The forensic anthropologist who led the effort to identify the remains of a 17-year-old Newfoundland soldier says a number of factors worked in their favour to help put a name and face to the deceased.
Dr. Sarah Lockyer, Coordinator of the Canadian Armed Forces’ Casualty Identification Program, says DNA, artifacts found at the burial site in Belgium, and the soldier’s young age all came together to help them narrow down their search and give closure to the family of Private John Lambert of St. John’s.
The young soldier’s remains were uncovered by archaeologists in Belgium in 2016. His bones were found among those of three British soldiers, who remain unidentified.
Lockyer says according to the records, there were only 16 missing Newfoundland Regiment soldiers in that area and only one who would have been so young.
So, they reached out to the Rooms which helped to narrow down the possibilities even further.
That, coupled with a full DNA sequence taken from a bone sample, helped them positively identify Lambert, who will be formally interred in Belgium at the end of the month with members of his family present.
She says the British soldiers remain unidentified, largely because British military records related to WWI were destroyed during the Blitz.