WW2 service records

[wimsey]

have we noticed that 9 members of the Pioneer Corps died on the same day ?

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/fi...dditionalInfo=

of course this may be pure coincidence, I shouldn't assume they all died at the same place

[gilian rowland]

STEPHEN
I don't know if the following helps at all but I notice that on the details for George Shaw at the Church where he is buried, it states he was in the Pioneer Corps and also that he received the Military Cross - so the latter would be on his Medal Index card ie which might give some info ie whether he died on the 17th June 1944 from bombing that day or died on that day from a previous bombing etc - unless you already know. Also I see that the Pioneer Corps Association publishes a Monthly? Newsletter so perhaps their Archives can help.
There is a wealth of information about the VI bombings online but I stumbled across a BBC History site which has memoirs of those who witnessed some of the bombings and the first article I skimmed through refers to the Royal Artillery Barracks on the edge of Woolwich Common. The article refers to the first VI that fell on London

"There are times when one finds oneself eye witnessing history, yet not fully realizing the implication of what one saw at the time.Such an event happened to me in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, June 13, 1944, exactly a week after D-Day, June 6, 1944."

I don't know if I can post the link since I have recently been disciplined for asking for a look up on Ancestry due to copyright.

Sorry if this is all irrelevant but merely trying to help! Jill.

[Pam Downes]

STEPHEN
I don't know if the following helps at all but I notice that on the details for George Shaw at the Church where he is buried, it states he was in the Pioneer Corps and also that he received the Military Cross - so the latter would be on his Medal Index card ie which might give some info ie whether he died on the 17th June 1944 from bombing that day or died on that day from a previous bombing etc - unless you already know. Also I see that the Pioneer Corps Association publishes a Monthly? Newsletter so perhaps their Archives can help.
There is a wealth of information about the VI bombings online but I stumbled across a BBC History site which has memoirs of those who witnessed some of the bombings and the first article I skimmed through refers to the Royal Artillery Barracks on the edge of Woolwich Common. The article refers to the first VI that fell on London

"There are times when one finds oneself eye witnessing history, yet not fully realizing the implication of what one saw at the time.Such an event happened to me in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, June 13, 1944, exactly a week after D-Day, June 6, 1944."

I don't know if I can post the link since I have recently been disciplined for asking for a look up on Ancestry due to copyright.

Sorry if this is all irrelevant but merely trying to help! Jill.

Jill, links to most sites are allowed, but if the link is to a commercial site or one which is advertising (even subtly) then it must be what we call de-activated, i.e. made so that you can't just click on it and access the site.
e.g. FreeBMD is a non-commercial site, so you can just say 'This information can be found on FreeBMD https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl '
Findmypast is a commercial site so if I wanted to give the link to the Norfolk parishes for which it holds records I would have to 'split it' after the www dot, so my comment would read
This is a list of the Norfolk parishes. https://www.
findmypast.co.uk/articles/norfolk-parish-lists

If you try it, you will find that you can just click on the FreeBMD link and you will go straight to the page. To access the FMP page you have to copy-and-paste the section which begins 'findmypast',

As the site you're referring to is a BBC one then I would think that you're safe to post it 'unbroken' like FreeBMD. I would suggest that you do that, and then the mods will keep an eye open for your post and split the URL if necessary. Check back and see if we do.

Pam

[VinnyShome]

STEPHEN
I don't know if the following helps at all but I notice that on the details for George Shaw at the Church where he is buried, it states he was in the Pioneer Corps and also that he received the Military Cross - so the latter would be on his Medal Index card ie which might give some info ie whether he died on the 17th June 1944 from bombing that day or died on that day from a previous bombing etc - unless you already know. Also I see that the Pioneer Corps Association publishes a Monthly? Newsletter so perhaps their Archives can help.
There is a wealth of information about the VI bombings online but I stumbled across a BBC History site which has memoirs of those who witnessed some of the bombings and the first article I skimmed through refers to the Royal Artillery Barracks on the edge of Woolwich Common. The article refers to the first VI that fell on London

"There are times when one finds oneself eye witnessing history, yet not fully realizing the implication of what one saw at the time.Such an event happened to me in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, June 13, 1944, exactly a week after D-Day, June 6, 1944."

