Last British Solider to Died from 9th Manchester Regiment? Confirmation needed.

[chats27]

Good morning all,  A few weeks ago I was researching Capt F Ruddy MC DCM and came across information that a Pte Frost had died ten minutes before 11 am on 11 Nov 1918.
 
I informed the CWGC but they are shrugging this off as they say the first and last man to die are buried 15 feet apart.  They say that L/12643 Pte GE Ellison 5th Lancers was the last man to die before 11 am. They say 90 minutes before.  I have attached part of the war diary for you that mentions 54854 Pte (T) Frost. (Initial incorrect).

I emailed the CWGC;

Good evening, Thank you for your email but I am a bit disappointed that you (CWGC) will not pursue this information further!

It is rare for soldiers who were killed to be mentioned by number and name in a war diary. This was mainly reserved for Officers.

This is an UNFORGETTABLE time in the life of those fighting. 4 years of hell coming to an end and at 10.10 am they were told the hostilities would cease at 11 am; then 10 mins before Frost is killed. Of course they will mentioned this.

Can you kindly re-think your reply?  This is a momentous discovery!

Sadly the answer was no.

So now I’m I would like to enlist the help of you all to see if we can find any other information that could convince others that 54854 Pte James Henry Ernest Frost 9 Battalion Manchester Regiment was the last British Soldier killed before 11 am.

I have his MIC, medal roll, effects pages, 9th Bn War Diary and all the downloadable pages from CWGC.

PLEASE AND WITH RESPECT - I would like to keep this thread strictly to finding information for Pte Frost. Sometimes we get side tracked and go off in a tangent because this thread reminds us of something else.

Please – Pte Frost information only so I can forward it to the CWGC.

Many thanks

Ray Thomson

[timberman]

Hi Ray

Welcome to the forum hopefully someone will
be able to help.

Below is the section of the PDF file that relates
to the war diaries save people downloading the file.

Timberman

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

[sphinx]

Ray,

If they have read the war diary its clear that he was killed at around 10.50am, so, my question is, why did the CWGC state that they wouldnt take it any further?

regards

[chats27]

Hi sphinx, They asked for more proof as War Diaries were sometimes written after events?

Regards

[sphinx]

Have you tried the newspaper covering his home town, which on the face of it appears to be Walsall.

regards

[charlie]

Hello Ray and welcome

Do you know what evidence led the CWGC to believe that Pte Ellison was the last KiA? If not, I would suggest it may be worth contacting them and asking the question. I doubt it can be much more than a diary entry. Unfortunately, in this case, the CWGC is not subject to to the Freedom of Information Act so you are unable to go down that route.

I wish you well, but I fear you face an uphill battle.

Charlie

[mack]

hiya ray.
you wont get the CWGC to budge mate,my question is how do the CWGC know Ellison was the last to die,over 900 men died on that date,wheres their proof.
their comment about the war diary being written after the fact amused me,HOW can you write a diary before its happened
the CWGCs work is exemplary,but when it comes to dealing with them about casualties,they can be bloody stubborn

mack

[Pte Smith]

Hi Ray,
Just read your post about Pte Frost, I also read the entry from the war diary, it implies to me that Pte Frost was fatally wounded at 1050hrs but did necessarily die at 1050hrs. Am I interpreting  this wrong?

Kind regards
Paul

[sphinx]

Paul,

Thats a very good point.

Surely the War Diary would read "was killed" rather than "fatally wounded".

That subtle distinction in language does now leave great doubt that he died before 11am.

regards