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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: dutchman on Monday 06 September 10 12:58 BST (UK)
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My Royal Marine grandfather died on September 25th 1940 in London. It was the time of the Blitz on the Capital . He could have been there on duty or visiting his sister who was Matron of St.Giles Hospital Camberwell
My problem is I cannot find a death certificate. Do the Navy not register deaths as per normal, do they just lump them all together as'killed in action' or what?
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Can you post details of his full name and birthyear please
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C/Sgt Henry Jones Ply/12533. Buried at Gillingham. Born 24/06/1885.
Does this help?
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I think it's more likely he died whilst on duty than visiting his sister.
I'm no expert on military matters but remember reading something in the dim and distant past that death certs were not issued for personnel killed in action
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Hi,
Death certs were issued ; I have one for my uncle who was shot down in 1944. They are in a separate register.
Nanny Jan
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That's great news - I've searched the GRO website but could not find anything - is the register held elsewhere?
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Can't recall where I found my uncle's details......possibly on the FindMyPast site. :-\
Nanny Jan
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Wouldn't he be a bit old for a serving Marine at 55? Perhaps he was some kind of instructor?
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He was a serving officer at the time of his death which is shown on the cwgc website
His rank was Colour Sgt in the Royal Marines and he is buried at Gillingham Woodlands cemetary
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He was a serving officer at the time of his death which is shown on the cwgc website
His rank was Colour Sgt in the Royal Marines and he is buried at Gillingham Woodlands cemetary
Okay thanks for that but one point. You can't be an officer and a colour sergeant. One is commissioned and the other a None Commissioned Officer.
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He's listed in the GRO's index War Deaths (Naval Ratings) 1939-1948. The details you will require to order a certificate are Year 1940 Volume 6 Page 2099. He's also listed on www. naval-history. net. Apart from the details you already have it also records "Pens J 7793, Devonport, bombing, killed". Does that mean he had some sort of pensioner status. As regards him being buried at Gillingham I see that that cemetery had a plot reserved for use by the nearby Royal Naval Hospital. Was he perhaps taken to the hospital but later died there of his injuries?
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Well done IMBER ! Nicely found ;D
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thanks for all the info.
My grandfather was indeed old to be a marine. He had spent all his adult life in the marines and hated being a civilian. War gave him a new but very brief lease of life. He died as he would have wanted not old and beached.
I will follow up the suggestions and hope to find a fuller picture of his death.