I don't know if I can post the link since I have recently been disciplined for asking for a look up on Ancestry due to copyright.

Sorry if this is all irrelevant but merely trying to help! Jill.

Jill,
So very helpful, thank you.
Can I ask how you know he was awarded the MC? I've not come across that yet.

My research today points toward a potential bomb landing in Nutfield, Surrey. But that needs much validation.
Stephen

[VinnyShome]

have we noticed that 9 members of the Pioneer Corps died on the same day ?

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/fi...dditionalInfo=

Your hunch was correct. All but one registered death details the same as George. The other appears to have died in Banstead hospital the same day. Poor fellas.

[wimsey]

Your hunch was correct. All but one registered death details the same as George. The other appears to have died in Banstead hospital the same day. Poor fellas.

it hadn't occured to me to check the death registration location.

17 June was a Saturday and on page 5 of the Surrey Advertiser of 24 June there's an article about "pilotless plane" attacks the previous weekend. Unfortunately the article seems to be on a fold in the paper so bits of words are missing but there is a tantalising sentence which stops abruptly

"... in a road on Saturday a pilotless plane caused a number of casualties including nine ....."

[VinnyShome]

it hadn't occured to me to check the death registration location.

17 June was a Saturday and on page 5 of the Surrey Advertiser of 24 June there's an article about "pilotless plane" attacks the previous weekend. Unfortunately the article seems to be on a fold in the paper so bits of words are missing but there is a tantalising sentence which stops abruptly

"... in a road on Saturday a pilotless plane caused a number of casualties including nine ....."

Firstly, how on earth did you find that? What search tactics did you employ?
I'm looking at it now and it seems tantalising close. Shame it doesn't mention a location other than "(Cra)shing in a road....".

[wimsey]

I think I just confined it to Surrey newspapers, the week after the 17th and put "bomb" + "casualties" into the search.

On another thread someone pointed out to me that precise locations of bombs would be censored in newspapers. Don't know what you think to that.

[Pam Downes]

it hadn't occured to me to check the death registration location.

17 June was a Saturday and on page 5 of the Surrey Advertiser of 24 June there's an article about "pilotless plane" attacks the previous weekend. Unfortunately the article seems to be on a fold in the paper so bits of words are missing but there is a tantalising sentence which stops abruptly

"... in a road on Saturday a pilotless plane caused a number of casualties including nine ....."

wimsey is obviously not wasting his Bank Holiday. Good find there wimsey.

The Surrey Advertiser is published in Guildford, but the Guildford library website doesn't say anything about having back copies of local newspapers.
Plan B involved searching for archive centres in Surrey. (Scroll down the page.)
https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/librarie...family-history
Redhill is nearer to Nutfield than Banstead, so if I was Stephen I would try a query to the Redhill group.
I'd give them the background to the story, and say that there is an article on page 5 of the Surrey Advertiser of 24 June 1944. Do they have access to newspapers and if so, is there a better copy of the paper than the one on the BNA site, or is there a more local paper which has further details?
Local group could probably have more knowledge of the incident.

Pam

[Pam Downes]

I think I just confined it to Surrey newspapers, the week after the 17th and put "bomb" + "casualties" into the search.

On another thread someone pointed out to me that precise locations of bombs would be censored in newspapers. Don't know what you think to that.

If you continue to read that article, mention is made of a hospital being bombed, though it doesn't say where. Precise locations weren't usually given because spies could report back to the Germans. Obviously the Germans knew where they'd done massive damage such as in London and Coventry, but the Brits didn't want the Germans to know if they'd been successful at damaging for instance a factory in Redhill. So the newspaper report would say something along the lines of 'some industrial buildings in the south-east were damaged by a bomb'.

Pam