Unidentified PPCLI Captain buried at Tyne Cot

[stevie1944]

On the burial return form for Tyne Cot Cemetery there is an entry for an Unknown British Officer, Captain, P.P.C.L.I. The return shows the remains were found at 28.N.W.I.24.b.20.38. Identification shows "three stars and numeral," indicating a captain. A quick search on the CWGC website shows only two Captains from the PPCLI unaccounted for:

Captain Harry Stuart Dennison - https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1591712/harry-stuart-dennison/

Captain William Hugoe Morris - https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1594773/william-hugoe-morris/

 

The map reference for the location of the remains is quite interesting, as the coordinates place the remains inside Sanctuary Wood, where neither of these two men would have been located at their time of death. Captain H.S. Dennison was last seen manning the No 1. Coy trenches near Bellewaarde covering the retreat of the PPCLI during the German bombardment/assault on 8/5/15. He was missing and presumed killed as the Germans overran the forward trenches.

Captain W.H. Morris was killed in action on 30/10/17 almost immediately after leaving the British trenches near Bellevue, about 2000 yards west of Passchendale.

I ran a check on any missing lieutenants from the PPCLI and while their are four, two were killed in the 30 October 1917 action near Passchendaele and two were killed in the 8 May 1915 action near Bellewaarde. I checked to see if there were any recorded promotions from lieutenant to captain and I could not find any. The closest of the two candidates to the map reference is H.S. Dennison, and that is a distance of appropriately 1.6 km from his last known position. The burial return form coordinates translate into the western edge of Sanctuary Wood, which does not show much on later trench maps but in mid 1915 it was the site of a British cemetery, that was completely destroyed in the Battle of Mount Sorrel in 1916.

My initial inclination is that it is the grave of Captain Dennison. While he was missing in action and presumed killed, based on the locations of the front lines, the logical burial location if his body was recovered would be the original Sanctuary Wood cemetery. I have an enquiry into the CWGC to see what other remains were recovered from that location. Many of the PPCLI killed on 8/5/15 are on the Menin Gate, which also leads me to believe that they were all buried in the Sanctuary Wood cemetery that was later destroyed.

Does anyone have any suggestions or feedback on the validity of my conclusions, or where else I could look for information?

Cheers! - Steve

 

[LDT006]

Steve,

the distance between "last seen" and the grave will be a problem but you might be able to solve that.

That was also the reason why the late Richard Laughton had a brief look and abandoned the case, more info here:
https://cefresearch.ca/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=101516

Regards,
Luc.

[stevie1944]

1 minute ago, LDT006 said:

Steve,

the distance between "last seen" and the grave will be a problem but you might be able to solve that.

That was also the reason why the late Richard Laughton had a brief look and abandoned the case, more info here:
https://cefresearch.ca/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=101516

Regards,
Luc.

Thanks Luc - I clicked on the link but access is forbidden. Is there another way for me to access the information? Thanks!

[LDT006]

You will have to register: https://cefresearch.ca/

The reason he stopped it:

This may look like a no brainer, but unfortunately not. I looked at this one many years ago. The body was found in the middle of the PPCLI position in Sanctuary Wood. There are no Captains missing from the 1916 action in that location. As you have stated only Morris killed at Passchendaele and Dennison at Bellewaerde are listed as Missing Captains on the Menin Gate.

Dennison is the closest but still about a mile away More importantly, they were on the left flank of their (80th) Brigade Line and the 4th KRRC on the right. Across the other side of the Menin Road was the 81st and 82nd Brigades. The body was located in the vicinity of the brigade boundary between the 81st and the 82nd.

It is exceedingly unlikely Dennison ended up so far from his position with the front line of No.1 Company when they were overwhelmed by the German assault. It would have a lateral move across the front.

So on the face of it, I would say with a fair degree of certainty that it is not Dennison.

 

[stevie1944]

2 hours ago, LDT006 said:

You will have to register: https://cefresearch.ca/

The reason he stopped it:

This may look like a no brainer, but unfortunately not. I looked at this one many years ago. The body was found in the middle of the PPCLI position in Sanctuary Wood. There are no Captains missing from the 1916 action in that location. As you have stated only Morris killed at Passchendaele and Dennison at Bellewaerde are listed as Missing Captains on the Menin Gate.

Dennison is the closest but still about a mile away More importantly, they were on the left flank of their (80th) Brigade Line and the 4th KRRC on the right. Across the other side of the Menin Road was the 81st and 82nd Brigades. The body was located in the vicinity of the brigade boundary between the 81st and the 82nd.

