Graves of Two Scottish Soldiers Rededicated in France
The graves of Second Lieutenant (2ndLt) Reginald Russell Boyd and Private (Pte) Frederick Little, who were killed on the Western Front during World War One, have finally been marked with headstones bearing their names more than a hundred years after they were killed.
Second Lieutenant Reginald Russell Boyd (Copyright Unknown)
The services, which were organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), also known as the ‘MOD War Detectives’, were held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Etaples Military Cemetery on the northern French coast and at Raperie British Cemetery near Soissons, on 5 and 6 September respectively.
Rosie Barron, JCCC Case Lead said:
Both 2ndLt Boyd and Pte Little paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country, but their graves were lost in the fog of war. It has been an honour to play a part in rectifying this and to work with The Royal Regiment of Scotland to organise their rededication services.
It is just as important today that men such as 2ndLt Boyd and Pte Little are not forgotten and fitting that their memory is still honoured by their regimental family.
Lieutenant Harry Eaton lays a wreath at the grave of Second Lieutenant Boyd (Crown Copyright)
The rededication services were conducted by the Reverend Tim Clarke-Wood CF, Chaplain to 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland and attended by serving soldiers of the battalion.
The Reverend Clarke-Wood said:
2ndLt Boyd and Pte Little were 20 and 19 years old respectively. The reminder that so many of our British Troops who died during WW1 were very young. It’s a stark thought the cost of war far outweighs any erroneous concepts of glory. That so often what is accomplished is bought with the lives of those who will never have the opportunity to fulfil all that they could otherwise. For me there is an emotional connection with these two soldiers because in my role as a Padre I often interact with young soldiers and officers. It is an honour to be able to spend time recognising 2ndLt Boyd and Pte Little and to declare within the presence of others that their lives mattered and for us today, still do.
The grave of 2ndLt Boyd was found after a researcher provided the CWGC with evidence suggesting that his grave could be identified. Further research conducted by the National Army Museum and JCCC confirmed their findings and similarly, it was CWGC who identified the grave of Pte Little in a separate investigation, again verified by the JCCC.
4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland at the graveside (Crown Copyright)
The headstones over their graves have been replaced with named inscriptions by the CWGC.
CWGC Director for France, Xavier Puppinck, said:
It is a special duty of ours to welcome people to our cemeteries, and to be able to mark the sacrifice of these two brave soldiers with a new headstone more than a century after they fell, is an honour. These services of rededication give us an opportunity to renew our commitment to care for their graves, and those of their comrades, forever.