Do all civilian deaths that are in the CWGC database have to have been killed by 'enemy action' or can they have been killed accidentally in the defense of the Country? The reason I ask is I found a 1942 newspaper story of 2 young boys who wandered into a minefield defending a local village and one was killed outright and the other severely injured.
Temptage Quickly copying the info from Ancestry “These volumes contain the Roll of Honour of those civilians, citizens of the Commonwealth and Empire, who were killed in the United Kingdom by enemy action during the 1939–1945 War, while engaged in household or in business activities, or at their posts as members of the Civil Defence Services. Their graves are scattered throughout the country.” While most of these records are for the United Kingdom, they do include civilian deaths from around the world, including many lost at sea. If I find more ........................... TD Added: It also states: ......................civilians in the British Commonwealth and Empire who died during World War II and are commemorated on Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorials or buried in CWGC cemeteries. So I would guess the criteria was set by CWGC??
All WW2 war related civilian deaths should be within the CWGC database which,if researched may reveal a wide scope of death causations. From this, I would think that the deaths of the two boys should be recorded within the CWGC database.
Drop Chris Harley a line he has managed to get a number listed on CWGC killed by accident will fit example from one of Chris successes "The two boys were killed when they handled a mortar bomb"
In the CWGC database should also be the Grimsby civilians who inadvertently were victims of the aircraft dropped anti personnel weapons such as the butterfly bombs.
Basic answer - all civilians who died due to enemy action. Those civilians who died as the result of military accidents although we would have to look at each on a case by case basis.
