Belgium grave of WW1 British soldier is rededicated

Lt Charles Cautherley's cousin Simon stood behind the new headstone at the rededication ceremony

The grave of a soldier who died in World War One has been rededicated after his body was identified in a cemetery in Belgium.

Lt Charles Cautherley, of the Hertfordshire Regiment, died on 26 April 1918 near Ypres.

He had been commemorated at the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing close to Zonnebeke, but recent research showed he was buried at the nearby Poelcapelle British Cemetery, with a headstone marked "Unknown Officer".

A rededication service, with a new headstone, organised by the Ministry of Defence's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), was held at the cemetery on Wednesday.

A grave marked only as "Unknown Officer" was found to belong to Lt Charles Cautherley, who was killed in Belgium during World War One

Lt Cautherley was made an officer in the Hertfordshire Regiment in October 1915.

He joined the 1st Battalion in April 1916 and, the following September, was reported as suffering from shell shock, although he returned to the Battalion soon afterwards.

He spent time in the First Army Provosts, returning to the Hertfordshire Battalion on 10 April 1918.

He was killed two weeks later.

Lt Cautherley’s unit had been withdrawing to a new defensive line near Voormezele in the face of a rapid German advance.

A biography on the Herts at War website suggests there were conflicting accounts of his death, with two soldiers saying he was shot and another believing he was hit by a shell.

His burial was not recorded but he was commemorated by name on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Tyne Cot Memorial.

Lt. Cautherley was killed in action on 26 April 1918 in the vicinity of Voormezele, Belgium

The remains of an unnamed officer of the Hertfordshire Regiment, identified from his uniform and buttons, were recovered from a field burial around 400m south of Voormezele in 1923 and reburied at Poelcapelle British Cemetery.

New research showed they were those of Lt Cautherley.

The grave was marked with a headstone: “Unknown Officer, Hertfordshire Regiment" which was replaced by one bearing his name at the rededication ceremony, conducted by Reverend Tom Sander, chaplain to the Household Cavalry.

Standards were lowered as the Last Post sounded at the ceremony

JCCC caseworker, Alexia Clark, said she was pleased to have been involved in identifying his final resting place.

"In rededicating his grave today, we have reunited his mortal remains with his name, ensuring that his sacrifice will not be forgotten," she said.

Mel Donnelly, from the CWGC said: "We are deeply honoured to rededicate the grave of Lieutenant Charles Stewart Cautherley.

"His memory shall endure eternally under our watchful care and commitment.

"His sacrifice and service are indelibly etched in both history and stone."