died on firewatch

[bumbled]

my grandfather worked for Richard fairey during world war 2 he also did fire watch at Richard's estate in Iver.
while on fire watch one night my grandfather went to investigate a parachute landing but although containing no one it did contain a land mine that exploded and killed him.

would my grandfather still be classed as a civilian while doing this important work for the inventor of some of the planes flown in the war?
many thanks for any advise given in reply.
sue

[mshrmh]

Sue - I don't know, but I suspect so. UK Civilian casualties of WW2 are listed on the CWGC site so you could see if he's there.
http://www.cwgc.org/

[bumbled]

thank you for the reply mshrmh.
my grandfather is listed on the commonwealth wargraves site as a civilian but i do not understand why when he was in fact doing war work and was killed doing it.
the death certificate says killed due to enemy action and i can prove that he was on fire watch at the time.
many thanks
sue

[Springbok]

Bumbled,

Every one was doing important War work. It would not be regarded as anything special to work alongside someone well known. a matter of family pride but not in the context of the War Effort.

 One was only a serviceman/woman if you were in the Armed Forces.
 Not sure if even Merchant Seamen were classed as other than Civilian. Pretty sure that they were not.

People in the CD/Fire Service/Home Guard/Land Army were all civilians.

My friend lost both her Father and 14 yr old brother whilst they were out putting out incendiary bombs. Their deaths are just recorded like any other even though her father had a "Hush Hush "job.

Spring

[bumbled]

hi spring
many thanks for the reply and explanation, i know my grandfather was in a reserved occupation but i had thought that all of the men who gave something back to our country either within in the home guard or fire service e c t were worth more than they got.
sue