It is exceedingly unlikely Dennison ended up so far from his position with the front line of No.1 Company when they were overwhelmed by the German assault. It would have a lateral move across the front.

So on the face of it, I would say with a fair degree of certainty that it is not Dennison.

I have the same concerns you mentioned. I'm not completely sold that this isn't Captain Dennison, but I am fairly certain I will be unable to prove it. For sake of argument, let's assume the identified the correct rank and regiment. As both Dennison and Morris are no where near their last seen position, there must be some plausible reason one of them were found here (either that or it was an attached officer, but I am not sure if they would have assumed the PPCLI titles or retained their home unit)

1. There are only two captains in the PPCLI that are unaccounted for, as previously mentioned. I also checked for any lieutenants that may have been promoted, and there are two unaccounted for - Lt. Norman Allan Edwards and Lt. Percy Ernald Lane, both killed in the same action that took the life of Captain Dennison. All three are on the Menin Gate. The burial report shows the rank and numeral of the PPCLI; I doubt that they incorrectly identified the rank.

2. The CWGC lists 168 men from PPCLI killed on 8/5/15. Of those, only three have known graves, and all three were located during exhumation efforts at the trench east of Bellewaarde Lake. My hypothesis is the remaining 165 men were removed to a cemetery that was destroyed in later fighting. Can I prove this? No, but it's a theory. I have an enquiry in to the CWGC for any other concentration burials located near the PPCLI captain. Best possible luck is there is an unknown PPCLI lieutenant nearby, as Lt. Percy Lane was part of Captain Dennison's rear guard defence. Only two unknown PPCLI lieutenants are unaccounted for as previously mentioned.

3. If they were removed to a cemetery, based on the location of the PPCLI captain's remains, my thought it that it was one of the two early war Sanctuary Wood cemeteries that existed pre-1916, as they were fairly close to the front line at the time and active cemeteries. All three Sanctuary Wood cemeteries were destroyed in 1916 at the Battle of Mount Sorrel, but remnants were located of one of the two western cemeteries and formed the basis for the current Sanctuary Wood Cemetery.

Like I mentioned, this is all in theory. Perhaps I will come across new information that helps support this theory.

 

 

[Poppy Mercier]

I submitted an identification case about 15 months ago to the CWGC in favour of Captain Dennison. I knew of the map reference disparity when I sent the case in but as he was the closest to the matching trench map ref. it still made sense to me at the time. I hadn’t considered an mis identification of insignia at the time so who knows? Maybe eventually the CWGC will get back to me with their answer. 

[Ken Lees]

You have considered Lieutenants who may have been promoted shortly before the action(s), but what about Majors? A Captain acting up in the rank of Major would very likely still be wearing Captain's insignia during the battle, and more likely to have been further away from the majority of his men. Where were the Battalion and Brigade HQs at the relevant times? 

[Poppy Mercier]

2 minutes ago, Ken Lees said:

You have considered Lieutenants who may have been promoted shortly before the action(s), but what about Majors? A Captain acting up in the rank of Major would very likely still be wearing Captain's insignia during the battle, and more likely to have been further away from the majority of his men. Where were the Battalion and Brigade HQs at the relevant times? 

There’s only 1 missing major for Ypres for the PPCLI and it’s Talbot Papineau. I did consider him as a candidate however it’s completely the wrong location for his death (he’s a 1917 Passchendaele casualty) 

[Ken Lees]

1 minute ago, Poppy Mercier said:

There’s only 1 missing major for Ypres for the PPCLI and it’s Talbot Papineau. I did consider him as a candidate however it’s completely the wrong location for his death (he’s a 1917 Passchendaele casualty) 

Another possibility excluded then, Poppy. That's useful to know.

[Poppy Mercier]

Just now, Ken Lees said:

Another possibility excluded then, Poppy. That's useful to know.

Papineau is a strange one as well - there’s a photo of his grave in 1920 and then it was subsequently “lost” and believed to be either in Poelkapelle or Passchendaele Brit 

[Chesterboy]

16 hours ago, Poppy Mercier said:

I submitted an identification case about 15 months ago to the CWGC in favour of Captain Dennison. I knew of the map reference disparity when I sent the case in but as he was the closest to the matching trench map ref. it still made sense to me at the time. I hadn’t considered an mis identification of insignia at the time so who knows? Maybe eventually the CWGC will get back to me with their answer. 

Well done Miss Reed, if there seems to be 1 obvious candidate, then why not try to give him his name back.  
I wonder how long it will take the CWGC to pass it on the Canadian government to look at and give a final decision.  

will 

[jay dubaya]

Since the finger appears to point more likely to a 1916 casualty my advice would be to look for those attached to the PPCLI during this period. There is archival evidence in the CoG-BRs of line cavalry casualties badged as the attachment regiment so its highly likely any attachment officer to the PPCLI would be badged as such.

