War Veterans

[sandyford]

The recent threads about Harry Patch and Charles Kuentz and the helpful listing of living WW1 veterans, has made me wonder how these lists, published in the press, are arrived at.

Discussion of how many German WW1 vets and also about numbers fluctuating up as well as down, as new veterans were discovered, seem to imply that the source is unofficial.

Even in these days when so much information is compiled on everyone, I can't think of a database, in the UK, open to public scrutiny, as a source of this information.

Kate

[steve fuller]

Hi Kate

I also doubt the existance of an official 'list'! It would be rather hard to keep it accurate Id think!

As I understand it, I believe the press choose their story & follow it up accordingly using sources that are often the 'last known' (& believable) version available. To write the article with little or no factual support is obviously a no no, so they go with what they know, base it on whats been written before, adding to it as the story dictates. .

At least thats pretty much how it was explained to me (by someone in the 'industry').

[Essexboy68]

Steve & Kate

According to what I have read, the information regarding British veterans is sourced from the First World War Veterans Association. There is no official list as such, due to the fact that there is no reason for there to be a list of surviving veterans from any conflict as the British government do not give any benefits to veterans, unlike a great large number of other countries. For instance, the MoD cannot actually prove the whereabouts of British servicemen during the first Gulf war, or at least that is what they told the Americans when they asked for the names of British personnel present at a particular incident when a strange "cloud" enveloped coalition forces. Given that, are they likely to know about veterans of a conflict 3 generations ago?

Cheers

Mark

P.S I believe there should be an official list, maybe compiled from DSS pension records for all those over 100 & the remaining records of WW1 servicemen, such as the medal rolls etc

[sandyford]

I know that some people are not joiners of organisations and may not have come to public notice in any way. Harry Patch himself said that he used to be quite resistant to attending ceremonies, joining organisations or even talking about his experiences.

Probably if the veteran does not want to be identified then that is enough.

But, I just felt uneasy about people who will probably never even be listed.

The article said that if the press noticed someone being reported as having a 100th birthday etc. (and presumably it was a quiet day for news) they would have followed it up.

Obviously the death notices, which gave age, would be no use for this purpose and there is no right of access to recent censuses.

DSS records would be the obvious source but again these records would not be accessible.

Although an official list would be desirable, with WW2 in mind in the next 20 years or so, I cannot think of a feasible way of it being compiled.

Kate