Elizabeth, I do not think I can add to the info. that you have received from others, but coincidentally, just last month I attended the funeral of my mother's cousin aged 96. She was a nursing Sister and was stationed in Orkney in 1944 with the Fleet Air Arm. after having been on HMHS Vasnia for 18 months I have just got hold of some of her photos to copy and one is with her doctor and staff in front of the wooden huts which was the hospital. Maybe Mike or others could tell me where that was. My oldest brother was in Scapa at that time on HMS Indomitable, a carrier, and he came under enemy fire at that time, so it quite likely that your relative was shot down. If you have his service number or some details you may be able to get his record which would give more info. I am surprised that you got so little info from the CWGC as I researched another cousin of my Mother's who was shot down in Germany, and I got detailed info as to where he was buried and also detail of the raid in which he was participating when his Lancaster bomber was hit. Is it posible that his body was taken by the family to be buried at home and therefore the CWGC have no responsibility ? Archie Gilbert, Kinross. ----- Original Message ----- From: "elizabeth Abbott" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 4:53 PM Subject: [Orkney] George Herbert Abbott - WWII > I'd like to thank everyone for your replies and suggested websites regarding Scapa Flow and H.M.S. Tern during the war. It was a big help and I appreciate the wonderful response I received. Now I have a much better understanding of the situation. > > Now if I may push my luck, I have one more question: does anyone know if I can get specific information about George Abbott's death. I have searched the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website which gives the basics such as name, rank, etc. but there is nothing there about how he died. I have googled his name in various combinations, but no luck with this. > > I'm going on hearsay that his plane was shot down so I would like to confirm. > > Is there any place in Orkney that might have more detailed records? > > Thank you, > > ELizabeth > > > ==== ORKNEY Mailing List ==== > >>>>TIP: To unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to: [email protected] In the body include only one word: unsubscribe > Use Orkney-D if you're receiving digests.<<<< > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > > >

Hi Archie, I will now return to the CWGC website and see if I missed additional information concerning enemy raids in connection with George's death. For a starting point, I felt the site was very helpful since it gave me his nationality, rank, regiment, unit text, age, date of death, service #, parents' names, grave & plot numbers. On another page it also said "Remembered with Honour - Kirkwall (St. Olaf's) Cemetery." I printed off 3 pages from their website. I was hoping to find some local reference - maybe an old newpaper article etc. - about casualties on the date of his death which was May 1, 1944. I have a photo of this very handsome young man in uniform pushing me in my baby carriage (1941) when we lived in Montreal. I'm not sure why he was in Canada - perhaps he was on leave, but my Mom told me he used help her by standing in line for our rations. Thanks for all your help. Elizabeth ----- Original Message ----- From: "Archie Gilbert" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 1:28 PM Subject: Re: [Orkney] George Herbert Abbott - WWII > Elizabeth, > I do not think I can add to the info. that you have received > from others, but coincidentally, just last month I attended the funeral of > my mother's cousin aged 96. She was a nursing Sister and was stationed in > Orkney in 1944 with the Fleet Air Arm. after having been on HMHS Vasnia for > 18 months I have just got hold of some of her photos to copy and one is > with her doctor and staff in front of the wooden huts which was the > hospital. Maybe Mike or others could tell me where that was. My oldest > brother was in Scapa at that time on HMS Indomitable, a carrier, and he came > under enemy fire at that time, so it quite likely that your relative was > shot down. > If you have his service number or some details you may be able to get his > record which would give more info. I am surprised that you got so little > info from the CWGC as I researched another cousin of my Mother's who was > shot down in Germany, and I got detailed info as to where he was buried and > also detail of the raid in which he was participating when his Lancaster > bomber was hit. Is it posible that his body was taken by the family to be > buried at home and therefore the CWGC have no responsibility ? > > Archie Gilbert, Kinross.

elizabeth Abbott wrote: > Hi Archie, > > I will now return to the CWGC website and see if I missed additional > information concerning enemy raids in connection with George's death. > For a starting point, I felt the site was very helpful since it gave > me his nationality, rank, regiment, unit text, age, date of death, > service #, parents' names, grave & plot numbers. On another page it > also said "Remembered with Honour - Kirkwall (St. Olaf's) Cemetery." > I printed off 3 pages from their website. > > I was hoping to find some local reference - maybe an old newpaper > article etc. - about casualties on the date of his death which was > May 1, 1944. > > I have a photo of this very handsome young man in uniform pushing me > in my baby carriage (1941) when we lived in Montreal. I'm not sure > why he was in Canada - perhaps he was on leave, but my Mom told me he > used help her by standing in line for our rations. > > Thanks for all your help. > > Elizabeth Elizabeth, It's possible that your cousin didn't die as the direct result of enemy action. Assuming him to have been aircrew, his plane could have crashed on landing or take-off or for any number of other reasons. He may have been involved in an accident on the ground while moving aircraft - the possibilities are endless. If he was on active service then he would have been 'entitled' to a War Grave. If he died in Orkney then the County Archives might be able to help, but a lot of that sort of information didn't make it into the local paper because of censorship during the war, or being blunt, because there was no immediate Orkney connection. I wish you well with your search and would love to hear the outcome. -- Mike Clouston

Elizabeth, I've just had a look at the CWGC for your GH Abbott and noticed that on the Cemetery Details for St. Olaf's cemetery that another man from HMS Tern died on that same date. Alec Stewart BOAR - http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/cemetery_reports.aspx?cemetery=74566&mode=1 9th entry down. Might be a clue. They were so young - 19 and 20 years old. -- Mike Clouston