Throughout history, thousands of British servicemen and women went off to serve their country and remained missing. In a special episode of Long Lost Family that airs on Monday, July 18, the team of searchers joined forces with the 'War Detectives' from the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre in a bid to tackle their most ambitious case to date. This series has also seen the story of an 87-year-old man, who was abandoned as a baby. You can read more about that here.
When nine soldiers were found together in a trench by road workers in Beselare, Belgium, the ‘War Detectives’ got to work to uncover their identities. The location, the site of the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917, offered them their first clue. Over 300,000 people lost their lives in the battle.
At the start of their journey, they discovered the body of 2nd Lieutenant Ablett from the 11th Northumberland Fusiliers. He was identifiable by his ID bracelet and a ring and remarkably, he still had his officer’s boots, in wearable condition, his tie and his fountain pen. Following the recovery of the artefacts and DNA sourced from a living relative, Ablett’s identity was confirmed. Having discovered one of the soldiers, the team set to work out the remaining eight.
