Family research, DNA tools and buttons identify British-Canadian lieutenant 107 years after his death | 24CA News

From his house workplace in West Yorkshire, England, Richard Hemsley flips via a folder of papers. He decides on one, then seems to be up. 

“I’ll read it to you, if I put my glasses on,” he says. When he is adjusted his frames, he begins the letter of condolences about his grandfather, Lt. Francis Hemsley.

“He was in fact one of God’s good men,” it begins. The letter was written to Francis’s spouse by somebody he knew within the First World War. Richard will get to the final line.

“His family, though regretting his untimely end, have cause to feel proud of him and his glorious death,” he reads.

“A fairly moving letter, isn’t it?”

Though he by no means met his grandfather, Richard and his household know a lot about Francis because of a long time of their personal analysis.

Almost the whole lot, in actual fact, apart from the place his stays lay.

That lacking hyperlink took just a few Canadians — and a few buttons — to piece collectively.

Of warfare and farm land

Francis Hemsley was born in England in 1880. Richard stated his grandfather, whom he calls Frank, fought with the British military in South Africa, then immigrated to Canada in 1911. Richard believes the transfer was a part of Canada’s efforts to get British navy males to farm the prairies.

Francis moved together with his brothers-in-law to Canada, and ended up close to Prince Albert, Sask., about 360 kilometres north of Regina. Richard stated his grandfather constructed a log cabin the place his household would be a part of him a 12 months later. That included his spouse, Adina Hebden, their son who would develop into Richard’s father, and their daughter.

Francis lived there for nearly 5 years. While Richard notes he would not know rather a lot about his grandfather’s Saskatchewan life, he is aware of Francis and his spouse had one other son. He additionally joined the 52nd Prince Albert Volunteers — a militia regiment — the place he turned a lieutenant.

Then, warfare known as.

Francis moved to Winnipeg the place he and two brothers enlisted within the Canadian Expeditionary Force whereas his spouse and youngsters moved again to England.

“My feeling is [Francis] wanted to take part not only on behalf of Canada, which is where they had taken up residence and become naturalized, but also for England fighting a war against Germany,” stated Richard.

But simply weeks after being deployed, Lt. Hemsley was killed serving to the sixteenth Battalion combat within the Battle of Hill 70 in France — a bloody endeavour ending with nearly 10,000 Canadian casualties.

Lt. Hemsley was 37. And that’s the place Richard’s information of his grandfather ended.

“All we knew as I was growing up was that he had been killed in France in 1917 and he had a direct hit from the shell,” he stated.

“We were told there was no body to bury.”

But that wasn’t fairly true.

Canadian staff unlocks the thriller

In 2012, Lt. Hemsley’s stays have been found by a bomb-disposal crew that was clearing house for development in Venden-le-Vieil, France, in line with Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND). Along together with his bones, the crews discovered items of a fuel masks and helmet, a pair of trainers and several other buttons that stated “16th Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment.”

It was all turned over to DND’s casualty identification program: a gaggle devoted to studying the tales of unidentified, Canadian stays from worldwide conflicts.

The sixteenth Battalion buttons narrowed down the search, however refining it will imply DNA evaluation.

When Francis’s bones have been first discovered, nevertheless, the staff might solely extract DNA from his mom’s aspect and never his father’s. With simply maternal DNA, the staff might solely seek for some of Francis’s household, in line with Sarah Lockyer, the forensic anthropologist main this system.

“In some instances, unfortunately, there are no living DNA donors left. They’ve all passed on. So in that case, we’re kind of stuck where we don’t have a maternal relative,” she stated.”

But last year, they tried again with new DNA technology. The team successfully extracted paternal DNA from Francis’s bones, unlocking new relatives and leading Lockyer to Richard Hemsley.

“This was the primary time that I used to be capable of communicate to a grandchild who was the DNA donor for a First World War casualty,” she said.

Lockyer said this case was also unique since it’s the first remains of an officer she’s identified — she normally works with the bodies of privates or sergeants.

Francis’s case was also rare, she said, since Richard and his family knew so much on their own.

“Most of the time, admittedly, once we name both DNA donors or we decide who the subsequent of kin is for any individual that we have recognized, they don’t know who we’re speaking about,” said Lockyer.

“But on this occasion with Lt. Hemsley, they’ve all these anecdotes and household tales and pictures and it makes it that rather more particular and emotional.”

As technology advances, Lockyer hopes she can unlock more family mysteries like the Hemsley’s.

She has 42 other skeletons to identify, but says there are more than 27,000 Canadians who died in conflicts who have no known grave.

“Every 12 months there are units of human stays which are found as a result of development or farming exercise, and we hope to have the ability to determine them in order that they are often buried with their title by their regiment and hopefully within the presence of household,” she said.

An official goodbye

Years ago, Richard took his own family to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial to feel his grandfather’s legacy. He even tried to find where he was killed.

Now, this summer, they’ll go back to France for a proper, military reburial. He said they’re adding a personal touch to say goodbye.

“On his headstone, it would say ‘He was considered one of God’s good males.'”