Of the one million British and Empire military personnel who were
killed in action, died of wounds, disease or injury or were missing
presumed dead during the First World War, over half a million have
no known grave. Of these, nearly 188,000 are buried anonymously in
Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries, with a stone bearing
the epitaph 'Known Unto God'. The remains of a further 339,000 lie
scattered across the wartime battlefields, having been buried in
marked graves that were subsequently obliterated as front lines
moved backwards and forwards, or destroyed forever in the carnage
mechanised warfare wrought upon the human body. For the families of
those who were reported missing, months of agonising uncertainty
could await, as searches were made to establish the precise fate of
their loved ones. Sometimes rumours that an individual was
recovering from wounds in a hospital, unable to contact his family,
or had been taken prisoner by the enemy could circulate, causing a
toxic admixture of hope, tinged with anxiety then dashed by the
despair of the confirmation of death. This book traces the history
of the searching services that were established to assist families
in eliciting definitive news of their missing loved ones. Then,
using previously unpublished material, most of it lovingly
preserved in family archives for over a century, the lives of eight
soldiers, whose families had no known resting place to visit after
the conclusion of the war, are recounted. These young men, their
lives full of promise, vanished from the face of the earth. The
circumstances of their deaths and the painstaking efforts
undertaken, both by family members and public and voluntary
organisations, to piece together what information could be found
are described. The eventual acceptance of the reality of death and
the need to properly commemorate the lives of those who would have
no marked grave are examined. For three of the eight men, recent
discoveries have meant that over a century since they were given up
as missing, their remains have been identified and allowed families
some degree of closure.
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