Two British First World War soldiers whose identities remain unknown a century after they fell have been laid to rest on the former battlefields of Loos in Northern France.
Military insignia indicated one of the men served with the Leicestershire Regiment.
The service at St Mary’s A.D.S. Cemetery, Haisnes, on 29 September 2016 was attended by representatives from the Royal Anglian Regiment, the Royal Leicestershire Regiment Association and the local community.
The Rev. Roy Burley, Chaplain to the Royal Anglian Regiment, said: “We have been reminded in recent years of the sacrifice our armed forces undertake in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq, and so it is just as important that today we remember the sacrifice of soldiers who died nearly a century ago, bringing them to their final resting place.
In recognition of their sacrifice, the men were buried under separate headstones as ‘Soldiers of the Great War, Known Unto God’. (Photo © CWGC)
Military insignia found with the first set of remains at Auchy-les-Mines in February 2016 indicated they were from a casualty of the Leicestershire Regiment.
However, no identifying insignia were discovered with the second set of remains at the same location four months later.
Neither soldier has been identified, despite extensive research by the British Defence Ministry’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC).
Troops from the Leicestershire Regiment took part in the Battle of Loos in autumn 1915, attacking a heavily fortified German position known as the Hohenzollern Redoubt.
Beverley Simon, from the JCCC said: “We owe a huge debt to those who fought in the Great War and we at JCCC take immense pride in ensuring all those who died in the service of their country are laid to rest with the appropriate dignity, ceremony and respect.”
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has provided the soldiers’ headstones, and will care for them in perpetuity.
Source: UK Ministry of Defence
Images © CWGC
Posted by: CN Editorial Team