Thank you all, particularly Simon, for your response to my enquiry. I have shown your photo, Simon, to my husband and he is thrilled !! My MIL was estranged from her mother (James' mother and my OH's grandmother) and my OH never knew his grandmother. After his grandmother's death in 1982, my OH met his aunt for the first time and my MIL was reunited with her sister after 40 years. Neither she nor my MIL would talk about their childhood or their brother's death so we know very little, but I am sure now that they must have known about the memorial in Mendlesham church. Due to having a very elderly dog we aren't able to be out of the house for very long, but, as soon as we are able we will visit Mendelsham and see the memorial for ourselves. Thank you so much also to Ruth who offered to photo James' grave in Portsmouth, although I already have a photo of it, but her kindness is much appreciated. Another piece in the jigsaw ! I'm very grateful for your help. Caroline -----Original Message----- From: Simon Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2014 6:51 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [NFK] What were the criteria for being on a War Memorial ? Hi Caroline James Scarff is on the Mendlesham war memorial (as is a Maurice Scarff from the previous war). You can see my photo of it here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/norfolkodyssey/3699209232/sizes/o/ There was no set way to compile the names for a war memorial. Some lists were compiled methodically as the war progressed, others collected together in a hurry years later. Some were compiled by the civil authorities, some by churches, some by well-meaning but often inefficient groups of amateurs - my wife's great-grandfather is on the Sudbury war memorial twice, with slightly different names! In at one parish in Suffolk (not Mendlesham) the vicar crossed out the names of anyone who wasn't a member of the Church of England, and they weren't included. It is a safe betthat almost no war memorial in England is complete, although WWII is more likely to be accurate than WWI. Simon norfolkchurches.co.uk suffolkchurches.co.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 > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2014.0.4355 / Virus Database: 3882/7317 - Release Date: 04/08/14 > > ------------------------------- 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