WWI Pension/Medical Records

[lucygrasshopper]

Hi - I have all the burnt/scorched documents for Private Otto Diacono No. 59168 West Yorkshire Regiment. I have a notation - Regiment of Foot 3/WYReg.
These documents were partly burnt during a fire in WWII at the Storage Warehouse.

I gleaned the above information from the burnt documents. Apparently his pension was approved on 19/2/1919. He signed up from Harrogate but his family home was Nuwara Iliya, Ceylon. He was repatriated to Ceylon ca 15/3/1919.

He was staying with a brother at 160 High Street RedCar at the time and left on the SS Dombia for Ceylon.

The story: I have found all his brothers and sisters and what happened to them - likewise his parents; his father being my GGrandfather's brother.

Otto was pensioned off and probably died ca 1939 (+ or -) as no one , not even family can tell me much. The reason ascertained could be as follows. Otto was bady hurt. I have two photos of him, one when he was about 22 and another taken some ten years later. In 1922, his hands were not visible. In the later photo, he was bald, and rather large in appearance, with one hand (forearm) in a pocket, and the right hand seeming only the knuckles visible.

One of Otto's Nieces, when I last spoke to her in Perth, Western Australia (she was 94 and spoke in snippets), told me that Otto attended Her father's burial in Aden before WWII and Otto fell into the grave...she said he was a "big man".

It is my research belief that Otto had his hands either sorely damaged and useless or perhaps blown off. Further, I believe he may have suffered mental damage because of his injuries, or perhaps later, as the years passed. It would seem to me that the family knew nothing because Otto and his injuries were an embarrassment and he was "farmed" out to some Ceylonese folk who looked after him.

My Question: Where would I find his Pension payments and medical details if they were not amongst the scorched documents I have in my possession.

Can anyone help.
Lucygrasshopper

[Peter Goodey]

Apparently his pension was approved on 19/2/1919.

Sorry but can you point that out to me? My aged eyes can't spot it. I can see the record in WO 363. I can't spot a pension record in WO 364.

[lucygrasshopper]

Hello Peter

Thank you for your reply. I have had these records scanned and on an external HD for some years now, so I think I may have lost the actual WO reference to the document. The left hand portion of the document is burnt (as per others), and I took the date from the top of the document - even I mistyped what I saw - as the date is 10/2/19 and it is obvious I got that wrong too. So...my eyes are old too and now I don't know any date of his approved Pension.
His signature is on the bottom of the document as O Diacono ...so one hand had to be functional...
I really want to know what happened to him - what were his injuries. If all that survived regarding Otto, is in that pile of burnt documents, then most of it has been destroyed and my theory is just that . I would assume that Pension payments, being ongoing from time of repatriation until his death (I don't have a death date either), would have been stored elsewhere.

Thanks for trying
Lucy

[jac65]

Hi

The link on Ancestry WW1 Service Records takes you to image 269 but his records actually start at image 240. A lot of the images relate to repatriation and looking at them I couldn't see a reference to a Pension.

Andy

[Peter Goodey]

Thanks for pointing out Ancestry's shaky indexing, Andy. I can see a reference to a possible pension claim but nothing to indicate that a pension was granted.

I don't think he could have been seriously physically injured in the war because he didn't get the Silver War Badge indicating that he was discharged because of wounds. Also if he had been granted a pension, one would expect to find a record in WO364 which are more complete than WO 363.

[lucygrasshopper]

Hello again.

It could be a case of me hypothising too much and his condition could have been mental. Perhaps there was no pension. Perhaps he ran off the rails later. It's just that I have contacted relatives and obtained photos - and Otto did not figure in the family for many many years.

Perhaps there was a document that was burnt beyond recognition. Other than that - why would there be a claim for pension. If he made a claim, it would be up to the powers that be, to grant it - and on whatever grounds. Nonetheless, Otto obviously thought he was entitled to a pension for some reason to have applied.

He was not the only one to suffer from the War - the myriad things that happened to these men is well documented. Perhaps I am barking up a wrong tree. Sometimes, those that do not think as I do say "So what? It's no longer relevant - they are all dead!" It's just that the family's total lack of reference to Otto mystifies me.



Thanks for looking
Ta
Lucy

[Peter Goodey]

It's a pity that the actual pension decision is on the burnt half of the page.

He may simply have suffered from the traditional colonial problem of an over-attentive gin-wallah

[amg2512]

Hi Lucygrasshopper

I too took a quick look on Ancestry at his notes, it says there are 10 pages but it quickly goes onto the next person. I did however note that his sign up date was 21.9.17 & he is 18yrs 3mths at this time, he is Roman Catholic, a tea planter & born in Ceylon so perhaps some Family members remained in Ceylon & he went back to them?
Alison

[lucygrasshopper]

Thanks to all who tried to help. Otto was the third youngest of 9 children. His father died in 1920 - his mother in 1932 - at Nuwara Iliya, in Ceylon (as it was then). All brothers and sisters are deceased which is logical given the time frame. Some descendants are still alive, but there is no confirmation of anything regarding Otto.

Yes, he was repatriated to Ceylon. He had another brother that signed up with him (Aldo Diacono), and yet another brother who signed up in Ceylon (Hugo Diacono) and was an officer in the Indian Army Reserve. I believe the children of the family couldn't get out of Ceylon quickly enough after WWI. The only ones left at the outbreak WWII was the two eldest children, Aldo and a sister Aida and...Otto, if he was still around.

One thing I did learn from Hugo's documents was - he was in and out of hospital more than in service. Many soldiers were killed by disease more than by enemy fire. Hugo served in Mesopotamia and Bangalore and died in 1964 in England.

Sad about the burnt document on the pension information. Otto's family is a great story, but not for this forum. Thanks for the try.

Lucy