Real Lives

The Misspelt Name

We all know the feeling; minding our own business, getting on with our lives, and there it is, one or more of our names has been incorrectly spelt on some correspondence.  For the most part, we smile and move on, but after a while, the same mistake can be rather irksome, and we set about getting things corrected.

As with any historical research, unearthing the stories of “Our Boys” has been an adventure in overcoming numerous obstacles and dead-ends.  Truth and accuracy are the finishing line; as stories unfold and new evidence comes to light, each new detail must be tested and proven beyond all reasonable doubt.  A persistent, logical approach with a hint of creativity in pursuing the trail are essential; nothing can be assumed, however tempting!

As my work turned to John Edmund Rogers, all seemed well.  He is clearly named on the Cockshutt War Memorial¹² and The Roll of Honour³², which also tells us that he served with the Australian Imperial Force and that he died whilst on active service (RIP)³².  He is clearly named as such on both the 1893 GRO Index Register for Births¹⁴, and on the 1911 Census³ (1901² only gives the initial E).

Inevitably, I reached a roadblock; as I turned to the CWGC⁴³ website to find his Commemorative Certificate, I could only find a John Edward Rogers.  Although confident that this was one of “Our Boys”, I had to set about proving it.

The Commission has clear rules on how to pursue correction of details, however minor and the evidence which must be submitted.  For its part the CWGC then sets about thoroughly investigating the submissions, much of which I had already determined, together with John’s Australian Military Service Record.  For now, it was my job to check each nugget of information very carefully.

But how had this confusion come about?  The usual explanation is that in the carnage of the battlefield, specifics regarding identity had either been lost or damaged, but in this instance, this scenario didn’t ring true; a solid trail showing how a photograph and his personal effects had been returned³¹ to his Father, Edward Rogers² already existed.

The clue was in his name; as I studied John’s Service Records³¹, I realized that the old tradition for abbreviating names had been used.  Thus, Edmund had been shortened to Ed^d and the ‘assumption’ seems to have been that his middle name was the more common Edward.

To test this theory, I applied for and received the Certified Copy of John’s Birth Certificate¹⁰.

Despite being ‘grainy’, it clearly tells us that John’s middle name is indeed Edmund; when compared with his Father’s name, the letter formation and spelling is quite different.  I now had my penultimate piece of the jigsaw.  What I needed now was the magnus opus, which I found in John’s Service Records; his signature:

Armed with my full quota of evidence, I submitted it to the Enquiries Section, Commonwealth Graves Commission, as follows:

After a few weeks, I received a reply from the Records Team, stating that in addition to amending John Edmund Roger’s details, they were able to use the additional evidence to up-date their records.

Please follow the link: https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/172242/rogers,-john-edmund/

In the great scheme of things, addressing the misspelling of a middle name is a tiny thing.  However, John Edmund Rogers is one of “Our Boys” and his own war was vicious; giving him the dignity of correct personal details is, I believe, the least we can do.

On the day he set sail for Australia, for ‘pastures new’, no one could have foreseen the brutality or violence of his death exactly four years later, as he laid down his life for us.

Rest in Peace John Edmund Rogers.

We Will Remember Him.

The following is a list of the locations, around the world, where “Our Boys” are remembered including Commonwealth Cemeteries and Memorials.

This blog is dedicated to the memory of the sixteen men from Cockshutt who fell in the Great War.

One hundred years on from the 1918 Armistice, for many people alive today, the names on the War Memorial are just names; people they never met, people they never knew.   Yet they were real men, ordinary men, with their own dreams and aspirations for whatever life may have held for them.  Through circumstances far beyond their control they were flung into the most catastrophic and brutal conflict ever known to man. For many, it would have been far beyond their means to travel to France or Belgium, but there they were, struggling to stay alive in the mud of the battlefield.

As I have researched the lives of these young men, I still find it difficult to comprehend the conditions they found themselves in and the extent of their courage to keep going, knowing that they could die at any moment, facing a merciless enemy that used any means it could to try and break the deadlock of the trenches.  Some of them suffered gas attacks or flame thrower attacks, all will have experienced heavy bombardments that sometimes went on for days.  We now know that they died brutal deaths, whether there on the battlefield or subsequently as a result of their wounds.

Whilst investigating their early lives, I began to refer to this group of young men as  “My Boys”.  Now, as the Armistice Centenary draws closer, I have to let them go.  They are “Our Boys”.  I hope that you will take the time to read their biographies and perhaps appreciate the Real Lives behind the names.

Valerie Cartlidge

We Will Remember Them.