Graves of missing Bedfordshire officers identified in Belgium
Two World War One soldiers from the Bedfordshire Regiment have finally been named and honoured more than a century after their deaths near Hill 60 in Ypres.
More than 110 years after they died, two Second Lieutenants from the Bedfordshire Regiment have been formally identified and remembered at services in Belgium.
The soldiers, Second Lieutenants Esmond Lawrence Kellie and Eric Arthur Hopkins, were both killed in 1915 while fighting near Hill 60 – a key battleground close to Ypres.
A rededication service for Second Lieutenant Kellie was held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Railway Dugout (Transport Farm) Cemetery. His partial identification as a Bedfordshire officer came from his buttons and badges, recovered from an unmarked grave in 1924.
Second Lieutenant Hopkins’ service took place at St George’s Memorial Church in Ypres after bad weather prevented it being held at Bedford House Cemetery. His remains had been found in 1922, identified from his boots, clothing and buttons.
Alexia Clark from the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre said: “In rededicating their graves today, we have reunited their mortal remains with their names, ensuring that their sacrifice will not be forgotten.”
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has replaced both headstones and will maintain them permanently.
Dr Daniel Seaton from the Commission said: “It is always moving to be able to transfer a name from one of the Commission’s Memorials to the Missing to a named grave in our care. More than a century after their deaths, this has now been possible for Second Lieutenants Kellie and Hopkins.”