Zoom Talk: He's not missing, he is here with Mel Donnelly

The First World War presented an unprecedented challenge for the military forces – how to bury their dead, locate and register their graves and how to commemorate those who could not be found, all on a scale never previously experienced.

Family and military historians continue to be fascinated with that work, which continues today. The talk will include an explanation of how the burial, search and identification processes developed and how and where the Missing are commemorated, with guidance on how to interpret the records and tips on useful sources.

Mel Donnelly’s fascination with family history, especially that of those who served in one of the armed forces, started over four decades ago. She has been very fortunate to be able to combine her military and family history research with her professional life, serving in the Royal Air Force, delivering international First and Second World War programmes at the Imperial War Museum and more recently leading the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Commemorations team.

Mel specialises in tracing the experiences of those who fought with the Commonwealth military forces, in particular those who paid the ultimate price. She now shares her expertise through talks, courses and workshops.

Please log in from 7.15pm and enjoy chat with the other participants before the talk starts.

Please ensure you use your real name when joining our Zoom events. Participants appearing as 'Zoom User' or similar will not be admitted, as this helps us prevent scammers from joining.

To Get the Zoom Link

Any society member who would like to receive the Zoom link for this talk needs to submit their name, email address and membership number via  https://www.nwkfhs.org.uk/contact stating "Please send me the Zoom links" .  Then you will automatically be emailed monthly with the Zoom links for all the Zoom events during that month.  You can then attend any Zoom event that you wish to without any booking.

All Zoom Talks, Workshops and Discussion Groups are members-only events.

But Society membership only costs £10 a year (£12 joint members).  https://www.nwkfhs.org.uk/about/membership/our-membership/#options