Two Soldiers ,Two Graves each?

Just heard about two soldiers who the CWGC have listed as buried in Prague but a guy from London has discovered they also have graves at Olomouc 160 miles away headstones as well ! As one of the soldiers was DLI I contacted Jim (Verrieres) who knew about this having been contacted direct from this guy. He has spoken to the CWGC who were unaware of the `second` grave and after looking into this over the past week and stated that their Records show both were removed in 1947 to be concentrated in Prague who is under the second headstones (if anyone) they do not know and suggest the Czechs simply did not update their records at the end of the war however the two British Soldiers have `new` headstones are well cared for and the graves around about are all `Partisans`. Any thoughts lads the soldiers in question are 4467059 Private Francis Thomas Durose 16th DLI and 6397874. Private Joseph Richard Harris Royal Sussex Regiment. I will try and get hold of some photos.


Kyle

 

Photos of the above soldiers at Olomouc and at Prague

Kyle

 

An update via Verrieres is "Kyle the two graves in Olomouc are empty in the Cemetery register they are listed as `Cenotaphs" (Wiki ;-A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere) wonder how many of the original graves are tended this lovingly the two men are referred to as PoWs who died in Captivity....
"Frank(Francis) Thomas Durose was born in Birmingham in 1910 and lived at 6 Smarts Buildings,Stour Street Birmingham the son of Frank and Alice Durose Frank had three siblings Fred.,Emlie and Alice.Married Margaret Leitch( Durose,) of Dalkeith, Midlothian.In 1939 he was still living at 6 Smarts Buildings.( The 16th DLI were training at Morton Camp in Scotland so he could have met her there? ) He enlisted in the DLI in 1940 and joined the 16th battalion. He was captured in Tunisia posibly at Sedjeane where he was wounded. He was shipped to the Italian mainland where he was imprisoned in a hospital camp PG H206 . Despite him being a known PoW in the Prisoner of War lists for September 1944 there is no mention of him?"


Kyle

 

Kyle thank you for posting
regards
Clive

 

Hi Kyle

On Joseph Richard Harris:
UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947 about Joseph Richard Harris
Name: Joseph Richard Harris
Age: 32
Birth Date: abt 1913
Death Date: 20 Feb 1945
Cemetery: Prague War Cemetery
Father: Harry Hugh Harris
Mother: Fanny Harris
Regimental Number: 6397874
Region or Memorial: Czechoslovakia, Hungary
Other Records:

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 about Joseph Richard Harris
Name: Joseph Richard Harris
Probate Date: 26 Apr 1946
Death Date: 20 Feb 1945
Death Place: Sussex, England
Registry: London, England



TD

Birth info if req'd

England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 about Joseph R Harris
Name: Joseph R Harris
Mother's Maiden Name: Rowland
Registration Year: 1913
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration district: Horsham
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Sussex
Volume: 2b
Page: 513

 

Thanks TD,

Its good that Pte Harris is remembered here thanks for taking the time to research and post here


Kyle

 

There is one known instance of a man having two graves (burial of body parts), the next of kin and CWGC agree to let it be.
When doing my database hacking, I found two instances of headstones to the same man in different cemeteries, that CWGC were not aware of. It will probably take some time to sort out those 4 graves. I also found several more instances where there was both a burial and memorial commemoration for the same man that they were unaware of. Probably impossible to detect these duplicates without a computer!