86% correct isn't too bad, is it?

Since the advent of the online database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission the researching of local war memorials has become a common theme among amateur military historians. Some have published part or the whole of their efforts on the Internet (myself included), while others are content to merely compile a 'Roll of Honour' for posterity.

I have always been very cautious about listing a man where I entertain any doubts as to the accuracy of my identification. I always manage to resist the urge to 'fill in the gaps' unless I'm more or less certain that I've got it right. A few, although thankfully not many, are less circumspect and seem to give in to this temptation.

Does it matter? Yes, I think so. If, by researching the names you intend to specifically perpetuate their memory, then if you've got the wrong man you may as well not have bothered in the first place, no matter how well-intentioned the motive.

I'll illustrate this with a couple of memorial photos provided by my friend Ian Lewis. They are from the Dalton-in-Furness Conservative Club. One is the original, compiled immediately post-WW1, the other is a more recent addition.

The original Roll of Honour as displayed in the Conservative Club. It gives names, ranks, and regiments, including battalions.

The new Roll of Honour displayed in the Conserevative Club, complied with information provided by the online Commonwealth War Graves Commission database.

In the original, Private Edgar Hall is noted as 4th Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment); in the new Roll of Honour (presumably compiled by one of the Club's members) he is identified as 11868, Private Edgar Hall, 1st Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), killed on October 8th, 1915, and buried in Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps.

It seems highly plausible, doesn't it? A simple transcription mistake made back in 1919 (or thereabouts) when '4th' was mistakenly written instead of '1st'. Edgar Hall isn't a very common name, when all's said and done, and the only other 'Edgar Hall' recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as serving in the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) at the time of his death was a bank clerk from Bolton-Le-Sands, near Carnforth.

Time to consult other sources, say, local newspapers from late-August, 1916:

Pte. EDGAR HALL.

         Official intimation was received on the 18th inst. that Private Edgar Hall, “A” Company, 1/4th Battalion King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment was killed in the recent advance in France. Private Hall was 26 years of age, and the only son of Mr. J. R. Hall, a director of the Carnforth Hematite Iron Company, Ltd. He was educated at Miss Pickford’s School, Carnforth, and the Royal Grammar School, Lancaster, and only went out to the front about two months ago. At the time of his enlisting, he was a clerk in the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank at Dalton-in-Furness where he had been for about ten years, and was held in high esteem by his employer, colleagues, and many other friends by whom his death is lamented. He was the secretary of the Dalton Cricket Club, and also secretary of the Warton Lawn Tennis Club, and a member of the Dalton V.T.C.

I know next-to-nothing about the Edgar Hall of the 1st Battalion who is buried in Sucrerie Military Cemetery. I do know that he wasn't the Edgar Hall who is commemorated on the original Roll of Honour in Dalton-in-Furness Conservative Club. That Edgar Hall was killed at Guillemont on August 8th, 1916, serving in the 1st/4th Battalion.

However, I can happily report that the other six men named have been correctly identified.