High Wood Body Clearance

[Cameronian Volunteer]

Just picked up on this thread today as I had just been reading Terry Norman's account of the events of 20th July 1916. I was interested in this as I'm researching the soldiers of the 5th Scottish Rifles who were heavily involved in the events within High Wood.

A quick check on CWGC site using a list of those who died on 20th July, shows that the majority are commemorated at Thiepval, others are buried at the London Cemetery, Catererpillar Wood, Delville Wood, and Serre Road Cemetery No 2. The newly released CWGC documents record exhumations and inevitably "unknown soldiers". Trying to interpret this I would guess that just under a quarter of the men killed were identified and buried, and perhaps the same again recovered but not identified.

Does anyone have any knowledge of what happened to the remains of the German soldiers?

I can't help but agree with Roel's point that High Wood might be an appropriate place for a memorial to all who died. Particularly poignant as we commemorate the centenary.

[trenchtrotter]

I have recently aquired a memorial plaque to a 2nd Lieutenant from the 2 A&S Highlanders who was killed in action on 18/8/16. He was buried in the wood but later reinterred at Ovillers.

A coincidence perhaps but a numbered spoon we found near the same cemetery is believed to have belonged to a soldier from the same unit killed the same day but commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. The 2nd A&S Highlanders were never near Ovillers. Was the spoon inadvertently lost from a reinterred unknown?

TT

[Tom Tulloch-Marshall]

... A coincidence perhaps but a numbered spoon we found near the same cemetery is believed to have belonged to a soldier from the same unit killed the same day but commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. The 2nd A&S Highlanders were never near Ovillers. Was the spoon inadvertently lost from a reinterred unknown?

I have now seen quite a few IWGC concentration burial forms where an otherwise unknown soldier has been "identified" and given a named headstone on the basis of a regiment identification and a number on an eating iron found with the (exhumed) body. Doubt if that would pass muster nowadays in anything like the same circumstances.

Tom

[PFF]

CWGC record of London Cemtery

http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2090400/LONDON%20CEMETERY%20AND%20EXTENSION,%20LONGUEVAL

[PBI]

My Great Uncle Jack Ford was one of the Seven,17th London’s found buried at Ref 4.C.2.6.