SDGW definitions

[leigh]

HI,

Whilst sat here going through inputting the SDGW data for 300 casualties a few thinsg have puzzled me and an explanation will be greatfully accepted.

Killed in action - I assume this means on the front line etc.

Died of wounds - I guess this is 'got injured, went to hospital and died'.

Died - does this mean anything special? or they just died of no war related wounds?

Also could would someone with the CD be kind enough to look up

George Ernest Parrott 38395 and confirm he is listed just as Ernest Parrott on SDGW, my notes have confused me slightly.

Many regards

Leigh

[Doug Lewis]

Leigh

Ernest Parrott is how he is recorded.

Died is as you have said, not caused by combat, which would also include deaths due to accidents.

Regards Doug.

[leigh]

Many thanks Doug

L.

[Terry Denham]

'Died' = Died of illness, accident, homicide or judicial execution.

[DaveDocDavies]

Leigh,

The distinction between Killed-in-Action and Died-of-Wounds is not always clear cut. Those souls who are fatally struck and "killed instantly" are clearly KIA. Those who suffer critical injury and die before reaching medical attention are usually included KIA as well. The wounded who die 24-48 hours (and longer) after reaching medical care could be considered to have Died-of-Wounds.

The "grey area" between wounding and arrival at medical aid is judged by several factors: time interval between time of wounding (which assault wave) and time of evacuation, might the wound have been survivable if hemorrhage had been stopped in time? Was the nature of the wound mortal regardless of time? There is some room for "administrative interpretation" ... the region's Chief Surgeon (Regt or Brigade) might define the dividing line for theater uniformity.

From the standpoint of "public relations" with the folks back home, as well as the troops still in the line, KIA implies death with little suffering, whereas DOW suggests a period of pain, suffering and some inability of the medical folks to save them. In the age of aero-medical transport, the "grey area' has been shrunk to minutes in most cases ... definitions are much clearer these days.

Doc D

[Blackblue]

I agree with the Doc. As far as the AIF goes there doesn't seem to have been any real SOP regarding at what point an individual was categorised as DOW or KIA. Of all men I have seen who were classed as DOW the time period they remained alive seems to have been irrelevant. I had one relative who was classified DOW who was hit by a gas shell and died shortly after not even regaining conciousness. His brother was initially classed as 'Wounded & Missing' however it later emerged that he was hit by a shell and simply disappeared......go figure!

Rgds

Tim

[CROONAERT]

"Died" basically means that death was caused by means other than enemy action. It encompasses an absolute myriad of causes!

Dave.

[hmsk212]

I was doing a small list last week and came across a " killed " which sounds quite ominous.

Steve

[leigh]

plot thicker Steve

And also many thanks for the other replys.

Leigh

[ajsmith]

Other than the man was no more my feeling has always been that you cannot imply anything from KIA, Dead,DOW or anything else in that section.

[hmsk212]

Other than the man was no more my feeling has always been that you cannot imply anything from KIA, Dead,DOW or anything else in that section.

Beg to differ. In my own researches all of those that I have looked up, whose records do survive, have died as per the description in SDGW. These causes are very often also confirmed by the unit's War Diary.

Steve

[CROONAERT]

I was doing a small list last week and came across a " killed " which sounds quite ominous.

Steve

Steve.

"Killed" is encountered quite often in ODGW. The explaination of abbreviations given in the hard copy of this book says "Killed - Killed, other than in action". In other words, the difference between "killed" and "died" is that there is no violence attributed to "died", whereas there is in "killed".

Dave.