Blog request of the Library - Question WW2 soldier.

Query 8 May 2020

I'm searching information on soldiers who are buried at the local cemetery in Enschede (Holland). One of the men buried there is Clarence Paul Carver and I still have little information from him. I found information that he used to live in Kent that's why I sent this message. Do you have any information on him or know someone who has? Any information would be really appreciated.

Answer 8 May 2020,

You have sent a message to North West Kent Family History Society. We cover an area of the ancient county of Kent from Deptford on the west; the old Surrey border now in the Greater London Area; eastward to a North to South line from Gravesend to Frant. I assume you got our email address from our web site. You will find a map of our area and the parishes it covers on the web site. If you're a member you would have been given the map in your welcome pack.

You will appreciate we, as a registered charity, are dependent on volunteers and that under the coronavirus regulations, we have had to shut down both our Library as well as all our meetings.

As Kent is a large county have you contacted the Kent Family History Society that covers the rest of the county east from the Gravesend and Frant line. Their web site is www.kfhs.org.uk.

If you can send us the details you have such as place, he was in Kent, when he died, his nationality and if the cemetery in Holland is run by the War Graves Commission. We assume you have already contacted them. In which case you will know his service number and regiment, which will help us track him down. You will run into the closure regulations that make WW2 soldier's service records only available to next of kin.

We run a research service and if you complete the research form, that is downloadable from our web site, one of our volunteers may have records at their home to help your search. If not, you will have to wait until we have access to all our records in our Library. There is a small fee for this service.

If you are not a member of our Society you can join using the eshop in our web site at £10 per year it's very GOOD VALUE. You can also donate to the Society via the eshop.

Answer 2 from one of our volunteers using their own resources - 9 May 2020.

Found some bits for this WW2 Soldier enquiry on CLARENCE PAUL CARVER.

The CWGC site says

Private CARVER, CLARENCE PAUL
Service Number 14769477
Died 03/04/1945
Aged 32 5th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment.
Son of Francis William and Dorothy Mary Carver; husband of Daisy Nellie Carver, of Belvedere, Kent.

FreeBMD has his birth as Lewisham June 1912 Vol 1d Page 2079 Mothers name MASON.

We may have his baptism on one of our publication disks but this has not been checked.

One may find more at Lewiisham local studies.

1939 Register Paul Carver is living at 84 Heron Hill, Erith M.B., Kent, England with his Wife Daisy N Carver. He was born 3 April 1912 and was working as a Club Steward. So possibly one needs to look at the war memorial of the local working men's and political clubs in the area.

Daisy was born 6 October 1910 and was working as a Wireless Assembler. She later married Frank L Diamond, registered in September 1955 in Dartford (Vol 5d Page 144)

Clarence and Daisy marriage registered in December 1934 at Bromley (Vol 2a Page 1744).

Interesting entry on the Dorset Regiment web site as follows

By 19th April they were fifteen miles from Bremen but, although it was clear the campaign was almost over, the losses continued to the end. Three or four days before the end a Kangaroo (armoured personnel carrier) went over a German mine and a whole infantry section of twelve men were killed. On 4th May came the news of the German surrender.

Clarence was killed according to the CGCW on the 4 May, he was possibly one of the men killed by the mine and his death was wrongly dated!

Ancestry Bexley Electoral Rolls shows Clarence Paul Carver living at 68 St Augustines Road, North Belvedere with his parents Francis William and Dorothy Mary in 1934.
In 1935 he was living at Merrivale, Havelock Road, in the same area with his Wife Daisy Nellie.

From 1936 to 1940 the election rolls' show him and Daisey at 36 Heron Hill, Belvedere.