War Graves in Wilton

[genjen]

Hello WW2 experts,

I was wandering around a small graveyard in the North East of England, last week, when I noticed the tell-tale white stone of a  Commonwealth War Grave. Curious, because this was my local church when I was a child and have never registered it before, I went to explore further. What I found is as follows:

Two graves for WW2 servicemen, neither of them from the area, died a month apart in 1941, completely different regiments. I wondered if there is a logical explanation as to why these two men found themselves here.

St. Cuthbert's Churchyard, Wilton-in-Cleveland

Gunner Ronald Evans, Royal Artillery, 93 Batt, 50 Lt AA Regt, 3531388, age 19, son of Tom Douglas and Amy Evans of Rusholme, Manchester. Died 15th May 1941. His gravestone says he is the beloved son of A. Evans - no mention of the father.

James Nestor, Guardsman, Irish Guards 1at Batt, 2717889. Died 25th June 1941

It could be simply that their families lived in the villlage and their bodies brought home for burial. There were certainly Evans families in the village - I don't remember any Nestors but that doesn't mean they weren't there)  But CWGC gives the parents' of Ronald Evans as being in Manchester and An*****y has James Nestor's birthplace as Eire.

Do casualties of war always have that type of headstone, even if they are buried in their own local graveyards?

This is simply curiosity but if anyone could shed any light on why these two young men might have been buried in a tiny churchyard, in an equally tiny village, I'd be fascinated to know.

Thanks,

Jen

[DeeBoneham]

Confusing isn't it!  I found a New Zealander in my local church yard and the rest of his crew are buried in Newmarket.  It seemed he had a relative in the village I lived in...  It might be the same with your two..

It may also have been that they died in the area.  Might be worth contacting the two regiments involved to see if they have anything in their records.  Is there a training area in that area or was there something that needed defending.  It doesnt have to be actually in the village they are buried in... 

Please keep us up to date about what you find...

Dee

[genjen]

Thanks for your ideas Dee, there is another WW2 forum which lookks useful if nothing comes up on here. It has some information on the Irish Guards and even mentions grave which I found but no explanation as to why he was there.

I have been doing some digging around for myself and have found a reference to Wilton Castle being used as a hospital during the war years. I'm struggling to find anything detailed so can I add that to my requests please. It would make absolute sense for that to have been the case and if it was, then servicemen from any regiment could easily have ended up being treated there.

Still hunting though, so any help would be appreciated.

Jen

[DeeBoneham]

Jen

Your mention of Wilton Hospital does sound like it might be apppropriate.  It might be worth contacting the county archives to see if they have any information for you...  Might be worth seeing if someone on ancestry can find out more about their deaths.  Might be interesting to see their death certificates!

Dee

[englandphil]

Gunner Evans's death is registered as being in Cleveland and Guardsman Nestor as Middlesborough, so likley that they did not have family left and therefore where buried in the local cemetery / churchyard.

Not something that you normally see, as most who died in the UK on active service, had there bodies returned to their local town for burial.

[genjen]

The thing is that Wilton church is not really local to anywhere.  I had also seen the death registration entries and if Guardsman Nestor died in the Middlesbrough registration district, there are dozens of other places where he is more likely to have been buried. Wilton deaths would come under the Cleveland area, so Gunner Evans could have been in the castle based hospital.

When I win the lottery, I will send for their death certificates but at the moment, I can't even afford to do that for my own family!

Unless some Rootschatter comes forward to claim them, that it!

[DeeBoneham]

I know what you mean about buying death certificates...  Good luck with the research.  Let us know if you find out any more.

Dee