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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: rac1473 on Friday 18 November 11 22:48 GMT (UK)
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I am looking for a registry entry for the death of my great uncle.
I know his date of death as it is on his gravestone, he died on the 12th January 1942 and is buried in St Mary's Church, Pulbrough, West Sussex. His grave is listed on the CWGC website.
I have been unsuccessful in finding the registry entry so that i can apply for a copy of his death certificate,neither have we found a birth entry for him, it is believed he was born in 1900. The 1901 Census shows him age 1 with his sister Jane(3) and parents John(22)and Maria(25)in Hailsham, Sussex, England.
With this information i hope to be able to apply for his military record, although i do know parts of where he served.
Any help would be appreciated
many thanks
Roy
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Hi
What was his full christian name
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Just found the cwgc entry - John Roberts - no age shown
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His christian name was John, but was always known as Jack.
I had seen the CWGC site and was surprised to find it entered there as it was not a death caused by the war, only that he was serving at the time.
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Although he is buried in Sussex - did he actually die there? He may have died elsewhere and was brought back to Sussex for burial
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There is a family tree on Ancestry which has photographs etc. There are details of his death but not the location.
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Thanks Imber,
the pictures are either from my tree or my second cousins tree we are both trying to research that part of the family. The details of his death are somewhat clouded, i was told he had been diagnosed with cancer and there was nothing that could be done and that he took his own life. Though his whereabouts at this time is causing the problem, we are also under the impression he married a woman from Northern Ireland, also that he had a daughter who if alive still, is in her late 60's early 70's but no leads as yet
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The entry on Ancestry was updated earlier this month. It gives a little more detail of his death, the names and address of his wife and daughter, who returned to Northern Ireland etc. If he was John Charles as seems to be suggested then Free BMD has a strong candidate in the March quarter of 1942 in Thanet district. I think it's possible some battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment were on coastal defence duties at that time.
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a bit of info
sylvia
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Thanks Sylvia,
The pictures that i got from the county records office show 1 medal ribbon on his mess dress but i do not know what it is, could you tell me what medal roll this is from, as i will look to get a replica of the medal in question.
Imber,
If i could find out where he was at his time of death it would make this easier, the Thanet registry entry might be worth a shot as it is the closest fitting date wise, i think i will order the certificate from the GRO, have done it before for other relatives and have come up trumps, so i will get onto that one and hope it leads somewhere, will have to check again with my cousin to see what he has come up with.
thank you both
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John C Roberts
Birth abt 1900
Date of Reg Jan-Feb-Mar 1942
Age at Death: 42
Reg district Thanet
Inferred County Kent
Volume 2a
Page 2574
sylvia
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http://www.google.com.au/search?q=The+Royal+Sussex+Regiment&hl=en&sa=G&gbv=2&tbm=isch&sout=1&biw=1024&bih=571
sylvia
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Thanks Sylvia for the google link,
a lot to trawl through there, but the good news is i managed to use the part of the medal roll and now going via the National archives and ancestry, i have the complete page and have found out he earned the Indian General Service Medal 1908 with clasp Northwest frontier 1930-31.
So thank you for that, it was a tremendous help.
Roy
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Just an update and to say thanks for the help,
The death cert for the Thanet entry turned out to be the right one, i have a copy of the certificate and found that he died at St Lawrence College in Ramsgate while serving with 133 Brigade, I'm currently trying to find out whether the unit was an HQ or an officer training depot
many thanks again
Roy
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Hello, I am coming to this discussion very late - the reason being I have just found the wedding registration between my 1st cousin once removed, Alexandra McNeice and John Roberts (2nd Jan.1940). However, I see from previous posts that poor Alexandra seems to have suffered the same fate as that of her mother (widowed as a result world war)!
Thankfully, again like her mother, a child has been born before the father died! Needless to say I would be very interested in finding the outcome of this child (my 2nd cousin), and hopefully subsequent generations.
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The entry on Ancestry was updated earlier this month. It gives a little more detail of his death, the names and address of his wife and daughter, who returned to Northern Ireland etc. If he was John Charles as seems to be suggested then Free BMD has a strong candidate in the March quarter of 1942 in Thanet district. I think it's possible some battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment were on coastal defence duties at that time.
IMBER, can you recall where you saw the info about John Roberts wife and daughter?
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That was a long time ago and I cannot remember exactly where I saw the details on Ancestry. However, he seems to be included in four trees. Of these the most detailed is the Dancey tree. If I had to guess I would say that tree has been amended subsequently to hide living persons. Part of the text has been altered and there are two female 'Private' boxes. There is a contact listed so perhaps you could approach them if you feel you want to take matters further. You will also have seen the post from rac1473. They have an interest in the family and mentioned a wife and daughter. Worth finding out whether they are still on Rootschat.
Imber