 

[stevie1944]

2 hours ago, jay dubaya said:

Since the finger appears to point more likely to a 1916 casualty my advice would be to look for those attached to the PPCLI during this period. There is archival evidence in the CoG-BRs of line cavalry casualties badged as the attachment regiment so its highly likely any attachment officer to the PPCLI would be badged as such.

 

Jay, can you elaborate on when a mounted troops would be attached at the regimental level? At the time of the Battle of Mount Sorrel the PPCLI was part of the 7th Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division. The Canadian Mounted Rifles formed the bulk of the 8th Brigade, and the only divisional mounted troops at that time were Eaton's Armoured Motor Battery. Can you provide an example? This is a new concept for me. Thank you!

[jay dubaya]

Steve, my point being any officer attached to PPCLI would likely adopt their insignia for the duration of that period. The few examples I have are all 1914 cavalrymen attached to Horse and Life Guards and killed whilst serving with them - their remains bore the insignia of the surrogate not their parent regiment. You should also look from another angle and a PPCLI officer attached to a unit in the area during 1916. Again, there are examples, particularly on the CWGC database where an officer's entry doesn't show a secondary unit.

Whilst I haven't looked any further than this thread into this case, the location is a muddy stumbling block as it doesn't fit with either Dennison nor Morris, hence my inclination towards a 1916 casualty. Dennison being the most likely candidate because he's the closest isn't going to wash, there would need to be an established reason for the discrepency in locations. I can see no reason to doubt the location nor the rank and although I note the regiment has been questioned on the Canadian Forum, this detail is confirmed by 'numerals' which would appear an inconcievable mistake and as such I don't doubt the regiment either.  Has the service record of McNaughton been checked and ruled out as a potential candidate?

Richard Laughton (RIP) has left a mountain of useful research material for us to access particulary dealing with the Canadian contingent. I'm sure you'll find out soon if you haven't already - the more you look the more you see the more rabbit holes you find yourself in

I also note the CWGC case load still hasn't been updated since June 2021 despite this being pointed out to them several times during the last 12 months.

[stevie1944]

52 minutes ago, jay dubaya said:

Steve, my point being any officer attached to PPCLI would likely adopt their insignia for the duration of that period. The few examples I have are all 1914 cavalrymen attached to Horse and Life Guards and killed whilst serving with them - their remains bore the insignia of the surrogate not their parent regiment. You should also look from another angle and a PPCLI officer attached to a unit in the area during 1916. Again, there are examples, particularly on the CWGC database where an officer's entry doesn't show a secondary unit.

Whilst I haven't looked any further than this thread into this case, the location is a muddy stumbling block as it doesn't fit with either Dennison nor Morris, hence my inclination towards a 1916 casualty. Dennison being the most likely candidate because he's the closest isn't going to wash, there would need to be an established reason for the discrepency in locations. I can see no reason to doubt the location nor the rank and although I note the regiment has been questioned on the Canadian Forum, this detail is confirmed by 'numerals' which would appear an inconcievable mistake and as such I don't doubt the regiment either.  Has the service record of McNaughton been checked and ruled out as a potential candidate?

Richard Laughton (RIP) has left a mountain of useful research material for us to access particulary dealing with the Canadian contingent. I'm sure you'll find out soon if you haven't already - the more you look the more you see the more rabbit holes you find yourself in

I also note the CWGC case load still hasn't been updated since June 2021 despite this being pointed out to them several times during the last 12 months.

Jay, thank you for the response, I wondered if attached officers would retain their home unit or adopt the insignia of their attached unit. The "attached officer" theory crossed my mind and I quickly reviewed the missing captains to see if any were attached to the PPCLI; I should give it another go. I agree, the location makes no sense. The more I discover about the PPCLI and the action on 8 May 1915 the more I doubt it is Dennison. 

[stevie1944]

On 18/12/2023 at 21:40, stevie1944 said:

Jay, thank you for the response, I wondered if attached officers would retain their home unit or adopt the insignia of their attached unit. The "attached officer" theory crossed my mind and I quickly reviewed the missing captains to see if any were attached to the PPCLI; I should give it another go. I agree, the location makes no sense. The more I discover about the PPCLI and the action on 8 May 1915 the more I doubt it is Dennison. 

Jay, I pulled the CWGC report of all Lieutenants, Captains and Majors that fell in Belgium to see if any were attached to the PPCLI. Unfortunately I did not come up with much.

