Formerly unknown WWI grave in France belongs to Canadian

“Memorial of the Great War, 1914-1918: A record of service”, Bank of Montreal, 1921. (Image courtesy of the Government of Canada)

An investigation into a previously unidentified First World War grave in France has revealed it belongs to Canadian Capt. William Webster Wilson.

Historical and archival research confirmed the identification, according to a news release from the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.

William Wilson was born on Nov. 29, 1890, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a banker and got his first job in that country’s national bank at 15 years old. In 1911, shortly after his mother’s death, he moved to Canada and started working at a Toronto branch of the Bank of Montreal.

He had some military experience before the First World War, having volunteered in Canadian and Scottish militias. He enlisted in the fall of 1915.

Gruelling losses at the Battle of the Somme meant soldiers were desperately needed in France, and Wilson was relocated to the 16th Battalion, which was destined for a battle in Ancre Heights as part of the broader Somme Offensive.

His group was tasked with capturing Regina Trench – a stretch of territory that offered a strategic high ground.

The mission was a failure. The next day, Capt. Wilson was reported missing.

It was not until summer three years later that his brother Hugh received a second-hand account indicating that William Wilson had been killed by a shell.

At the time of his death, Capt. Wilson was 25 years old.

An account of Capt. Wilson’s death from the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Bureau is brief:

“Captain Wilson (was) on a patrol in No-Man’s Land when he was killed by a shell,” reads the document, which describes Wilson as five feet nine inches tall and “fair.”

Researchers had not initially considered the grave could have belonged to Webster, since he was officially commemorated as a member of the Canadian Signal Corps, rather than a member of the 16th Battalion, with whom he died.

“Time will never erase the debt we owe to Canadians like Captain Wilson, who more than 100 years ago sacrificed everything to protect the freedoms we enjoy today. We must continue to honour those who served Canada and grant them the recognition they deserve. Lest we forget,” reads a statement included in the government’s release from Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight.

Webster’s family has been notified, and an official headstone rededication ceremony will take place as soon as possible, according to the news release.