In the course of examining the burials in the United States, other men have been identified who may be eligible for commemoration by the CWGC.
So far, an Army officer and two discharged British soldiers have been identified:
DM2/134692 Private Edwin Jones
Edwin Jones was born in England but became a naturalised citizen of the United States in 1894. He was a long-serving member of the Providence Police Department. He returned to England in 1914, enlisted into the British Army in October 1915 and served with the Army Service Corps in France and Flanders; he was reportedly gassed. He was discharged unfit for further service on 12 November 1917. He returned home and died on 5 September 1918, aged 54. He is buried in North Burial Ground, Providence, RI alongside Sapper William Bustin.
18/1002 Sergeant William Pattinson
Sergeant Pattinson served with the 18th (Service) Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry (1st County), from which he was detached to 93rd Brigade Trench Mortar Battery. After being wounded in July 1916, he served with 1st Training Reserve Battalion. He was discharged in February 1918 and moved to the United States in August. He died on 24 September 1918 in Hagerstown, Maryland, where he is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Captain Rowland Siddons Smith OBE
Captain Smith (an officer of the Special Reserve of Officers), was a long-time member of the diplomatic service who served as the translator at the British Embassy in Petrograd from 1906 until 1918. When travelling to a new post in Vladivostok, he fell ill on board SS China en route from San Francisco to Hawaii and died at sea on 21 October 1918. He is buried in O’ahu Cemetery, Honolulu.
In addition, two sailors of the mercantile marine died in an accident alongside a sailor of the Royal Navy. Their deaths are not commemorated by the CWGC because they were not as a result of enemy action:[1]
Cadet Reginald Cyril Johnson and Seaman Algot Buske
Both men served on the armed merchant ship SS Kerry Range. They died in a major fire that wrecked the ship on 30 October 1917. Both men are buried in the same grave in Oak Lawn Cemetery, Baltimore with Leading Seaman Eustace Alfred Bromley, Royal Navy.
Canadian Book of Remembrance (Virtual Cemetery)
In 1992 the Canadian Book of Remembrance (Virtual Cemetery) was established to commemorate those listed in Canada’s official World War One Book of Remembrance but who are not in the Commission’s records. Several men may be buried in the United States. The Virtual Cemetery may be found here.
1. (Back) When the Imperial War Graves Commission was established, its charters did not include the commemoration of mercantile seamen. In the aftermath of the First World War, it was decided that Commonwealth mercantile marine casualties would be commemorated if they died as a direct result of enemy action. This rule does not apply to members of the Mercantile Marine Reserve, which comprised merchant seamen who served under a special wartime Naval engagement and were subject to Admiralty regulations and the Naval Discipline Act; casualties of the Mercantile Marine Reserve are commemorated regardless of the cause of death.