Unknown Soldier (Airborne) CWGC/8/2/8/4/2/8

Corporal Roland J. West, 156 Parachute Battalion.

 

Thanks Philip and Jim Heriot in post #36 !
He was killed in action on 20 September 1944, aged 22, and is commemorated on the Groesbeek Memorial to the missing. Possibly resting at Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Grave 19.J.3 ?
CORPORAL
Roland James West
Service Number: 5122842
Son of Jock and Margaret West; grandson of Mrs. E. M. Fleming, of Dehra Dun, India.


Kyle

 

Correct.

 

Not correct Jim, for some reason a number of casualties found in Oosterbeek were brought to Jonkerbos, otherwise there is also a casualty from Venlo area buried at Oosterbeek. Unfortunely there are a lot of mistakes in the Roll of Honour regarding some burial locations, one hand made in 1944 with incorrect map coordinates, other made when the 1st RoH was written, with incorrect information and not checking details. The same with other cemeteries in Netherlands and Germany, I know of several cases where men were killed/DOW buried at a known location, and then got "lost" after reburial in 1945.

 

There are very good reasons why this body is not that of Cpl Roland West or S/Sgt Roy Woods. The CWGC have confirmed that the dental records of both men were compared to that of the recovered body and did not match. Dental records are considered to be more accurate than DNA for body identification purposes. Research was also undertaken to see if there was any possible connection with those people and a person named Joan but none was found.

 

The Army Form 1 5033 includes a chart and detailed records of dental treatment.

 

Still say that they most turn to DNA, instead of using these old dental record cards, he has last seen a Dentist in 1943?, or was it not updated!,

 

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency

Join us as we continue our #ForensicFriday theme of #ForensicOdontology, the science of studying teeth!
Today #DPAA forensic odontologists can compare the teeth found with skeletal remains to the dental charts of specific service members. These dental comparisons may seem straightforward, but DPAA odontologists face many challenges. Last week we discussed some challenges of making a dental identification, but there are many more!
- Records do not always contain detailed information
- Original dental charts sometimes had mistakes
- Service members had dental work done after the chart was made
- Skeletal remains may have missing teeth
- And sometimes records are lost to history, as in the case of dental records aboard the USS Oklahoma that were destroyed with the ship!
However, if the right records are available and the dentition is unique enough, the hard working odolontologists of the #DPAA can help identify service members through dental comparison!
Look through the photos for examples of some unique, and not always helpful, old dental charts! Thankfully we have the skilled dental teams at DPAA to decipher these records and we rely on multiple lines of evidence to make an ID.

 

DPAA continue to rely heavily on Dental Records as this recent announcement on their web site indicates
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Mason, S.) > Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency > Recent News & Stories

 

Does the CWGC gives information on exhumation reports or are you able to ask for them when visit the archives?

 

Very interesting reading, many thanks. I have bought R. Woods Log Books at a UK auction 3 years ago