VIMY RIDGE, FRANCE — The remains of a First World War soldier discovered at a French construction site in 2003 have been identified as those of an Alberta man who died in the bloody battle at Vimy Ridge.
Pte. Thomas Lawless was a 28-year-old Irish immigrant from Calgary who had come to Canada in 1909. He died on June 9, 1917.
His body was discovered beside another Alberta man — Pte. Herbert Peterson of Berry Creek — in Avion near where the battle was fought.
Pte. Peterson’s remains were identified a few years ago, but it took a battery of tests to determine the identity of Lawless, who was a member of the 49th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.
“His skeleton was actually in excellent condition. He wasn’t laid out. It wasn’t a field burial. It could have been where he died,” said forensic expert Laurel Clegg from the casualty identification section of the Directorate of History and Heritage.
“At the time, the Germans still had the area and we think it’s probable that the German clearing parties probably were collecting individuals and put them in a trench hole or something. They still interred them but they weren’t laid out like they might have been in a speedy field burial.”
Clegg said the identification involved genetic testing using inherited genetic material through the maternal line.
Allan McLaren and his brother Art were approached a few years ago to provide DNA samples to forensic investigators. Allan said Lawless was his second cousin twice removed on his mother’s side.
He wasn’t aware that Lawless had died in the First World War.
Lawless’s identity was revealed Thursday in Edmonton.
Lawless is to be buried at La Chaudiere Military Cemetery in Vimy on March 15. His relatives will be there.