Hi Caroline There was no qualification as such to be included on a war memorial I have people on more than one, others on memorials miles from where they lived or were born In the main the Parish Council organised the names to be entered, I have heard cases of some names that were refused (in that case as he was shot at dawn) and others that were incorrectly spelled or with the wrong regiment If the Parish minutes survive they may contain details of who were put forward and why but not all survive I found (and am kicking myself for not keeping note of where) a full set of notes, letters, estimates & invoices for a war memorial in another County It listed the names put forward and by whom, then estimates for the memorial, the estimates knocked back with changes to lower the price, the requests to local businesses for sponsorship for the memorial, also letters in some cases the refusal as they had already donated to other memorials In my experience the names put forward were mostly by the more vocal in the community, parish councillors etc, who may or may not have the full and accurate details, some people had moved during or after the war and had their loved ones names on the memorial, even though they had never lived there So reasons are many and varied as to why names are on memorials, or were not If a family moved or in many cases the widow or widowers remarried, the new family would have enough to deal with without seemingly looking back I found mention of the war memorial at Mendlesham being moved or is that the USAAF one you mentioned? I would enquire of the local library there and the local studies if they have one (most do) Is it possible they had a combined memorial with another village? Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 08/04/2014 18:10, Caroline Bell wrote: > While we are on the subject of war memorials ...... > > My husband's uncle, James Scarff was born in Fakenham. He went to HMS Ganges > in the mid 1930s and then continued in the Navy up to WWII. His mother and > younger sister continued to live in Fakenham until around 1936 when they > moved to Mendlesham, Suffolk. James was sent to HMS Vernon (Portsmouth) in > 1941 for training purposes and was one of many killed on the 11th March 1941 > when a building was hit by German bombers. He is buried in Portsmouth. > > My question is would he have qualified to appear on a war memorial in his > home town (Fakenham or Mendlesham) as he wasn't actually on active service > when he died ? He doesn't appear on the Fakenham memorial and I am having > difficulty finding details of the Mendlesham one. I can only find mention of > the USAAF memorial. The Roll of Honour website doesn't list Mendlesham > (sorry - not Norfolk, I know :) ) > > Thank you > > Caroline

I would also add to this list (for which I can find a number of examples myself), do not assume that they were a serving soldier at the time of death, or that they died in action. I have one example for Hertfordshire of a name that appears on the local War Memorial, who died in I think 1920, and was in receipt of a War Office pension from illness incurred while serving in WWI, said illness was probably one of the causes of his death. regards Keith Drage Swindon UK On 08/04/2014 18:39, Nivard Ovington wrote: > Hi Caroline > > There was no qualification as such to be included on a war memorial > > I have people on more than one, others on memorials miles from where > they lived or were born > > In the main the Parish Council organised the names to be entered, I have > heard cases of some names that were refused (in that case as he was shot > at dawn) and others that were incorrectly spelled or with the wrong > regiment > > If the Parish minutes survive they may contain details of who were put > forward and why but not all survive > > I found (and am kicking myself for not keeping note of where) a full set > of notes, letters, estimates & invoices for a war memorial in another County > > It listed the names put forward and by whom, then estimates for the > memorial, the estimates knocked back with changes to lower the price, > the requests to local businesses for sponsorship for the memorial, also > letters in some cases the refusal as they had already donated to other > memorials > > In my experience the names put forward were mostly by the more vocal in > the community, parish councillors etc, who may or may not have the full > and accurate details, some people had moved during or after the war and > had their loved ones names on the memorial, even though they had never > lived there > > So reasons are many and varied as to why names are on memorials, or were > not > > If a family moved or in many cases the widow or widowers remarried, the > new family would have enough to deal with without seemingly looking back > > I found mention of the war memorial at Mendlesham being moved or is that > the USAAF one you mentioned? > > I would enquire of the local library there and the local studies if they > have one (most do) > > Is it possible they had a combined memorial with another village? > > Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > On 08/04/2014 18:10, Caroline Bell wrote: >> While we are on the subject of war memorials ...... >> >> My husband's uncle, James Scarff was born in Fakenham. He went to HMS Ganges >> in the mid 1930s and then continued in the Navy up to WWII. His mother and >> younger sister continued to live in Fakenham until around 1936 when they >> moved to Mendlesham, Suffolk. James was sent to HMS Vernon (Portsmouth) in >> 1941 for training purposes and was one of many killed on the 11th March 1941 >> when a building was hit by German bombers. He is buried in Portsmouth. >> >> My question is would he have qualified to appear on a war memorial in his >> home town (Fakenham or Mendlesham) as he wasn't actually on active service >> when he died ? He doesn't appear on the Fakenham memorial and I am having >> difficulty finding details of the Mendlesham one. I can only find mention of >> the USAAF memorial. The Roll of Honour website doesn't list Mendlesham >> (sorry - not Norfolk, I know :) ) >> >> Thank you >> >> Caroline > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >