Details of inquest

[mikebroe]

Herbert George Blaker (a local soldier) died due to being blown up by a mine on Hunstanton North beach
on 9 March 1943. The inquest was held on 13 March 1943. The coroner was W.J. Barton for the Dereham district of the county of Norfolk.
I am attempting to discover the details of the incident.
I have contacted the Norfolk Records Office (the earliest ones they hold date from 1948)and the Norfolk Heritage Centre with no luck.
The Heritage Centre checked local newspapers with no luck. No report of the inquest were found in the Eastern Daily Press or the Norfolk News
I would be grateful for any advice.
Thanks
Mike

[Lesley Robertson]

Have you tried the National Archives? Guessing purely from the date, could it have been a confidential training accident?

I see that he’s on the Commonwealth War Graves database:
T/5348856 Herbert George Blaker, driver, Royal Army Service Corps, 282 Div Comp Coy, died 09 Mar 1943 aged 21. Buried Kingswood Holy Trinity Churchyard grave 768, UK.
Also listed are his parents.

I suggest that you try a less specific newspaper search on the RACS company. The papers might have a fairly vague accident report.

PS I see that 3 RASC drivers died on the same day and are buried in the UK. The other 2 are William James Turner and Benjamin Alfred Fletcher.

[mikebroe]

Thanks Lesley

I have tried the National Archives with no luck but I will try a search with the RASC company name.

[Pam Downes]

PS I see that 3 RASC drivers died on the same day and are buried in the UK. The other 2 are William James Turner and Benjamin Alfred Fletcher.

Coincidence.
Death registrations in different districts, and Benjamin Fletcher's registration wasn't until June quarter 1943.

[Megan Roberts]

Inquest reports (if they have survived) usually form part of the court of quarter session records and may not be marked up as such. The quarter session records are held by the local record office.

I've seen the records in the Salford QS records held by Ancestry and there they are recorded under "petitions". I suspect that the petition was for the coroner to be reimbursed his expenses! Each court keeps records differently which does not help. But you could searching on the word "inquisition".

[keith9351]

Many years ago i had the same problem, my uncle was killed by a mine in Norfolk (Great Yarmouth). He was laying mines at the time. I spent a lot of time going through local newspapers and found no report of the incident. His death certificate just said Cause of Death-Due to War Operations. His Army record said- Died as a result of accident with explosive. I put a request in this Regimental magazine hoping somebody would remember the incident but no replies.
A few years later somebody who was researching another victim of the mine laying contacted me, she had arranged for a plague to be placed at Great Yarmouth Racecourse and would I like to attend. At the service I met 2 people who had known my uncle, one he had just relieved and was walking away when the accident happened and the other had carried his coffin at the funeral.

[Peter Goodey]

I have tried the National Archives with no luck

I don't know what you mean by "tried" but you can't tap in his name and expect an answer.

Follow the "Help with your research" link from the National Archives home page. Look for any file that might conceivably contain reference to the incident. Then pay a visit.

For example WO 166 might be worth looking at.

Don't forget that coroners' range of responsibilities were greatly reduced during the war (eg there was no inquest for most air raid victims). In this case you say there was an inquest but it's possible that it was a pretty skimpy affair.

[arthurk]

I think I'd be inclined to go back to the Norfolk Record Office and ask them to take another look. From their catalogue it does seem to be the case that the full case papers only date from 1948, but the pre-1948 registers apparently have more than just names and dates, and include some further details.

The link below will hopefully take you to the relevant item in the catalogue, but if it doesn't, you can find it at reference COR 1/1/5:

https://nrocatalogue.norfolk.gov.uk/...est-register-3

(The page also mentions a 75-year closure, which might not apply if you want a copy of a single record that's older than that; otherwise it suggests contacting the Norfolk Coroner.)

[wimsey]

in the Lynn Advertiser of 8 January 1943 the same coroner conducted an inquest on a civilian from Heacham killed by a mine. The coroner "asked the press to give publicity to the case as a warning to others". The victim had been out duck shooting.

needless to say have not found similar newspaper notice for your man.