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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: Selby on Saturday 19 July 25 16:59 BST (UK)
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Hello :) - I'm working on a family tree and wondered if anyone could decipher the following Death Certificate. The date is 1942 so I'm wondering if this man was doing war work? The address of his death is Work Site, East Kirkby R.D. Does that mean anything to anyone? Was he working on building the aerodrome...??
I've taken out his name because he isn't 'mine'.
Many thanks, Selby
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Newspaper article about the fatality 18th November 1942, Skegness Standard. It looks as though he was working on the construction of airfield, touched a 3000volt cable and died instantly.
Possible date of birth 31st May 1903.
Possible marriage 10th October 1933
SS
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Thank you SS, yes, that's the man - where can I read that article please??
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Do you have a subscription to FindMyPast.
SS
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Sadly no... not any more, but you've answered my question - he was working on the RAF base. Poor guy, just over from Ireland, three young children and gone :(
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I don't know what the 'R.D.' stands for. It won't be 'registration district', as East Kirkby was in Spilsby registration district at this time and was never important enough to have its own registration district. Although it looks like 'R.D.', I wonder whether it could perhaps be 'A.D.' for 'aerodrome'? That's a long shot – but it's the only thing I can think of.
According to the Lincolnshire Standard article referred to by softly softly, the details of the incident are as follows:
* At the time the deceased (Mr O) was employed by a firm of contractors preparing the floor for a transformer station at the aerodrome (RAF East Kirkby).
* [RAF East Kirkby had opened at the beginning of WWII, but as a decoy site. During 1942-43 it was upgraded to a Class A standard operational airfield with concrete runways, perimeter tracks, hangars, hardstandings etc. It could be that Mr O was involved in upgrading the station's electricity supply as part of this work. The main contractors for the construction work – laying of runways etc – were John Laing & Son Ltd, but I don't know whether they, or another company, were involved in the work on its transformer station].
* The accident involving Mr O occurred because of a misunderstanding between his foreman and a Ministry official. The Ministry official had told the foreman that the power to the transformer station would be switched off "between 10am and 4pm" to allow the men to work inside it. The foreman took that to mean "between 10am and 4pm each day for the rest of the week". He passed this on to Mr O, telling him that the power would be switched off between those hours each day for the rest of the week.
* In fact the official had meant only that the power was to be switched off between those hours on the Monday.
* The following day (Tuesday) Mr O ignored a warning notice saying 'Danger, 3,000 volts' and touched a cable inside the transformer station, thinking the power had been turned off, when in fact it was on.
* Because the foreman had told him the current would be off, Mr O was wearing hobnail boots rather than rubber boots and rubber gloves.
* Two of his colleagues told the inquest, held on 18th Nov at Spilsby, that Mr O touched the cable, gave a "terrible shout," and immediately fell over. They managed to drag him away by his shoulders, but according to the Standard, Mr O "received the full current and was at once killed."
Verdict: Accidental death.
I hope this helps.
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RD stands for Rural District. A tier of local government in England and Wales created by the Local Government Act 1894 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Government_Act_1894) and abolished in 1974.
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Correction: The inquest was held the next day, on 11th Nov 1942; the various local versions of the Lincolnshire Standard reported it between 14th and 18th Nov.
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'R.D.' = Rural District: Except that East Kirkby was in Spilsby Rural District at this time and there's never been an East Kirkby Rural District. I wonder whether the person filling in the certificate just missed out the word 'Spilsby'? Either that, or the 'R.D.' stands for something else.
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His home address was Chaple Street, Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, Eire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiltimagh