You learn something new everyday -- It pays to read the description of the database

One thing I like about doing genealogical research, is that I'm always learning something new or that I am reminded about something that I already knew but had forgotten. Today, while I was working on my soldiers' project, I was reminded that it is important to read the description of the database that you are using.

After the death of Clarence Russell Porter's father, his mother had married a widower with children. Her stepson, William Edward Dunn was also killed in the First World War. Today I was looking at the burial records for William Edward Dunn on Ancestry.ca.   I read the descriptions of the two different databases concerning burial records of Canadians. Now, I understood the difference between the two.

Using William Edward Dunn, here are his two records.

War Graves Registry: Cause of Death

Source Citation: Library and Archives Canada (LAC). War Graves Registry: Circumstances of Death. RG150, 1992-1993/314, Box 145-238. Box: 174, entry for William Edward Dunn; digital image viewed at Ancestry.ca

Source Citation: Library and Archives Canada (LAC). War Graves Registry: Circumstances of Death. RG150, 1992-1993/314, Box 145-238. Box: 174, verso of entry for William Edward Dunn; digital image viewed at Ancestry.ca 

This database contains records from the Burial Registers for service personnel of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) who died during the First World War in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. The registers, also known as the 'Brown Binders', were created by the Ministry of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada, the department of the Canadian government set up in London to oversee the war effort. . . .



The registers contain the initial burial location for Canadian war dead. After the war, many graves were consolidated in the cemeteries of the Imperial War Graves Commission, later renamed as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. To determine the final burial location, you may consult the Canada, Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919 database, which contains records for many of the same soldiers.

The following explains why I have not found some of the soldiers that I have been working on during the last few weeks as I started working from the end of the alphabet.

Additionally, soldiers with surnames Sims through Z are missing from the original Burial Registers collection, and hence are not available in this database. Records for those soldiers may be found in the Canada, Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919 database.

War Graves Registry: Commonwealth War Graves

Source Citation: Library and Archives Canada (LAC). War Graves Registry: Commonwealth War Graves. RG150, 1992-1993/314, Box 39-244. Box: 65, entry for William Edward Dunn; digital image viewed at Ancestry.ca

Source Citation: Library and Archives Canada (LAC). War Graves Registry: Commonwealth War Graves. RG150, 1992-1993/314, Box 39-244. Box: 65, verso of entry for William Edward Dunn; digital image viewed at Ancestry.ca


Here is a part of the description.
 

This database contains records from the War Grave Registers for service personnel of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) who died during the First World War in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. The registers, also known as the ‘Black Binders’, were created at the end of the war by the Department of Militia and Defence, the forerunner of the Canadian Department of National Defense. These registers were used to record the final resting place of the soldier, nurse or other individual, and to record the notification of the next of kin. If the body was never recovered, these records contain the official memorial on which the individual’s name would be found.

As I continue to work on this project, I will look at both databases and save copies of both sides of the document.
 
Knowing the details concerning the cause of death and not just "killed in action" makes each soldier's story more interesting.