Genealogy Chat

My great great unce died in WW1. His name was Frank (Francis) Robertson and i have found his name on a memorial in France via the Commonwealth war graves site. He was from Scotland. My question is would he be given a death cert? when would it be granted? especially if they never found his body? Mhairi

My relatives who were killed in action in WW1 are listed on the GRO war deaths indexes which can be accessed on 1837online in the overseas bmd section. They were fairly easily located, listed under the headings: name, rank, number, unit, year and volume and page number. The rank number and unit were the same as those on the CWGC site and it was possible to order a death certificate, though there was no extra info on the cert that the CWGC didn't have and cause of death on mine was just 'killed in action'

Don't know whether he will be on there if he was Scottish, though. Have a look at the section on 'Scottish war deaths' on the following site: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php?area=content/features/service_returns Kate.

what date did he die and what were his parents names

Thanks guys. I already know the date that he died (from the commonwealth website) but i was just interested on what would happen since he died overseas in a war. Ever since my grandad mentioned it i've been interested in it and i was just trying to find out what happened to his uncle. Mhairi

Don't know whether you looked at that website address that I posted but basically it looks as though Scotland have a similar section for war deaths to the GRO's overseas one and I'm not sure whether it is available on Scotland's People yet or not. Kate.

Hi Mhairi, The Death certificate will give you how he died, if they knew. The War Grave site should say where he is buried and give you details of the cemetery. If he was buried in Scotland or England it should say. My g g uncle died in France and is buried there, the War Grave site even gave a map of the cemetery with plot numbers so I could see where he was buried and gave details about the cemetery. Regards Fiona.

I dont think you able to search for the death on scotlandspeople yet. Have been looking but no luck. The CWGS is really good. Shows that my great great uncle has his name on a memoiral in a graveyard in North France. I'm guessing that since his name is on that that they didnt find his body or its in a grave of an un-named soldier. It also showed that my great grandfather was dead by the time that his son died and where my great grandmother was living at the time. Mhairi

I have two death certs from WW1. The info given was extremely sketchy. Both have place of death ''France'' and cause of death ''War Casualty''. Think I could have guessed at that!! Merry

Hi Mhairi You say: The CWGS is really good. Shows that my great great uncle has his name on a memoiral in a graveyard in North France. Is that Thiepval? If so, that's definitely a memorial for those whose bodies were never found - my great uncle's name is there. We visited this last May - it has an excellent visitor centre. Christine