War Detectives - identifying our fallen service personnel
The Friends of Gloucestershire Archives (FOGA) and Gloucestershire Family History Society are volunteer-run independent charities based within the Heritage Hub. Since we’re both equally passionate about history in all its many aspects, it makes good sense to ‘pool our resources’ sometimes so we’ve started to run joint events in the Dunrossil Centre which are free and open to everyone.
In the last Newsletter we highlighted one of these: Ross Campbell’s conversation with Caroline Meller about his extensive research into the history of the old Regal Cinema in Kings Square, Gloucester. The Regal was such an important part of life for anyone growing up in Gloucester from the late 1950s to the 1980s so our event offered the perfect chance to share some happy memories over a cup of tea and a piece of Christmas cake. It was such fun, so ‘thank you’ to everyone who contributed.
In complete contrast to this, we were delighted to welcome Tracey Bowers to our recent event earlier this month. Tracey is a member of the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre Commemorations Team based at the Imjin Barracks in Innsworth, just outside Gloucester. Her team is usually called ‘The War Detectives’ which neatly sums up its job and has caught the public imagination.
In a fascinating talk Tracey explained how her team works alongside other professionals such as forensic archaeologists, DNA experts, and military historians to identify the remains of British service personnel unearthed on former battlefields from the Western Front to Korea. Eventually these remains are buried in the nearest Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery and she liaises with the appropriate regiment as well as relatives to provide a dignified service which reflects the sacrifice each individual made however long ago. As Tracey took us through some of her cases step-by-step, from the first photos of the skeletons in situ to the video of the burial service, none of us could fail to be moved on so many levels. It was a privilege to share this experience - it wouldn’t have been the same online - to talk to Tracey herself and to see some of the artefacts which helped in the identification process.
Working with GFHS, FOGA have organised another four afternoon events this year:
Thursday 20 March - Tony Conder talking about the Gloucester Mariner’s project
Thursday 19 June - Richard Auckland talking about his research into the residents of the Gloucester Cathedral Close
Thursday 23 October - Simon Randall talking about the English Civil War in the Cotswolds
Thursday 11 December - Christmas Social & Quiz
Please join us from 2pm for tea, coffee, biscuits and (occasionally) cake; the talk itself will start at 2.30pm. These events are open to all and free of charge.