Men on the Gates – Buried in the UK.
Soldiers Funeral – processing along Church Street. Oswestry. (DO)
During the war the policy was that men would be buried ‘where they fell’, hence the many WW1 Commonwealth War Graves throughout the world. However, many men died at home, the Home Theatre, and were buried in the UK usually according to their family’s wishes and the grave marked with a CWGC headstone.
For some they had received a ‘Blighty wound’ – had been wounded, become ill or injured overseas and been evacuated back to the UK for treatment but did not recover. Some of these men died months or years after they had been wounded – of the Men on the Gates buried in the UK over half died late 1918, they last recorded Man being in 1920 and after the war had ended.
For some they never went overseas but died of illness or were accidentally killed during training. There are also 2 men in the Royal Navy who were KIA in Home Waters.
There are also 4 Men on the Gates who are not recorded on CWGC and do not have CWGC headstones. The Project is working and hoping to rectify this and have the men listed. For 2 men their graves are not known.
- Oswestry General Cemetery.
- Hengoed. St Barnabas’s Church.
- Seion Chapel, Oswestry.
- St Michael’s Church, West Felton Private 16909 John Butler, West Felton War Memorial.
- St Chad’s Church Haughton – Brigadier General Mainwaring George Jacson West Felton War Memorial. Corporal 12303 Frederick Davies West Felton War Memorial,
- Beyond Oswestry – CWGC graves in UK.
- Shrewsbury General Cemetery – Private 19723 John William Dovaston, West Felton War Memorial
Grave Not Known
Private 63787 Harry Batty, 3/4 Reserve Bn Welsh Regiment (48 Training Bn).
Private 7562 James A Fraser, 9 Bn King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, Formerly 2Bn KSLI.
All of Oswestry’s cemeteries have CWGC WW1 graves – the Project plans to include and build pages for all these names- Would you like to help? Click Getting Involved or Contact Men on the Gates at Qube.
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