Bodies strewn obout after the battle. It was a grim task to recover and bury the bodies. A single attack might leave thousands dead on the field. Tens of thousands are still missing
Photo Credit: Doc- "The Missing" N Christie

Update: The search for lost WWI soldiers

Last year, historian, author, and documentary filmmaker Norm Christie said a long and painstaking research effort had led him to what he believes is the unmarked grave of some 44 Canadian soldiers.

Since then several people have asked for an update.

Original RCI story here

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Many of the buried in this cemetery, like so many others, contain the bodies of unidentified soldiers. Often the rank and unit might be known but not the name, the marker might say only, “A soldier of the Great War” with the inscription from Kipling, “Known unto God” ©  from “The Missing”

Norm Christie’s work has sprung from several years as a member of the War Graves Commission, and a deep commitment to honour the dead and give them and their families closure, and try to make their history more widely known.

In the original story, there was some urgency to recovering the bodies as industrial development was being pushed for the area and although it hasn’t as of yet, it is very likely that spot will eventually be built over.

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Norm Christie at the Vimy Memorial in France where the names of thousands of Canadian soldiers with no known grave are inscribed © TVO- N Christie- doc “The Missing”

This week I contacted Mr Christie for an update.

Listen
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Two small artillery shells exploding in front of a German position, note the large boulder-size clumps of dirt being thrown up. There are stories of men and entire trenches being buried alive from the dirt thrown up by larger shells. © from “The Missing”

Norm Christie and CEF Books (Books, Battlefield Tours, DVDs)

TVO- The Great War Tour documentary episode “The Missing” (40 min)

TVO- The Great War Tour- doc series-

 Christie-Battlefields -Facebook

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