My Uncle Sapper 2191854 James Delaney died in March 1942, his son will be 90 soon and I would like to answer his questions: how did he die? Why was he in Scotland? His records state "he died as a casualty of war, aged 39years". He was 7years old at the time, we remember not being allowed to go to Scotland until the 1970's to see his grave. Thanking you in anticipation of your assistance.
Moved your query to it's own thread. You have his number wrong. I'll edit thread title. 2191864 Casualty
CWGC link which identifies with which unit he was serving at the time of his death: Casualty Sapper DELANEY, JAMES Service Number 2191864 Died 04/03/1942 Aged 39 687 Artisan Works Coy., Royal Engineers Son of Martin and Margarate Delaney, of Salford, Lancashire; husband of Gladys Delaney, of Salford. INSCRIPTION: JAMES, LOVED HUSBAND OF GLADYS PARTED THROUGH DEATH BUT ALWAYS IN MY THOUGHTS Buried at EAST KILBRIDE CEMETERY Location: Lanarkshire, United Kingdom Number of casualties: 26 Cemetery/memorial reference: Sec. U. Coll. grave 2442.
James Delaney (1903-1942) - Find A Grave Memorial James Delaney BIRTH 1903 Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Salford, Greater Manchester, England DEATH 4 Mar 1942 (aged 38–39) He served in WWII as a Sapper with the Royal Engineers in the 687 Artisan Works Company. He died as a casualty of the war at the age of 39 years. Date of Death: 04 March 1942 Service No: 2191864 Commonwealth War Dead Grave: Sec. U, Coll. Grave 2442 Cemetery: East Kilbride Cemetery, South Lanarkshire, Scotland I hope this is the War Diary for the unit he was in so that obtaining a copy may answer your question ROYAL ENGINEERS: FIELD COMPANIES: 687 Company. | The National Archives Reference: WO 166/8287 Description: ROYAL ENGINEERS: FIELD COMPANIES: 687 Company. Date: 1942 Jan.-Dec. Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) TD
ROYAL ENGINEERS: COMPANIES: 687 Artisan Works Company. | The National Archives Reference: WO 166/3871 HOME FORCES: ROYAL ENGINEERS: COMPANIES: 687 Artisan Works Company. Date: 1940 Feb.- July ICELAND: Royal Engineers: 687 Artisan Works Company (Art Wks Coy). | The National Archives Reference: WO 176/349 ICELAND: Royal Engineers: 687 Artisan Works Company (Art Wks Coy). Date: 1940 July-1941 Dec. Copy service records can be obtained by applying to MOD: Request records of deceased service personnel
1939 REGISTER 4 Croydon Street, Salford C.B., Lancashire Name - DOB - Occupation - Marital status James Delaney - 12 Jan 1903 - Pumping Machine Operator, Textile Dyeing Production, Heavy - Married Gladys Houghton (Delaney) - 25 Sep 1907 - Art Needlework Embroider - Married James (Joseph) Delaney - 23 Jul 1930 - At School - Single Brian Delaney - 22 Dec 1934 - At School - Single
Angela If you can contact member Drew5233 (http://ww2talk.com/index.php?members/drew5233.6786/) then he visits Kew and the TNA on regular visits to copy files and he can copy the 1942 War Diary for you which may explain what they were doing in Scotland and may possibly mention an incident that could have caused your relatives death TD Drew5233 -- just learnt something new today and am trying it out
So it was - bronchial carcinoma - and not specifically related to a 'military' accident or incident or such like - thanks Guy TD
Here's the diary for March and a page from February to see what was going on Looks like unglamorous hard graft. Notice they're not in Scotland at that time.
I have all this info since 1995 when I visited grave, but still do not know how he died? Angela. Why if it was bronchial carcinoma would they put "casualty of war"? Angela.
Basically he died in 'uniform' whilst 'under command' in his unit, so in terms of what the regulations stated at that time he became a 'casualty of war''. There have instances of members of the armed services, falling over on ice and breaking their neck, as they were in uniform they became a casualty of war under the rules set at that time Casualty (person) - Wikipedia "Military Medical Casualties". Retrieved 5 May 2013. Military Medical Casualties are losses during wars of armed forces personnel on account of wounds or other effects received from various kinds of weapons, as well as those who are admitted to aid stations or medical installations for more than 24 hours. Military medical casualties are one category of battle casualties, which also include what are called irrecoverable losses—those already dead or who die of wounds before reaching an aid station, those missing in action, and those taken prisoner. Military medical casualties usually greatly exceed irrecoverable losses—for example, the ratio was about 4:1 in World War I and about 3:1 in World War II. A distinction is made between combat and noncombat military medical casualties. The former refers to casualties that are the result of wounds, trauma, burns, ionizing radiation contamination, poisoning, and frostbite; the latter refers to casualties that are the result of noncombat injuries and diseases not related to weapons. casualty - Dictionary Definition casualty can also refer to deaths or injuries suffered in an accident or some other unfortunate event. TD
