Notifiation of Next of Kin

[harper]

I am researching Harry Vickers and his 2 brothers (Percy & Louis) who were killed in action Dec 1915- July 1916.

Harry was in 1st Salford Pals and was killed 1 July 1916 at Thiepval.

What I am trying to grasp is what his family would have read in the newspapers and how this would have related to the official notification.

1.  When was the fact that 1st Salford Pals were involved in a very bloody action on 1.7.16 published in the Salford/Manchester newspapers?
2.  When were the casualty lists for the disaster on 1.7.16 published?
3.  Were the letters to next of kin posted before the casualty lists published?
4.  Did the news first get home to Salford via letters from survivors?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Harper

[shred]

Hi Harper,

Welcome to the forum. Apologies for the late reply, life gets in the way sometimes.

I will try and answer your questions one at a time and using the best information that I have at hand.

1. When was the fact that 1st Salford Pals were involved in a very bloody action on 1.7.16 published in the Salford/Manchester newspapers?

Newspaper Report printed 03/07/1916 - This article does not specifically mention the Salford Pals, please see articles below for a mention of the Pals.

2. When were the casualty lists for the disaster on 1.7.16 published?

The Manchester Guardian 10/07/1916





Eccles Journal 14/07/1916

[shred]

3. Were the letters to next of kin posted before the casualty lists published?

Very difficult to answer... have a read of this thread on The Great War Forum, you will understand the many variables involved.

4. Did the news first get home to Salford via letters from survivors?

Many officers, nurses, clergymen, etc, took the time to send a letter of sympathy to the casualties family, whether that letter reached the family before official notification, or a casualty list was printed, would be down to the many variables discussed on the Great War Forum thread.

Sorry that I cannot be more definitive.

[harper]

Shred
Many thanks for your answers. I should have prefaced my questions with words like "generally" or "was it likely".
The Eccles Journal clipping was very helpful as I now know when his family would have learned about the Pals being in action on 1.7.16.

Further research has uncovered the announcement of Harry's death in the August 1916 edition of the St Werburgh's (Chester) parish magazine. Even though he has no known grave, he is listed as "killed in action" not "missing".

Also the book God's Own 1st Salford Pals states that on 2 December 1916 the long lists of confirmed casualties were being published in the newspapers, clearly long after the family were advised. It all starts to come together at last.
Thanks again for your help.
Harper

[shred]

Apr 16, 2014 16:04:07 GMT harper said:

Shred
Many thanks for your answers. I should have prefaced my questions with words like "generally" or "was it likely".
The Eccles Journal clipping was very helpful as I now know when his family would have learned about the Pals being in action on 1.7.16.

Further research has uncovered the announcement of Harry's death in the August 1916 edition of the St Werburgh's (Chester) parish magazine. Even though he has no known grave, he is listed as "killed in action" not "missing".

Also the book God's Own 1st Salford Pals states that on 2 December 1916 the long lists of confirmed casualties were being published in the newspapers, clearly long after the family were advised. It all starts to come together at last.
Thanks again for your help.
Harper

Harper,

I am pleased that some of the clippings were helpful and that you were able to find an announcement for Harry's death. I have previously been in contact with a relation of the Vicker brothers and passed on the following article.


I presume that this has already been passed to you?

I would have thought that the long list of confirmed casualties that appeared on the 2 December 1916 was a locally compiled list of all the confirmed deaths upto that date, some of the deaths remained unconfirmed for upto a year. The articles that I have posted above (Manchester Guardian 10/07/16 and Eccles Journal 14/07/1916) list, along with other dates, men killed on the 01/07/1916, so casualty lists were being published as quickly as 10 days later.

I hope this helps.

Garry