Will, thanks for that. He's not on that list.

He died at 2 Herries Road, which I believe was the address of a hospital (I'm in Glasgow so I have no knowledge of Sheffield.)

I'll give this a bit more thought.

Thanks again.

John

MCKNIGHT, William Hughes (Discharged Soldier, age 22).
Died at 2 Herries Rd; Buried on June 8, 1944 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 7240, Section H of Abbey Lane Cemetery, Sheffield.

This is the info from the burial section on this site and as you can see he was discharged.

2 Herries Road is part of what now is the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield.

John

Thanks, John.

I'm pretty sure this is a realtive of mine. Just tyring to get 100% confirmation.

I'm wondering if he died of war wounds after his discharge.

Also why he was in Sheffield.

John

You could buy his death certificate from GRO for £12.50. That will definitely give you his cause of death.

The history of WW2 shows DDay was 6 th June 1944. It is highly unlikely that he would be wounded on June 6th in Normandy and then be transferred to Sheffield hospital, discharged (why?), die then be buried on June 8th. That is a lot of things to happen in 2 days.
I think it is pretty certain that he was already sick in the Sheffield hospital before DDay, and already discharged from army presumably on grounds of healh condition not related to his army activity.
Dave

Dave, thanks for your interest.

You are correct he died of non militatry condition - Hogkinson Disease.

His middle name on his death certificate was wrongly spelled - Hugh instead of Hughes. So it took a bit longer to find it.

He was a magnetic instrument maker.

So I have a distant connection with Sheffield.

My only other connection with that great city, is that I was there on 9/11/2001, when the World Trade centre was being obliterated !


John

need to check the 1939 register to see where he was then as that could help.

John

John M
“Why was he in Sheffield”
William Hughes McKnight was born in early 1922 in south Glasgow. Therefore he will have been called up in early to mid 1940 and presumably went to one of the many Scottish training camps. After training and regimental assignment he could have gone to North Africa in 1942 and/or Italy in 1943. It is clear that wherever he was, he developed Hodgkins Lymphoma and became very ill, presumably with visible tumours. Inevitably he would be hospitalised in UK by the army from whom he would be discharged following diagnosis. Presumably he was sent to the war hospital in Sheffield where he would receive radiotherapy treatment at the leading radiotherapy research facility of Sheffield Radium centre.
In those early days for radiotherapy it would turn out to be palliative treatment, extending his life by a few months at best.
You can find all this info by googling “what would happen to a soldier who developed cancer in WW2” and “Sheffield Radium Centre in 1940s”
Happy reading
Dave

John S,

He's not recorded in the 1939 register which didn't include Scotland.

Probably still in Scotland.

I've now got his army servivce number, so I might be able to make progress.

Thanks fopr your suggestion.

John

Dave T,

Interesting reading.

If the horrible illness that caused his death can be attributed to his army service, I think he should have a "commission headstone."

Even though discharged it was not unusual to have such a headstone, if a soldier died from injuries or a death caused by war service.



John

Cancer does not happen quickly after some sort of event.. He was only in the war for 3 years before he became sick with it.
He was discharged, therefore the army clearly said that his problem was not war related.Therefore there will not be an army based headstone
You should order his army record. That will tell you everything including dates and places..
Dave

Not what you seek, but he or a namesake is acknowledged here:
Hillington Park Parish Church WW2
https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/271846/

Thanks Terry,

I wasn't expecting that. The church recognising his death as being a war death.

The James Hughes McKnight on that memorial was his brother, who was killed in Malaya serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

Their cousin Andrew Hughes McKnight was killed when his ship was torpedoed by a U-boat off the coast of Ireland. Andrew was a merchant seaman.

I'll pop into that church and see that memorial.

John