I know it’s a bit off topic but I was wondering if you know what the most accurate figures are for British military casualties in the war? I have seen the number of British military dead given as either 722,785 or 702,410 but it was not clear if this was the number dead from all causes or just combat related deaths. I was wondering if there is a breakdown available according to cause?
Well, when you say British, do you mean from the English Isles, or the entire Commonwealth?
Just the English Isles.
Best bet is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org). If they can’t help, maybe try the Public Record Office at Kew.
But wouldn’t the CWGC include all Commonwealth casualties? Or do they have different categories?
Their database has details of every single commonwealth casualty, complete with the nationality of the force they served with, their Regiment or Corps, date and place of death and place of burial or memorial (if no known grave). While they are responsible for all commonwealth casualties, it’s a fair bet that they have statistics by nationality. The only possible issue is that they may not distinguish between combatant and non-combatant casualties.