14550883 Walter Sharkey, 6 KOSB: KIA 24/3/45, Germany - researching biographical background

Hello,
I found the name of the British soldier who was buried in this makeshift grave on March 24th 1945. He was Pte Walter Sharkey, service number 14550883. He served with 6 K.O.S.B. and was killed in the village of Bislich, situated right on the east bank of the Rhine. The photo has long been known in Bislich - the identity of the soldier has not. For the village museum it would be great to find out more about Pte Sharkey - or even get a photo. Thus we could honour his sacrifice pars-pro-toto. He was 20 years old. I found out this so far: Very likely born in Liverpool in 1925 to Daniel Sharkey and Sarah Ann Sharkey (née Whitfield). His father Daniel Sharkey probably died in 1971. There are a handful of Sharkeys in Liverpool - I could write to them, of course. The KOSB Museum in Berwick-upon-Tweed does not answer any requests in the current Corona situation. For his service records I would need his date of birth (which I do not have) and a good reason why I want his records (which I may have). Does anyone have any advice? Thank you for any suggestion!



https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2041820/walter-sharkey/
The CWGC form allowed my to identify Pte Sharkey - he is the only soldier buried at this exact point. I used to live very close to Bislich and know the area - this helped to make the connection between grid point on this form and the photograph.

 

You should be able to get his records without a reason (well not one you need to explain to them) and his name and number should be enough, I don't think a date of birth is needed - hopefully others will confirm - looking on Ancestry I see him in 6 family trees, the first one I looked at is owned by a Paul Sharkey, so worth contacting if you can.

 

Hi AB64 - thank you! Im not familiar with Ancestry (and I have not subscribed to it). Do the six family trees all refer to the same family? And Paul Sharkey is the best bet in your opinion?
Best
Alex

 

Hi, I'll drop him a message - the seperate family trees will overlap but can be owned by people on different branches so they may be people that don't know each other - I was thinking he may be best bet as he has the same Surname so is hopefully fairly close - I have dropped people messages before and found they are very very distant relatives so cant add anything, but others you find are nephews/nieces etc so either know a lot about the person or can put you in touch or contact someone very close. I'll message him (and maybe some of the others) and if I get a reply I'll try put you in touch.

Cheers

 

That's great - thank you for your help!

 

Hello there
My name is Ash Sharkey, This was my great uncle as my Grandfather was Fred Sharkey, Walters older brother, Paul Sharkey is my uncle. The one mentioned for ancestry, I'm also doing my research on my family and would love to hear back on any news you may have feel free to email me at any point.
Kind regards Ash

 

Dear Ash, it is great to hear from you - thank you for getting in touch. Your reply came as a bit of a surprise - it's been quite a while since I posted my request in this forum. I must admit that I presented everything that can be found out from my side - the photo of the field grave and connecting it with a place and the name of your great uncle. I would be interested to find out a bit more about Walter Sharkey and his (too short) life, his family background and maybe get a photo of him. This would be a valuable addition to what we know already. Going by what i researched about the crossing of the Rhine at Bislich in the early hours of 24 March 1945 i could probably tell you and your family a bit more of what his last hours might have been like.
I look forward to hearing from you,
with best regards from Germany
Alex