My late wife’s grandfather Signalman Edmund Roberts died in France on 13th June 1940. Until recently we had no knowledge of where he died or where he was buried. It was always assumed he died at Dunkirk. His only memorial is his name on the columns at Dunkirk cemetery.
I established that he died in General Hospital No: 9 which was at Le Grand Luce on that date. I researched the records for General Hospital No:9 held at National Archives – specifically WO.222-719, which is mostly the accounts of nurses regarding the evacuation of the hospital to England, but does include some brief notes by the Commanding Surgeon, and WO.177-1170 which diary pages for each day. WO.177-1170 does include some names of patients who died in hospital or were received, deceased, into the mortuary attached to the hospital. I was able to reconcile many names from the hospital records to the names in the CWGC cemetery at Le Grand Luce. In communication with CWGC they have conceded that the grave at Row B No: 2 is likely to be that of Major R. Cooper-White. His body was received into the mortuary on 12th June along with that of Pte Allison, who is buried in Row B No: 1. The hospital records state “the former (Cooper-White) appears to have shot himself, latter (Allison) was electrocuted.” The graves were exhumed in 1946. The CWGC stated:-
You have clearly located some very detailed records for the casualties admitted to 9 General Hospital at Le Grand Luce in June 1940, which certainly provides evidence that Signalman Roberts was likely buried nearby. I have checked the records we hold for the four unidentified graves in what is now Le Grand-Luce War Cemetery, which were prepared in Sept 1946. It clear from those that, as you have ascertained from your own research, the hospital was evacuated with no time to finalise arrangements. Our records speculate that the local people may have buried the final few casualties after the hospital staff had departed. Sadly due to the environmental conditions in the cemetery when they were examined in 1946, it proved impossible to find any evidence as to the identity of four of those found buried there. The cases were closed in 1952-3.
In the intervening decades we now have limited opportunities to revisit such investigations - you will find more information on Identification Cases at War Commemorations: Commonwealth Casualties | CWGC
Our exhumation records are limited and remain confidential but we do have reports for the four graves in question. I've checked each one on your behalf and made a little progress:
One casualty had some uniform items including buttons, which allowed the authorities to confirm the casualty had been serving with the Royal Artillery, hence we can exclude him as being Edmund.
• I'm afraid that two other others were found in an extremely poor condition and without any items, uniform or insignia at all. Neither are recorded as having the injuries that Edmund is reported to have suffered from, which were distinctive and might have helped with identification. However, because of their condition they may not have been visible. However, we do have information about the dental condition of both men. It is rare for dental records to survive in the service files of Second World War casualties but if you have any information at all, either from family sources or indeed his service records, then we could see if there is any chance of comparing them against the exhumation report.
• The fourth casualty is certainly not Edmund, but an initial review of the exhumation reports suggests a potential match to the details you have discovered for Major White-Cooper.
I would be most grateful if you could share with us the documents you have for all the casualties. Having the full picture of who was admitted to the hospital and when would certainly help us to see if we can make any progress with any of the graves.
Edmund Roberts is not named in the hospital records, but each day the hospital diary included a table of casualties. The table for 13th June 1940 shows 1 Army OR died that day. If the CWGC records are correct, and it is assumed that Edmund Roberts was placed in one of the “Unknown” graves that still leaves 1 “Unknown” grave unaccounted for and the 2 plots CWGC say are vacant. Photographs of the cemetery taken in 1946, at the time of the burial of those from 525 Squadron, clearly show crosses on the “vacant” plots. No markers are on those vacant plots now.
The hospital records of 15th June show that it was evacuated back to England. It is assumed there was insufficient time to properly administer and record Edmund’s burial, and that such arrangements were left to the local people.
The hospital records (WO.177-1170) for 14th June record:-
“During the day the bodies of 3 RAF OR were brought in at about 21.15 hours & placed in the mortuary. Arrangements for their burial by the local ….(unsure word)… were made late that night & money to cover the cost of coffins & burial. Two of these were identified & one unknown”.
If these 3 RAF OR’s were included, along with Edmund Roberts, the body count would tally with the number of graves in the cemetery at Le Grand Luce, including the vacant plots.