I started pulling the Canadian War Graves registers and found out that after the PPCLI was relieved on 8 May 1915 the dead reachable in the support and communication trenches were buried in a common grave at 28.J.7.a.4.2. The war diary for the PPCLI shows an entry at 11:30PM: "We were relieved by 3rd K.R.R.C. who gave us assistance to bury our dead that were in support and communicating trenches as it was impossible and imprudent to attempt to reach the fire trenches." Many of the war grave registers for the PPCLI note burial in this common grave. It's my belief this grave was the one lost in subsequent fighting. Unfortunately the CWGC cannot search burials by trench map location; I will have to search registers to find Unknowns exhumed from near those coordinates. I also pulled the regimental diary for the 248th Reserve Regiment and while there is mention of the attack it does not go into much detail.

Corporal George Pearson, a solider with No. 1 Coy, PPCLI, gives a very graphic description of the fighting on 8 May. In explicit detail he describes the "take no prisoners" attitude of the German soldiers, describing frequent summary executions of the PPCLI men after the position was overrun. His belief was this is in retaliation for the German belief that Canadian soldiers executed German prisoners at St. Eloi. He describes the moment the left trench was overrun:

"It was at this time that we saw the troops on our flanks falling back in orderly fashion. I called that fact to the attention of Lieutenant [Percy] Lane, who was the only officer left in our vicinity. He said that the last word he had received was to hang on....The trench front had been about-faced since its change of ownership and the Germans were already casting our dead out of the shattered trench, both in front and behind, and in many cases using them to stop the gaps in the parapet; so that they now received the bullets of their erstwhile comrades...I rose to my feet and, following the instructions of the officer, led the way along the trench. The Germans had already, with their usual industry, gotten the trench into some sort of shape again, with the parapet shifted over to the other side and facing Belle-waarde Wood. And everywhere along its length I noticed the bodies of our dead built into it to replace sandbags while others lay on the parados at the rear. It was not nice. The faces of men we had known and had called comrade looked at us now in ghastly disarray from odd sections of both walls. Already they were taking a brick-like shape from the weight of the filled bags on top of them. In places the legs and arms protruded, brushing us as we passed. However, this was war and quite ethical."

Another interested item in the war diary of the 3rd K.R.R.C, dated 10:00PM on 9 May 1915: "Germans were noticed wearing British uniforms taken from the dead P.P.C.L.I. All ranks warned accordingly."

My plan is to search and see if I can find any other burials from either the Unknowns position at 28.NW.I.24.b.20.38. or the location of the common grave at 28.J.7.a.4.2.

 

 

[stevie1944]

After much searching I'm putting this case on hold unless I can find new information. My current position is the Unknown buried at this location was probably killed sometime after 8 June 1916, as the burial location is directly between SP 14 and SP 15, immediately NE of Durham Lane between Durham Lane and Warrington Ave in the British front line trenches. Over the past several weeks I scoured not only the war diaries for the PPCLI, but also the war diaries for the 7th Brigade and the 3rd Canadian Division, with no success. I expanded my search to include all the unknown Canadians of the rank of lieutenant, captain and major, and checked available service records, and could not find any that fit the profile of this man. He may have been a PPCLI assigned to the brigade or division staff, but I have not been able to locate anything definitively stating so. Perhaps this is the location of Captain Dennison, and his body was located and removed to one of the old Sanctuary Wood cemeteries prior to their destruction - the trench coordinates are less that 100yds south of the current Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, so that theory is plausible. Perhaps he was captured along with the remainder of the rear guard. I found it odd that of the defenders during the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge (KOSLI, KRRC, RB, PPCLI), most of the casualties are on the Menin Gate, owing to the unrecoverable state of their remains after the German capture of the trenches, the subsequent fighting, or destruction of the burial location. Perhaps a German soldier was wandering around Sanctuary Wood in 1916 with a PPCLI captains coat. Unlikely, yes, but I can prove each of these theories as much as the other. As was pointed out to me at the start, on the face this seems like an easy case, but I've ventured as far down this rabbit hole and I care to travel.

[stevie1944]

I did find some interesting research to support my theory of burial in a destroyed cemetery- as you can see in the attached returns there are quite a few remains recovered from close proximity to the Unknown PPCLI Captain. In my opinion this demonstrates the existence of a cemetery at the time, probably 1914-1916 prior to the battle of Mount Sorrell that effectively destroyed the cemeteries in Sanctuary Wood. My plan is to attempt to reconstruct this "lost" cemetery and attempt to determine the date range of burials within it. This may help to narrow down the date range on the burial of our Unknown Captain.