Hi. I am researching local men who died in WW2, as all the official commemorations have now been postponed. The stuff I did on WW1 was well received but I am conscious that there is a greater likelihood of family members who remember these men still being in the local area and I don’t want to tread on anyone’s toes. Has anyone who has done this before got any thoughts or tips for what I should be aware of? I just want to put a free resource online for anyone to access in the future. TIA
I'm not sure what your concerns are Pudsey. I have researched all my local WW1 soldiers and have been working on several of the local WW2 soldiers with interesting histories for the last year or so. If you are going to put information online about the men just be up front about the reasons for your interest and intentions for your research. Let them know about your previous research on WW1 soldiers and leave contact details where relatives can contact you if they wish to add information. There are the occasional cases where you need to be a bit discrete about some details you come across when researching an individual and how far you wish to communicate that in public. The way things are at the moment with commemoration services being cancelled (Anzac Day here) you may find there is more interest in your research as people will still wish to remember family members. You may be surprised. Hope that is of some help. Scott
I agree, sometimes relatives just do not want to be bothered any more. The majority of German families of soldiers and officers, sometimes real Nazis I have researched I have contacted a local historian first. They know most families, sometimes live next door with them. If you are lucky, you may get the sensitive subjects and and a "key" to their heard., or else. Stefan.
Pudsey63, I recently did research into the suicide in May 1945 of a New Zealand Army officer and added a thread here - incredibly it was picked up within days by his great-grandson in New Zealand. Contact was made; along with a grandson via LinkedIn. The suicide had not been made clear to the family at the time. So yes do the research; you do not have to trace the relatives - though I did. It is another reason to add your knowledge here so anyone doing research can make contact.
When I was Curator of regimental collections I would regularly get inquiries like: "Can you identify the soldier in the photograph taken in my village in 1944 he's called Tom and drove a truck. He's my father"....
Over the last 10 years now I've worked on researching the men who were lost on the first Wingate expedition in Burma. When families get in touch these days, they are now mostly grandchildren of the soldier in question. Being one or two steps removed from the situation, they tend to be able to accept the sad and sometimes disturbing information I can supply them. But, as the other posters have already mentioned, it is often a judgement call on how much you tell them, especially in my case when it might involve atrocities whilst a POW etc. Most families are pleased to receive the information however grim, but there are always surprises along the way and you need to decide what goes out into the public domain and what is best kept under wraps. One thing is for sure in my experience, if you leave something out there long enough, the family will often come across it when their interest is peaked and they google the name. Good luck going forward.
