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Few candidates, it was thought, would not at some time have had to dealwith an MoD (Army) Press Release on local soldiers. They would have anobvious starting point even if they knew nothing of the military generally,let alone regimental old comrades’ associations, the Commonwealth War GravesCommission, or even the Royal British Legion.

Alas, the ignorance and naivety was astounding. There were severalcandidates suggesting contacting the MoD, several more suggested “the Army”but most disconcerting was the number wanting to contact the Belgian(Belgium in three cases) coroner and the “French police”!

Lines of inquiry included asking the police if they suspected foul play,asking the farmer who found the body if he knew if there had been anybattles fought in the area, questioning whether the home town museum waslikely to put the bones on display, interviewing surviving members of thebattalion about the “excitement of a day in the trenches”, and in two casesseeking his “ancestors” through use of the ‘phone book and voters’ lists.

One candidate suggested he would locate and interview the dead soldier’s”siblings but be aware of the Code and get the parents’ permission first.”Another suggested he could “Contact the Royal Army Core (sic) for areaction.”

There were some good answers where candidates obviously got out of theiroffices, met people, registered contacts and had developed their localknowledge.

The Accrington Pals Battalion of the East Lancs Regt and the10th (Service) Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters (the Robin Hoods), eachwith their respective regimental comrades’ associations and museums, wereboth referred to by a single candidate from their respective area.

A topical question four concerned a decision by the NHS Trust running thelargest hospital in the area to privatise non-medical support staffservices. It was the least popular question but most of those who tackled itdid reasonably well and were able to demonstrate they knew something of howthe health service operates.

One candidate rather worried markers withhis lack of appropriate sources by stating: “I’d contact my newspaper’shealth correspondent if it had one.”

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