Genealogy Chat

I have today received the death certificate of my G.Grandfather. He died in France in 1915. According to the CWGC and his birth certificate he was 45, but on the certificate it says 38. Now if he had lied about his age wouldn't the CWGC say 38?. Also it says killed in action in the war of 1914 to 1921, didn't the 1st war finish in 1918. I was a little disappointed that the GRO have folded this cert, I now have a crease down the middle of it. Sue

I may be wrong but I think whoever is the informant of death gives the details such as how old the person was. Maybe it wasn't someone who knew him well or just estimated his age? (Most of my death certs have wrong age on them!) Suzanne

I don't know what the age requirements were (if any) in WW1, but your g grandfather may have lopped a few years off when he enlisted. His service papers probably provided the information for the death certificate. Military buffs would know the answer re the CWGC, but I imagine that they aimed for accuracy and if they were provided with better details, eg from the family, would aim to include correct information.

Thanks Suzanne, I just thought seeing he died in the field his age would have been more or less accurate, confirmed through records. Sue

Thanks Phoenix, I think thats what he probably did, as he would have been 44 when he joined up which seems a bit old to me. Sue

Youre probably right Sue, they should have gone by records. WW1 peace treaty was signed between Germany and ngland 1918 but other countries signed a few years after this. I think thats why sometimes you see the timeframe recorded differently on different records. Suzanne

That's not quite correct. The treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in 1919, which is why many war memorials show the war as '1914-1919', and indeed I seem to recall that these are the dates shown on service medals. Treaties with the other Central Powers were signed in the early 1920s, including two attempts at Turkey!

Thanks everyone for your info, helps clear a few things up. Sue

Had to smile when I read the bit about the GRO folding the WW1 death certificates in half. All my WW1/WW2/Overseas certificates have arrived the exact same way, with a big fold down the middle too. I wonder why they do this. Why can't they just use the same big envelopes they do for normal BMD certificates? One of lifes eternal mysteries I shall never know the answer to...

WW1 as we now call it was 1914 - 1918 but that was just the main bit. The actuall war ended in 1921 hence they called it 'The Great War of 1914 - 1921'. Thay also called it The War To End All Wars. November 10th 1918 the treaty was signed between Britain and Germany. November 11th 1918 War officially ended and the declaration was made. War with Russia continues... 1921 War ends accross the world 1939 War declared on Germany again Unfortunatly 1919 - 1921 is missed out of the history books.

Thanks for that info Lunar, I thought the 1st war ended in 1918. It just goes to show you learn something every day. Sue

have just started to look at my tree and would like to ask a thick question who do you request the death certs from of the soldiers who died in the war in france etc i have not found my ggrandfather in the 1837 online lists although he in on CWGC but with the name of Smith guess its easy to miss cheers Sally

Hello Sally, No Q is thick if you don't know the answer to it!! Have you tried the ''Overseas'' section of 1837online? When you are in that section, choose Deaths and put in the name. Scroll down the selection box to ''GRO War Deaths'' and select the correct catagory (men or officers, Army or Navy etc) from the list. Merry.