More than one hundred years after their agonising deaths in the First World War, three soldiers were finally given a dignified burial on Tuesday.
The three unknown soldiers – one from the Lancashire Fusiliers and two Australians – were buried in a special service at Tyne Cot Cemetery near Ypres, Belgium, with full military honours.
In a solemn hour-long ceremony attended by Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood, the coffins were brought in by bearer parties formed of serving troops.
A volley of shots sounded across the silent Flanders fields as a mark of respect to the deceased before the Last Post was played by a bugler in a corner of the vast cemetery.
The remains of the soldiers were uncovered during engineering works in May 2016.
They were found lying side by side in what was thought to be a shell hole along one of the roads leading to the cemetery.
Artefacts found at the grave site included fragments from a winter coat,service buttons, British boots and, most amazingly of all, a pencil with an inscription from Eagley Cricket Club near Bolton, Lancs.
Despite extensive research, the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre was unable to confirm the identity of the British soldier.
His Regiment lost 200 men, with only a small fraction with known graves.
Researchers did establish that he probably died during the Battle of Passchendaele, which took place over 105 days in 1917.
It is believed there were 500,000 casualties on all sides in the battle,42,000 of which were never recovered.
The three new marble headstones featuring the inscription ‘Known Unto God’ will now be tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
"Simply being here reminds you of the scale of the sacrifice that was made 100 years ago," Mr Ellwood said.
"This cemetery is such a profound reflection of how so many young men mobilised for war all those years ago.
"In all those numbers you can lose sight of the individuals. Forty to 50 remains are found every year and it’s absolutely right that we bestow our gratitude by giving them the full military honours that they deserve."It’s a real privilege to be a part of that."
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