Henry Charles Drummond Godefroy

[Ivor Lee]

I have been trying to help a man in Australia with his grandfather's service and have come across a problem.

Henry Charles Drummond Godefroy, age 40 years, died on 13 November 1919 at the General Military Hospital, Edmonton. However I cannot find him either on the CWGC database or SDIGW. Whilst I am not surprised at the latter I would have expected a man who died in a military hospital to have been on the CWGC database.

Perhap Terry can help with this one?

The cause of his death was chronic Bright's Disease which I believe is a kidney disease. Family history has that he died as an effect of gassing. Was kidney disease one of the effects of gassing? (Showing my ignorance yet again!)

The family do not know where he is buried. As he lived in Monega Road, Manor Park London I did wonder about the City of London Cemetery. Any other thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[Terry Denham]

Ivor

Do you know if he was a serving soldier at the time of his death or had he been discharged (he could still have been admitted to a military hospital after discharge).

It makes a difference as if he was still serving he would be entitled to war grave status and CWGC listing but if he had left service he would only be entitled to it if the illness was proven to have been caused by his service (not always easy).

Many n-o-k ascribed the death of a relative post-war to their war experiences but it was not always so or, even if it was, the authorities required firm evidence. Alternatively, if he had been discharged, the n-o-k may not have informed the authorities that he had died, in their belief, of war related causes.

[Ivor Lee]

Terry

Sorry I do not know if he was still serving and I do not think his surviving relatives know the answer.

As you can see from my original posting there are a number of questions for which there is a lack of information.

Who knows perhaps his record will have survived?