Military death WW2

[Peter Goodey]

We know it was a war death because it's listed by CWGC. The questioner will have to resort to GRONI.

[WK1937]

Hi Peter and Notanotherminer - it is strange, but he was definitely a war casualty. On the CWGC he is listed as being a Casualty War Dead although not on a bombing raid, so to speak. I am going to contact the GRONI as Peter suggested but as he says there will not be a lot of information on the certificate. As I research my tree I always endeavour to obtain the three BMDs - Peter has always advocated getting them (I do read all your posts) and as I already have the Birth & Marriage, the death one will close the door somewhat to his life and he can rest in peace.

As an afterthought I rang the GRO to see whether in fact they just might be able to help but do you know the person at the other end of the phone had not got a clue! Maybe as during war time there was a lot going on, some registrations may have got missed or gone astray. It would be nice if I could have the Certificate but not absolutely essential.

With many thanks to you all, Maureen.

[Red Kite]

If a plane crashed as a result of something other than a Military Action I honestly don't know if that would be classed as a War Death.

As far as the CWGC is concerned, yes it would. Any member of the Armed Forces who died within the qualifying dates for the two World Wars is entitled to commemoration by the CWGC, regardless of the circumstances and cause of death.

However, service deaths that took place within the UK would usually be registered in the normal way with the GRO or equivalent, and they have the usual certificate - at least this is true for WWI, I've never had to research a WWII "home" casualty so I am assuming it would be the same. So I would expect the registration to be with GRONI.

[Peter Goodey]

Peter has always advocated getting them (I do read all your posts)

Actually I've never recommended getting death certificates as a matter of course. I do if it's likely to reveal some genealogically useful information other than just details of the death. Otherwise I'm happy to accept that people make their own personal decisions about death certs.

What irritates me is people who won't buy any certficates as a matter of course!