The Royal Newfoundland Regiment will bury one of its own, killed during WWI, in a special ceremony in Belgium later this month.
Private John Lambert was just 17-years-old when he died in August of 1917. His remains, and those of three other soldiers, were discovered during an archaeological dig near St. Julien in Belgium in April of 2016.
The son of Richard and Elizabeth Lambert of St. John’s, John Lambert lied about his age and enlisted with the Newfoundland Regiment in August of 1916 at the age of 16. One year later he would be dead.
(Left to right: Private John Lambert and an unnamed soldier. Photo courtesy Government of Canada.)
Private Lambert died of wounds received during the advance of the Newfoundland Regiment in the Battle of Langemarck. Lambert and other soldiers who were killed in the fighting were buried near a relay post and for reasons unknown, their remains were not found and recovered following the war.
The archaeological dig recovered a number of items including a shoulder title of the Newfoundland Regiment, an Inniskilling Fusiliers cap badge, two Hampshire Regiment shoulder titles, service buttons, British bullets and other items.
(Patch used to identify that the remains were of a Newfoundland Regiment soldier. Courtesy Government of Canada.)
Lambert’s remains were positively identified with the help of DNA, historic and genealogical analysis. The identities of the other three soldiers could not be positively confirmed.
The three unknown soldiers will be buried on June 27 at the Loos British Cemetery in France, while Private Lambert’s remains will be buried in a ceremony on June 30 at the New Irish Farm Cemetery near Ypres in Belgium.
Members of Private Lambert’s family and government representatives will be in attendance.
