Paulina C. French d. 1919

[Lesley Robertson]

Beside 3 WW1 CWGC graves in the Roman Catholic Cemetary in the middle of the Hague is a stone (the same type as for the 3 soldiers) for Pauline C. French, wife of Serjt. W. French, Suffolk Regiment, 7th December 1919.

Sgt French is not among the other graves.

The Netherlands was neutral during WW1 and many wounded soldiers were interned here. Did Paulina come to visit her wounded husband, and then die herself? There's no W. French of the Suffolks in the CWGC database, so it looks as though he survived.

Lesley

[Lesley Robertson]

Beside 3 WW1 CWGC graves in the Roman Catholic Cemetary in the middle of the Hague is a stone (the same type as for the 3 soldiers) for Pauline C. French, wife of Serjt. W. French, Suffolk Regiment, 7th December 1919.

Sgt French is not among the other graves.

The Netherlands was neutral during WW1 and many wounded soldiers were interned here. Did Paulina come to visit her wounded husband, and then die herself? There's no W. French of the Suffolks in the CWGC database, so it looks as though he survived.

Lesley

The Suffolk Regiment Museum has come up trumps on this one:
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I'm afraid I can't explain why she has an apparently genuine CWGC headstone, but I have found out a few things about the couple.

He was Sgt Maurice (not 'W') French. He was a pre-war Regular soldier who had enlisted, aged 18 and 7 months, on 12 January 1909 (regimental number 7842). Serving in the 2nd Battalion he was captured at the Battle of Le Cateau on 25 August 1914 and spent the rest of the war as a POW in Doeberitz Camp. He was discharged to the Reserve on 18 July 1919 but re-enlisted (Army number 5821141) and was finally discharged on 11 January 1921.

On 29 January 1919 he married Paulina Catharina Jungmans (or possibly Jongmans) at Gemente ‘S Gravenhage Largenlijke Stard (possible mistakes in my reading there). She died, as shown on the stone, on 7 December 1919 ( I wonder if it was in childbirth?). He was still living in the Netherlands after her death as his address at discharge is given as British Legation, The Hague.
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Mystery solved!

Lesley