NEWS • RESTORATION • DISCOVERIES • EVENTS • EXHIBITIONS
The remains of two British soldiers have been identified by the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) – the MOD’s ‘War Detectives’ – with Serjeant John Smith and Gunner Charles Lightfoot reburied at the CWGC Vendresse Cemetery in June.
Efforts to identify them began in 2015 after French archaeologists working near Chassemy found an inscription carved on a cave wall: “15 Sept 1914 Here lies Sjt Smith and 3 Gnrs 29th Battery RFA”
Although the reference was to four casualties from the 29th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, excavations found just two sets of remains. Research, genealogy and DNA testing confirmed those to be Smith and Lightfoot.
War diaries reveal that their unit arrived in Rouen after the outbreak of war, and by September 13-14, 1914, was in action north of the Chassemy– Brenelle Road. Although there is no official mention of casualties for these dates, other records show that the battery it lost four men to German shelling on September 13-14: Smith, Lightfoot and gunners Adams and Blyth. The four were listed as missing in 1918, after their initial burial sites had been lost.
The JCCC’s Alexia Clark said: “It has been a privi…
