British India Office, Deaths and Burials.

Hi All,

This is probably old news, but I have been on the Find My Past website for about two hours this evening trawling the burial records in the British India Office series on line.

I was given the tip on another forum yesterday and it has proved a gold mine for me when searching for 13th King's who died either before Operation Longcloth or after the expedition was over.

The casualties I have successfully been able to trace would have died in India and buried locally, most of their graves being moved to the IWGC cemeteries after the war was over. Information available is, burial site, date of death and most importantly of all, cause of death. They even tell you in most cases who conducted the funeral.

For just less than £7 I have discovered the missing cause of death for about 30 of my Chindits, mostly those who died in training or had become ill in the first few months of being in India. The most rewarding thing is that some of these entries confirm what I had previously believed had happened to the men question, always a good feeling.

Here is the link:

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/british-india-office-deaths-and-burials

 

Hi Bamboo,

Is it on British citizen Or can I track down Indian, Pakistani and nepalease too?

Cheers
TijgerB

 

Hi TijgerB,

I have only seen British related burials recorded I'm afraid.

Best wishes

Steve

 

I have found that not all seem to be listed..no idea why, even when I pretty much know the dates, so you have been lucky, Steve.

 

Hi zahonado,

It only works when the soldier has died locally, for me I have been able to pick up training accidents and men dying from disease etc. Some very nice detail and of course this has unlocked several mysteries for me. There is a small unravelling thread for the 13th King's who dropped out of Chindit 1 training in mid-1942. Some it seems transferred to the Corps of Military Police and were involved in internal security duties throughout India and dying in the process of performing these duties.

Best wishes

Steve

 

Attached is an example of the sort of information I have been able to add to my website as updates to previously posted stories.

 

The records on Findmypast are transcription and images of records which were sent to the India Office in London, now at the British Library. They are mostly church burial records, but if not church burials, they are Christian burial records.

By the time of the Second World War, very few records, in comparison to the total numbers, were actually being forwarded to London from India. In addition, to have a church burial, you needed to die in close vicinity to a church. There just weren't facilities to transport bodies long distances. If a soldier in the Army in India died in a cantonment, or camp, and was buried in a cantonment church, (or somewhere where there was an organised Army infrastructure} (up to 1947), there is probably a good chance you will find an entry in Findmypast. Otherwise, if for example, the man died in the jungle, or on active service, away from the usual Army infrastructure, my feeling is that you are unlikely to find anything.

Cheers
Maureen

 

Thanks for that informative description of the process. I know I have been very fortunate to discover the cause of death of so many of my 13th King's personnel from these records.

Best wishes

Steve

 

Can anyone check on FMP to see if there are any details for the following soldier please:

 

He died on 18th September 1944 at Bolarum , an area/suburb in Secunderabad, the cantonment area of Hyderabad, (Deccan) of malaria and pneumonia, and was buried 19th September 1944, age 24.

The transcription:

First name(s) W

Last name Heaver

Birth year 1920

Death date 18 Sep 1944

Death year 1944

Age 24

Burial date 19 Sep 1944

Place Bolarum

Presidency Madras

Archive

The British Library

Archive Reference N-2-172

Folio -

Page 485

Catalogue Description Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Madras, : 1698-1948

Record set British India Office Deaths & Burials

Cheers
Maureen

 

Many thanks for the information Maureen.