WW1 soldier killed in Italy 1919

[PoppaB]

Once again I am seeking help to unravel a knotty problem! It concerns John William Owen, service number 96947, Royal Army Service Corps. John was born in 1892 near Alderly Edge, Cheshire, and was killed in Italy 7/5/1919. In the medal award rolls he is described as an acting corporal, and this rank is repeated in the register of effects. However, his grave in Italy shows him as a sergeant. Can anyone shed any light on this, and also point me towards somewhere that might show how and where he died, as it occurred after the armistice.
He married his wife, Diamond Ruby Pearl Wills in June 1917, in Lewisham, London, but I cannot find a reason for him to be in London, as a young Cheshire lad. again any help will be appreciated.
His aforementioned wife withheld any information relating to John, from his daughter and her family, and it was only after her death that the truth became known. I am trying to help the family find out as much as I can about their hero father/grandfather.
Once again, my thanks.
MikeB

[Megan Roberts]

This is a link to the Commonwealth War Graves site's entry for him
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/c...641662/owen,-/

There are two documents that you can view. One of them is a burial register which shows that a number were buried at the same time. Normally people would tell you not to bother with a death certificate for a soldier because they don't tell you anything other than they were killed in action. In this case if it was me I would approach the GRO to see if I could get his death certificate.
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/

As to why he was in London I would guess it was war time and troops went where they were sent.

[Pam Downes]

How are you so sure that you have the right John William Owen?
The one that's buried in Italy has an age of thirty-five recorded against his headstone details, which means he would have been born circa 1884. However, I know mistakes can occur even in official records.

Do you have John and Diamond/Ruby's marriage certificate, and how old was he? Is his occupation listed as soldier, and does it give his service number?

Pam

[christanel]

There is a public tree on ancestry that says
"Cause of Death
Died of malaria complicated by septic pneumonia in the Detention Hospital Voghera Italy. Royal Army Service Corps M2/096947 Sergeant or Acting Corporal" but they haven't listed their source.

You say he was killed 7 May 1919 and I have found a remarriage image on ancestry for his widow 5 July 1919.

Christina

[christanel]

If you are sure that the John W Owen who married Diamond Ruby Pearl is your man then the JWO with service number M2/096947 is your man because his wife is mentioned in the effects list as being his wife and her name is an unusual one. Also she is down with her second husband's surname Drake

Christina

[PoppaB]

Thanks, Pam
When I looked at the headstone details, I assumed that the age 35 related to Sapper Abbots on the line below. I'm pretty sure I've got the right one as the enlistment numbers tie up with his register of effects, where his wife Ruby etc is mentioned as next of kin.
You're right about the inaccuracies - the burial records show John as a Sergeant, while other records, including those after his death, show him as an acting Corporal. Not sure which is right!

[PoppaB]

That's interesting, Christina, I'll have to have another search of the public trees as I haven't turned that one up yet.
I think that her sudden remarriage followed by the early birth of a son, was the reason for Ruby failing to mention her first husband to her children!

[Megan Roberts]

Another document to check would be Ruby's second marriage certificate to see how she describes herself on that.

Its interesting that she remarried so quickly because I certain that by doing so she would have lost entitlement to her widows pension, which would have also included money for her later husband's daughter.

[christanel]

Hi Megan
The marriage image is on ancestry and she is a widow, Ruby Diamond Owen. Both she and Frank are at the same address in Lewisham

Christina

[Lesley Robertson]

There are a lot of post-Armistice CWGC deaths on stones across Europe. They mostly related to men who died of diseases, which agrees with Chris' post #4.
Normally, here in Northern Europe, the cause was the Spanish flu epidemic that was spreading across Europe. Dutch death certs for that period are now on line and I have been able to find death certs for many of the men that actually made it to a hospital or other Dutch medical services.
It might be worth searching to see what is available for deaths in Italy. You might get a shortcut if you look at that tree that Chris mentions and see whether they give a link to a source (me, I always like to see the sources).