active service' or 'War Service' - and yet as can be seen at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=104436705&ref=acom all the others were service personnel.

It should also be noted that his gravestone is a CWGC Non War (Type 2 see attached image)
View attachment CWGC headstone shapes1.pdf

so perhaps that is why he does not appear in the CWGC register as they are only Type 1 - just a thought

TD

 

Thanks TD & DP - I have forwarded what you have provided so far to Chris Harley at the In From The Cold Project for his input.

Unless I'm missing some basic search function on CWGC I fail to see why two civilians on the aircraft were afforded Civilian War Dead status and one wasn't.

 

yes the headstone is type 2 non-war dead
CWGC will have details of it but not commemorated on their data base..
answer to a query I had a while back

The Commission maintains many Non-World War graves on behalf of the MOD as part of maintenance contract, as this is the case and as they are not part of our main remit; such graves do not appear on our website which is restricted to only those graves which are listed in our main records as War Graves

All the casualties you have requested information for are listed in our records as Non-World War Graves. Our duties are confined to commemorating the dead of the two world wars. We do not record any further information relating to such graves. If you would wish to obtain further information you can contact the MOD directly.

 

I never said Coatman was on CWGC. I pointed out that he and all the others were registered dead in the Ruthin district.

Every post on this forum has a ref number top right. (Except I see now when viewed on smartphone) No need to requote everything that is posted. Duplicates most of the thread.

 

With Coatman being a ministry civilian employee there is no reason his probate would state 'on active service'. The others on board were RAF or Army service personnel etc, hence, on active service.

 

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
Name: Brian Stanley Bannister
Probate Date: 6 Dec 1943
Registry: Belfast
Death Date: 17 Jul 1942
Death Place: Belfast



So I have included, at random the Probate for Flight Lieutenant Brian Stanley Bannister for comparison, but that does not show him 'Killed/Died on Active/War service'


One assumption therefore was that this was not essentially a 'military' flight, but more a 'civil' flight.

It would be of interest to see the death certificates to see the actual cause of death or more so I guess there may a coroners report - someone with access to newspaper archives may be able to help out there.
It does seem quite obvious though that the CWGC did not deem this an 'Active or War service' death irrespective of whether the person was military or civil.

TD

 

On the 29 January 1944, RAAF Boomerang A46-170 crashed on take-off from Charleville airfield and caught fire. The pilot was Flying Officer Anthony Kingsmill Brook (119531) RAF - his is the only war grave in that town.

 

Rank: Flying Officer
Trade: Pilot
Service No: 119531
Date of Death: 29/01/1944
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Grave Reference: C. of E. Plot. Sec 10. Allotment 30. Grave 2190.
Cemetery: CHARLEVILLE CEMETERY
Additional Information: Son of William Horace and Dorothy Everell Brook, of Weavering, Kent.

 

Posts 61 onwards above regarding Coatman - he has now been recognised as Civilian War Dead and loaded to the CWGC, well done Chris Harley

New CWGC Commemoration 16th August 2016

 

Sorry this is about ten years late but...........

Thomas was born in the Scottish Borders in 1921 and was educated in Eccles School in Berwickshire and at the Berwickshire High School in Duns before he became a Tax Officer with the Inland Revenue in Penrith, Cumberland in 1938. He joined the RAF in 1940, was sent to Southern Rhodesia for flight training.
His parents lived near the village of Birgham (near Coldstream but in the Parish of Eccles) and Thomas is remembered on the Birgham village, Eccles Parish and High School War Memorials

Ken