Thirteen Commonwealth Great War soldiers given final resting place
The remains of thirteen Commonwealth soldiers that were killed during the First World War will be given a final resting place more than a century after their death. They will be buried on Thursday at the war cemetery at Wijtschate (archive photo above), near Ieper (West Flanders). Their remains were found during an archaeological dig at the Hill 80 site.
The remains of a number of German soldiers that were also discovered by the archaeologists will be buried at the German War Cemetery in Langemark (West Flanders) on Friday.
In 2015 archaeologists discovered a piece of land (photo below) in Wijtschate that that had been in German hands during World War I. A professional team unearthed the remains of at least 100 soldiers that had been killed during the hostilities now more than a century ago.
The excavation work was financed via crowd funding. It unearthed metres of trenches.
The Commonwealth soldiers whose remains were found will be buried on Thursday at Wijtschate after a funeral service conducted by the Chaplin of the Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Father Patrick O’Driscoll. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission will provide headstones for the thirteen soldiers’ graves.
