Caring for widows and dependents

A photograph of the Whitehaven Miners' Memorial inside St Begh's RC Church, Whitehaven, Cumbria.

The Memorial takes the form of a pietà, which those with some Italian liguistic knowledge will know immediately can be translated as 'compassion'. I am led to understand that some bereaved families who lost menfolk through wars or mining accidents used to come in front of this A photograph of the Whitehaven Miners' Memorial inside St Begh's RC Church, Whitehaven, Cumbria.

It takes the form of a pietà, which people with some Italian liguistic knowledge means 'compassion'. I am led to understand that some bereaved families who lost menfolk through wars or mining accidents used to come in font of this statue for silent contemplation and prayer.

Whilst not necessarily specific to a forum about WW2, the entitlement of widows and dependent children has proved an emotive issue on the BBC "People’s War" Message board in late 2006 and early 2007. This is probably not the place to go round in what seems to be a never-ending circle as to the rights and wrongs of entitlements.

Having come across a number of cases of what widows and dependants received, based on this evidence and what I have heard of other cases I would reckon that widows and any dependent children, most likely without exception, will have got what they were entitled to from the state: no more, no less. In addition to that there were other local support networks, often voluntary, that helped people through difficult times (e.g. British Legion, churches, family, friends etc). for silent contemplation and prayer.

Whilst not necessarily specific to a forum about WW2, the entitlement of widows and dependent children has proved an emotive issue on the BBC "People’s War" Message board in late 2006 and early 2007. This is probably not the place to go round in what seems to be a never-ending circle as to the rights and wrongs of entitlements.

Having come across a number of cases of what widows and dependants received, based on this evidence and what I have heard of other cases I would reckon that widows and any dependent children, most likely without exception, will have got what they were entitled to from the state: no more, no less. In addition to that there were other local support networks, often voluntary, that helped people through difficult times (e.g. British Legion, churches, family, friends etc).

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