CWGC added the following WW2 Civilian War Dead casualty to its database today. Rachel Leah CHEDAKEL Died 13.11.40 Age 55 Reporting Authority: Islington , Metropolitan Borough NOT FORGOTTEN
Hi Chris Can I call on your expertise in this area to look at two possible candidates from our school memorial for WW2. The strongest I think is Harry Hammond. I have documentary evidence that he was from Scunthorpe and attended school from 1927-33. There is a record in the school magazine of 1940 that states that he was an accountant in Singapore and a fully trained member of the Singapore Volunteer Rifles. There are then two reports in the local paper referring to his death on 7th September 1945, after spending time as a civilian internee in Borneo. An eyewitness account of his death was reported in a school magazine in 1946. He was hit by a package of clothing dropped on his POW camp by an Australian relief plane and died instantly. I doubt whether there is a death certificate, so is this evidence likely to be strong enough? (Update - before posting the part of the message below I had another search - Barber was lost on 19th August 1939 when a Stranraer disappeared over the sea off Scotland. Our memorial is being quite generous in its definition of war casualty!) The second man is Arthur Frederick Barber, who is named on the memorial, and has a mention in the Dec 1939 magazine as being a flying officer in the RAF and dying in September 1939. His appointment to Flying Officer is dated 31st March 1939 in the London Gazette. All the records I have been able to check have matched the school magazine details, but there is no trace on CWGC. There is a possibility he may have died on the 1st or 2nd of Sept, and so missed the start of the war.
Dave unfortunately CWGC will not accept newspapers proof of death. What you need is some offical documentation if there is no overseas DC. You might also look at the fact that he may have been in the armed forces as the Singapore Volunteer Rifles would have been embodied at the time of the Japanese invasion. I will have a root around to see what can be found. Chris
