Four First World War soldiers from Grimsby buried in France

In the summer of 2020, during preparatory works for the foundations of a new hospital near Lens in northern France, the bodies of four soldiers of the First World War were discovered. The men were wearing shoulder titles indicating their affiliation to the Lincolnshire Regiment, and carrying small box respirators – a piece of kit not issued until August 1916. One man had a pair of boots stamped 1917 on the sole. From the way the men were lying it was impossible to tell whether they had been intentionally buried, or whether they had died where they fell and were covered over by soil being displaced by subsequent explosions.

Following extensive research, JCCC were able to ascertain that these were men of the Lincolnshire Regiment who must have died in 1917 or after. Looking at histories o