THE body of an unknown Monmouthshire Regiment soldier who was killed on the battlefield during the First World War has finally been laid to rest in a cemetery in Belgium.

The soldier is one of 19 unknown British comrades who were buried together yesterday (28th September).

The bodies were laid to rest at the New Irish Farm Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium, almost 100 years after the end of the war.

Unusually for a single service, the ceremony involved casualties from Welsh, English, Irish and Scottish Regiments. The service itself was organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) and was conducted by The Reverend Iori Price CF, Chaplain to the 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment.

The soldiers were found following ground work at an industrial development at Briekestraat, Ypres in Belgium. The location, thought to be the original Irish Farm site, is an original war-time cemetery created by the Army under war conditions. It was believed that all those buried there had been transferred to the New Irish Farm Cemetery, some 300 meters away, but this discovery has proved that they hadn’t.

Investigations undertaken by the JCCC established that of the 19 soldiers: one served with the Monmouthshire Regiment, four with the Essex Regiment, one with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, one with the Northumberland Regiment and one with the Royal Irish Regiment.

As no regimental artefacts were found, the remaining 11 will be buried as ‘Known Unto God’. During the burial service, all the coffins were in the burial plots with the exception of one, which was carried in as the focus of the ceremony by the Essex Regiment, now the Anglians.

Reverend Iori Price CF said: “We are always mindful of the costs of conflict and the need we have to pursue peace for all. At such a moment as this, when we have gathered to bury those fallen in conflicts, we reflect on the great price paid by our service personnel then and the motivation that encouraged them.”

The service was held in the presence of General Sir James Everard, KCB, CBE, who is the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) at SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe).

The Monmouthshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in the mid 19th century.The soldiers came from across south Wales, with the three battalions based in Newport, Pontypool and Abergavenny.The regiment was disbanded in 1967, and is today succeeded by the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Welsh.Images courtesy of Crown Copyright.