Ceremony rededicates resting site of Winnipeg soldier killed in First World War – Winnipeg | 24CA News

A ceremony was held Thursday to rededicate the gravestone of a gravesite close to Ypres, Belgium after it was recognized to be that of a Canadian soldier who had fought and died within the First World War.

Frederick Percival Bousfield, a corporal with the 79th Cameron Highlanders of Canada militia unit, was born on March 8, 1886. According to the Department of National Defence, Bousfield immigrated to Canada in 1913 from Cotehill, Cumberland, England. He settled in Winnipeg and briefly labored as a carpenter.

In 1914 he joined a militia unit, and by the next yr had been assigned abroad, the place he joined the forty third Canadian Infantry Battalion with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. After some coaching in England, he was promoted to the rank of corporal.

By February 1916, Bousfield was in France, preventing within the battle.

“For over a century, Cpl. Bousfield was officially listed as ‘missing in action.’ His family suffered the pain and sorrow of having never had the chance to say farewell to him,” mentioned Linda Tomlinson-Seebach, main brigade chaplain with the 38 Canadian Brigade Group. “Now the lost has been found right where he laid the whole time. Now Cpl. Bousfield’s burial is complete.”

The corporal is alleged to have been part of the Battle of Mount Sorrel, which passed off outdoors the city of Ypres, Belgium, from June 2 to 13, 1916. The Department of National Defence says Canadian troopers needed to defend their place on a chunk of excessive floor. The Winnipegger was struck by an artillery shell on June 7.

Letters that his household acquired from members of his battalion paint the image of Bousfield’s closing moments. Bousfield was carrying wounded males to security and in going again for one more stretcher, he was hit. He died on the age of 20.

All these years later, his household now lives in Toronto. They had been knowledgeable that his closing resting place had been recognized, along with his stays having been buried within the Bedford House Cemetery in Belgium. This comes after almost a century of not realizing the place he was laid to relaxation. A marker figuring out his short-term grave is alleged to have been destroyed, in accordance with the division. And when his stays had been reburied at Bedford House Cemetery, they might not be recognized.

On Sept. 14, 1923, a gravestone was registered on his plot that learn: “A Corporal of the Great War – Canadian Scottish – Known Unto God.”After the battle, his identify was engraved on the Ypres Memorial, which was erected in honour of the troopers who had been killed within the Ypres Salient through the First World War and who had no identified graves.

The corporal’s identification was lastly confirmed by historic and archival analysis. On Thursday, a ceremony was held close to Ypres to rededicate the brand new gravestone, which identifies the grave as belonging to Bousfield.

The ceremony was attended by 15 members of the Canadian Armed Forces, together with the commanding officer and regimental sergeant-major of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, in addition to virtually 40 members of Bousfield’s household and the general public.

“Honouring our fellow Canadians who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country is one of our most important military customs. All soldiers and their families deserve the same dignity and respect for their sacrifice, regardless of whether their death occurred yesterday or 107 years ago,” mentioned Lt.-Col. Jon Baker, commanding officer with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada.

“It is with great honour that we can engrave the name of Cpl. Percy Bousfield on his place of interment and bring closure for the family of our fallen comrade: they can know for certain where their loved one is finally laid to rest.”

0:35Fallen Winnipeg soldier’s grave rededicated greater than a century after demise in WWI

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