Grave of Yorkshire soldier identified more than a century after his death
A Yorkshire soldier who died in Belgium during the First World War is one of three previously unknown soldiers whose graves were rededicated in a service this week, having been identified more than a century after they fell.
Lance Corporal Samuel Chapman was just 19 when he died of wounds on December 14 1917, after being injured near Passchendaele while serving with the East Yorkshire Regiment.
His body was buried as an unknown soldier at Tyne Cot Cemetery, but his grave was identified after researchers submitted cases to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
These were then confirmed following further research by the National Army Museum and the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) – the so-called “war detectives”.
The other graves which have been rededicated belonged to 2nd Lieutenant Hugh Barr and Lance Corporal James Ball Baron MM.
Barr, from East Kilbride, who was 28 when he was killed during an attack on the German-occupied town of Werwick on September 30 1918 while serving with the 35th Battalion Machine Gun Corps, while Baron had been serving with the 43rd Machine Gun Corps when he died aged 29 on August 24, 1917 during a German counterattack on a position near Hooge which had been taken in a British attack two days earlier.
Services to rededicate all three graves took place at the two cemeteries on Wednesday, and were attended by serving soldiers of The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment and The Royal Yorkshire Regiment, and members of the Machine Gun Corps Association.
The service for L/Cpl Chapman was attended by his great, great nephew Tim Buescher, who travelled from Yorkshire to pay his respects.
“We are amazed that after all this time, Sam is found,” he said. “This generation of our family, like many others, was hit hard by the Great War and as a result, these people were lost to us before we could know them.”
He added: “Being able to commemorate their life and their sacrifice, whilst mourning their loss, feels like they are being brought home somehow. Thank you.”
Reverend Paul Robinson CF, chaplain to 4th Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, said it was a “great honour” to be asked to conduct the service.
“It is important that we as a nation at opportunities like this today reflect on the enormity of what has taken place, the horror, the loss, the frustration,” he said.
“We must respect our values and our freedoms and remember those that made the ultimate sacrifice for our way of life.”
JCCC caseworker Rosie Barron said: “It has been an honour to have been involved in the organisation of these rededication services and to have joined the family of L/Cpl Chapman, their military family and the local community in Ypres in remembering these three men.
“The memory of each of these men has now been passed through generations of their families and they are all still fondly and proudly remembered.”
New headstones bearing the name of each soldier were provided by the CWGC.
Xavier Puppinck, director for the southern and central Europe area at the CWGC, said they were “honoured” to have played a part in ensuring the men are “remembered in perpetuity”.
He added: “After years of being commemorated as unknown soldiers, thanks to the meticulous research and collaboration of the teams involved, their graves now bear their names, ensuring they will never be forgotten.”