Leo Joseph Martin Broderick (1919-1943) Update: CWGC Releases New Records

On August 13, 2015 new records were added to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website:

"The records of almost 600,000 Second World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) will be made available to the public for the first time to coincide with the 70th anniversary of VJ Day."

"Andrew Fetherston, the CWGC's Archivist and Records Manager, said: "The release of our Second World War archive online opens a new avenue for members of the public to investigate and remember the individuals we commemorate." "

(Source: Update link here http://www.cwgc.org/news-events/news/2015/8/commonwealth-war-graves-commission-launches-new-online-resources-to-commemorate-vj-day.aspx)

The CWGC webpage for Leo J. Broderick

Leo Joseph Martin Broderick (1919-1943)

I have written previously about my first cousin (2x removed) - RCAF Warrant Officer (Bomb Aimer) Leo Joseph Martin Broderick who was born December 22, 1919 and died on 06 September 1943 at the young age of 24. Leo was reported as missing following air operations over Germany during WWII.

RCAF Leo Joseph Martin Broderick 1919-1943

Links to my previous posts:

• Finding Leo Joseph Martin Broderick's (1919-1943) service file at the archives
• March 24th - Turning of the Page: Leo Joseph Martin Broderick (1919-1943)

The documents I researched at Library and Archives Canada

Grave Registration (GRRs)

Grave Registration Reports (GRRs) are standard forms which detail graves for which the Commission is responsible within a particular burial ground. They provide basic details of the individuals, such as name, service number, rank, regiment, unit and date of death, and are listed in Plot, Row and Grave order.

In grave registration there were two documents for Leo Broderick:

Grave Concentration

These record details of individuals who were originally buried in smaller or isolated cemeteries, but who, at a later date, were exhumed and reburied in war cemeteries. The concentration of cemeteries allowed otherwise unmaintainable graves to be moved into established war grave cemeteries where the Commission could ensure proper commemoration.

For the grave concentration reports there were also two for Leo Broderick. The first one (290) had been sent to me in November 2014 by the CWGC-Canada . It shows that the three who died in the crash (1943) were reburied later at Durnbach September 13, 1947

Document 290 which had been procided to me through CWGC Canada 

Headstone

These documents provide details of what was actually inscribed on an individual’s headstone. Their main purpose was to help manage the enormous programme of headstone production and engraving embarked on by the Commission.

I am not sure who decided what would be inscribed? Some are quite personal. Leo's says simply "R.I.P."

Inscription on Leo's headstone