Canadian family hopeful to bring home body of fallen WWI soldier 111 years later

Pictures of Lieutenant Lionel Tranter (source: Alicia Trelford)

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - Alicia Trelford’s great-great-uncle Lieut. Lionel Tranter was killed and disappeared more than 100 years ago. Now, her family is trying to find him and bring him back to Canada.

“He signed up right away for the First World War and was killed in action on June 15, 1915,” said Trelford, adding her uncle was 28 at the time and was raised in Southhampton, Ont.

The circumstances around Tranter’s death remain a mystery -- he simply disappeared. Back at his hometown, a headstone was erected in his honour.

“I think the empty grave is what speaks to us,” said Trelford, who has numerous artifacts passed down through her family, over generations, including letters Tranter wrote home, pictures, enlistment papers and his death notice.

“His family was just distraught,” she said. “The letters that he wrote home showed he was a very passionate and overprotective brother, and it was a great loss for that family.”

Now, 111 years later, Trelford has turned to Acadia University archeology professor Aaron Taylor for assistance. Taylor has previously helped the U.S. Department of Defense find Americans who went missing in past wars.

“There is a map detailing where he was and there are after-battle reports,” Taylor said, of the evidence he has uncovered so far. He has also located the field where Tranter is likely buried in an unmarked grave.

“It’s near Givency in northern France,” said Taylor, who hopes to go to France and search for Tranter later this year, using archaeology field techniques, including ground-penetrating radar.

Searching for lost soldiers has become a passion for Taylor and his students. Through Acadia University, Taylor has launched the Canadian Remembrance and Recovery Project to advocate for families who lost loved ones in previous wars and are still missing.

“We have over 27,000 missing Canadians from the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War,” Taylor said.

Taylor added that for every missing soldier, there is a family that has searched decades for answers.

“We know how to do this, and we know how to search,” he said.

Trelford and Taylor have both asked the federal government to lead the search for anyone who disappeared while serving Canada in war.

“We have made attempts to reach out to various levels of government, and we are not getting any feedback,” said Trelford, who along with Taylor hopes to raise money and awareness to end the pain of many Canadian families.

“We have the ability to go and get them,” she said of the missing soldiers, including her great-great-uncle, who died for his country and disappeared more than a century ago. Now, his family wants to bring him home.