Reported Missing in the Great War: 100 Years of Searching for the Truth

Of the one million British and Empire military personnel who were killed in action, died of wounds, disease or injury or were missing presumed dead during the First World War, over half a million have no known grave. Of these, nearly 188,000 are buried anonymously in Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries, with a stone bearing the epitaph 'Known Unto God'. The remains of a further 339,000 lie scattered across the wartime battlefields, having been buried in marked graves that were subsequently obliterated as front lines moved backwards and forwards, or destroyed forever in the carnage mechanised warfare wrought upon the human body. For the families of those who were reported missing, months of agonising uncertainty could await, as searches were made to establish the precise fate of their loved ones. Sometimes rumours that an individual was recovering from wounds in a hospital, unable to contact his family, or had been taken prisoner by the enemy could circulate, causing a toxic admixture of hope, tinged with anxiety then dashed by the despair of the confirmation of death. This book traces the history of the searching services that were established to assist families in eliciting definitive news of their missing loved ones. Then, using previously unpublished material, most of it lovingly preserved in family archives for over a century, the lives of eight soldiers, whose families had no known resting place to visit after the conclusion of the war, are recounted. These young men, their lives full of promise, vanished from the face of the earth. The circumstances of their deaths and the painstaking efforts undertaken, both by family members and public and voluntary organisations, to piece together what information could be found are described. The eventual acceptance of the reality of death and the need to properly commemorate the lives of those who would have no marked grave are examined. For three of the eight men, recent discoveries have meant that over a century since they were given up as missing, their remains have been identified and allowed families some degree of closure. AUTHOR: John Broom graduated in History from the University of Sheffield in 1991 and has pursued a career in teaching, firstly in History, and latterly as a Specialist Teacher in Autism. The inheritance in 2006 of 170 letters written by his late father between 1940 and 1946 sparked a passion to discover the links between twentieth-century warfare and religion. After completing an MA in Local and Regional History with the Open University, he is currently studying for a PhD at the University of Birmingham and has conducted research on behalf of the Bible Society for their First World War website. 58 b/w illustrations

About the Author :
After graduating in History from the University of Sheffield in the early 1990s, JOHN BROOM pursued a career in teaching, firstly in his chosen subject and latterly with children with autism. A chance inheritance of family papers eleven years ago prompted his interest in the spiritual and ethical issues of the twentieth-century world wars. John was awarded a PhD on Christianity in the British Armed Services by the University of Durham, and is the author of five published books: _Faithful in Adversity: The Royal Army Medical Corps in the Second World War_ (Pen & Sword, 2019); _Opposition to the Second World War: Conscience, Resistance and Service in Britain_, 1933-45 (Pen & Sword, 2018); _A History of Cigarette and Trade Cards_ (Pen & Sword, 2018); _Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the Second World War_ (Pen & Sword, 2016); _Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the First World War_ (Pen & Sword, 2015).