{"id":268,"date":"2018-05-16T16:22:01","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T16:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/historylearning.com\/blog\/?p=268"},"modified":"2018-05-16T16:22:18","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T16:22:18","slug":"lost-world-war-one-hero-finally-laid-to-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historylearning.com\/blog\/lost-world-war-one-hero-finally-laid-to-rest\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost World War One hero finally laid to rest"},"content":{"rendered":"

There have been many stories borne out of the Great War<\/a> that have seen families split apart, marriages broken and young soldiers lost for decades as conflict raged across Western Europe. But one story to emerge this week could contain the longest-ever wait for one British solider who has finally been laid to rest after being found and identified.<\/p>\n

Second Lieutenant Eric Henderson served with the London Regiment Post Office Rifles, joining as a private just after the outbreak of war<\/a> – in 1915<\/a> – before eventually commissioned as an officer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\"2nd\n\t\t\t\t
2nd Lt. Eric Henderson (Copyright Henderson family)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

For the best part of 100 years, however, he was declared missing in action after he was cut down by a German infantry line on the Western Front<\/a>. At the time of his death on 7 June 1917, Henderson was just 21.<\/p>\n

A century later, workmen were widening a road near the village of Voormezele, West Flanders when they stumbled across Henderson\u2019s remains. Unlike many of the wartime dead who still crop up in Belgium, France and other areas of intense fighting, they were able to identify him almost immediately \u2013 thanks to a single silver coin buried with him that was engraved with his name and regiment.<\/p>\n

Following the discovery, the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) researched Henderson\u2019s story further.<\/p>\n

They found that the location of his body was exactly where the Oak Reserve Line was located during the Battle of Messines \u2013 where the young officer\u2019s regiment were stationed at the time.<\/p>\n

The battle itself was set off when 19 mines \u2013 some 450 tonnes of high explosives – \u00a0that had been laid under German lines at the Wytschaete-Messines Ridge exploded, devastating their infantry and overwhelming them. The blast was so powerful that it was reported to have been heard in London.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\"Aerial\n\t\t\t\t
Aerial photograph of the Messines Ridge 1917<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

British forces then moved in to capture their four objectives known as Oak Trench, Oak Support, Oak Reserve and Oak Switch \u2013 four points on the German battle\u00a0 line \u2013 before they could turn their attention to the \u201cDammstrasse\u201d, a particularly well-fortified position.<\/p>\n

Many of the allied casualties on the day where thanks to machine-gun fire that came from the White Chateau, an objective marked out for the 7th<\/sup> Batallion.<\/p>\n

When the builders discovered Henderson\u2019s body, the Ministry of Defence got in contact with his surviving family members: his great nieces, Sarah Foot, Lucy Cocup and Judith Leyman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank goodness they found him,\u201d Mrs Foot, a 59-year-old school administrator from Twickenham, South West London, said. \u201cI\u2019m terrifically proud of him. I expect the whole thing will be overwhelming. To us he is Great Uncle Eric.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week Henderson\u2019s family will join locals, representatives from his old regiment and the British Embassy in Belgium to lay him to rest at a war cemetery near Ypres.<\/p>\n

While the sisters do not know why he was carrying the coin with his name on it, they cannot rule out the possibility that he or his family had had it made so he could be identified in the event of his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been told that it was something he had done privately,\u201d Mrs Foot added.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, when he is finally laid to rest, that same coin will be with him.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\"The\n\t\t\t\t
The discovered silver coin with the engraving \u20182nd Lt. Eric Henderson, London Regiment<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There have been many stories borne out of the Great War that have seen families split apart, marriages broken and young soldiers lost for decades as conflict raged across Western Europe. But one story to emerge this week could contain the longest-ever wait for one British solider who has finally been laid to rest after… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nLost World War One hero finally laid to rest - Vox Historia - History Learning Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/historylearning.com\/blog\/lost-world-war-one-hero-finally-laid-to-rest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lost World War One hero finally laid to rest - Vox Historia - History Learning Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There have been many stories borne out of the Great War that have seen families split apart, marriages broken and young soldiers lost for decades as conflict raged across Western Europe. 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