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from The
Guardian Wednesday 20 June 2001
by Owen
Bowcott
Huddled together in
death, they lie packed tightly side by side. The 20 fallen soldiers of the
10th battalion the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment were interred hastily by their
colleagues at the beginning of the blood-drenched battle of Arras.
It was probably the
evening of April 9, 1917, the end of the first day of the offensive launched
by General Haig that was supposed to punch a hole through the German
frontline and alter the course of the Great War. The burial party may have
been under enemy fire and tumbled the bodies into a captured trench.
For Alan Jacques, the
head of Arras's archaeological service, who uncovered the mass grave earlier
this week, they seemed to have their arms linked together, elbows
overlapping. "It looks like they were in a danse macabre,"
he said. "They were holding each other by the arm, perhaps to signify
that they were from the same unit."
Long-forgotten corpses
have been resurfacing from the first world war killing
grounds for decades. Often they are ploughed up from agricultural land, lone
victims, their bodies incomplete. Around 20 or 30 soldiers have been
recovered every year. They are reburied, with full military honours, in the
region's well-tended Commonwealth war graves.
But in the past few
years the pace of industrial development in northern France and Belgium has
unearthed far larger numbers. Workmen laying a gas pipeline on a street in
Arras came across a flight of stairs going deep under the ground last year.
When they explored, they found a warren of tunnels carved into the chalk
leading to a British field hospital which had lain undiscovered since being
abandoned in 1917.
The discovery of an
unknown mass grave is highly unusual. "There were no identity
discs," Mr Jacques said yesterday, "but the bodies had shoulder
flashes indicating they were from the 10th Lincolnshires. All their weapons
and personal possessions had gone.
"They may have
been buried by the Royal Army Medical Corps. The men were left with only
their uniforms and shoes, There were traces of bullets and shrapnel among the
bones. Some of the bodies are without heads, some missing arms or legs."
Buttons, shreds of clothing and pieces of leather were also exhumed.
Mr Jacques, who also
examined the subterranean field hospital, had begun excavations on the site,
which is scheduled to become a BMW car factory, in search of Romano-Celtic
remains. "It was a very intense feeling coming across these bodies.
Normally we come across Roman graves. These rnen could have been our
grandfathers."
based on his extensive
knowledge of the trench systems and frontlines which shifted around Arras
throughout the war, Mr Jacques believes he can identify the day when these
men fell. Al, judging from what is left of their uniforms, were privates.
The position where they were buried was close to the Germans’ second line
of defence which was overrun on the first day of the battle of Arras.
"It was a strong point for
the Germans. It was taken by the Lincolns and held by them for five days.
They were then leapfrogged by the Royal Naval Division, which moved on ahead.
We found four other bodies nearby. One of them was from the Royal Naval
Division."
But Judith Donald, at
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Maidenhead, was less certain the
corpses had been linked arm to arm. "If they were hurled hurriedly in a
battlefield trench or a hastily dug hole it’s unlikely anyone would have
had time to arrange their arms," she said.
The mass grave was
probably marked, but in the chaos of a shifting frontline its location was
forgotten. "It’s likely other bodies will come to light if the dig
proceeds." The names of 600 members of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment
are inscribed on the war memorial in Arras, all listed as lost in action,
without a known grave.
As soon as news of the
find was broadcast yesterday, calls came in to the commission
from people hoping to discover news of their ancestors and relatives.
"Even at the distance of more than 80 years, there are people hoping to
be able to find their family, often grandchildren. People use our records to
build up their family trees?’
The 24 corpses will
shortly be removed to the commission’s mortuary in Arras. After they have
been examined, they will be buried with full military honours at one of the
war graves. Mr Jacques believes it will he at the cemetery on Point du
Jour ridge — the object of the allies’ offensive in April 1917.
Any British colour
party for the occasion will probably come from the Royal Anglian Regiment,
with which the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was long ago amalgamated. The
second battalion Royal Anglian
Regiment still recruits in Lincolnshire and looks after the former unit’s
regimental silver trophies.
"It’s always very good
to know that these
bodies have been discovered," said Jeremy
Lillies of the Royal British Legion. "Now
they can be given a proper burial and
the respect they deserve. It can be a great
comfort for the families
[Correction: the Lincolnshire
Regiment was not known as the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment until 1946]
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