Next month, a tribute will be held honouring ten soldiers hailing from Irish regiments who lost their lives during the first World War and whose final resting places have now been identified. The recognition ceremonies will be hosted in Belgium and France as a result of investigations conducted by a team, termed as the war detectives. The graves of these soldiers were initially marked by their regiment details rather than their personal names.
During the first World War, approximately half of the 1.1 million British and Commonwealth military personnel who fell on the battlefield were not given known graves, testament to the massive scale and brutality of the war, making it hard to identify many of the victims. The ten soldiers who will be honoured in the upcoming rededication ceremonies were originally recognised only by their uniforms or badges.
Their grave markers bore their regiment details, while their names were recorded on commemorative installations like the New Menin Gate or the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. The task of associating graves with regimental diaries documenting the circumstances and locations of soldiers’ deaths during the war falls to the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), the official title of the war detectives from the UK defence ministry.
Despite the first World War concluding well over a hundred years ago, the endeavour to identify the deceased has continued unabated. The soldiers in question all died in the year 1918, the final year of the war.
Amongst them was Sgt John Doherty, a Military Medal recipient from Letterkenny, Co Donegal, who lost his life while serving the 1st battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in the German spring offensive of March 1918. He was one of three siblings who succumbed to the war. Also, Sgt Lawrence Connell, a native of Glasnevin in Dublin, was killed a month before the war’s end in October 1918 and laid to rest in the Dadizeele New British Cemetery as an unidentified serjeant of the 1st Battalion the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Additionally, Second Lieut Joseph Bryson from Newtowngore, Co Leitrim, was posthumously granted the Military Cross for his courage while serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers but unfortunately lost his life in October 1918. His brother Thomas also lost his life during the war.
Captain Valentine Knox Gilliland of Derry, affiliated with the pre-war Ulster Volunteer Force, bravely lost his life in Belgium during May 1918 while he was on the battlefield with the Royal Irish Rifles. Then, there was Corporal Edward Doyle, a native of Bagnelstown, Co Carlow, who met with the same fate in September 28th, 1918 at the tender age of 21. He shared his burial place with three other Royal Dublin Fusilier compatriots: Private Bertie Reynolds, Lance Corporal George Washington, and Lance Corporal James Freer, all of whom hailed from England.
Following the termination of war, the mortal remains of these four men found their eternal resting place in Plot XVII, Row B of Hooge Crater Cemetery found in Belgium. The records document them as soldiers serving with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Their graves have been successfully identified since then.
A ceremony for rededicating the graves of second Lieutenant William Cunningham and Private William McCann, both of whom were Scotsmen enlisted with the Royal Irish and Royal Dublin Fusiliers respectively, is to be organised as well.
A spokesperson for the JCCC has extended an open invitation to relatives of the deceased to attend the services, with a few having already confirmed they would be present. The ceremony generally concludes with a formal presentation of a folded union flag to the relatives to honour the fact that their loved ones died serving the British army. However, this practice may be overridden upon family request.
The ceremony for rededication is set to be held on the 9th, 10th and 11th of July, with more particulars available here.