Postcard helps identify fallen WW1 soldier more than a century later

Private Thomas Redvers Whitaker was finally put to rest in a cemetery with relatives attending.
Text: Jonas Mäki
Published 2026-06-12

An estimated 20 million people are believed to have died as a result of World War I, and among them were, of course, many who were unfortunately never found or could not be identified. The war ended in 1918, but even today, efforts continue to notify relatives of the fate of their ancestors and give them a proper burial.

Now Yahoo reports that an excavation has uncovered six dead soldiers in the war's trenches. Thanks to a postcard belonging to British soldier Private Thomas Redvers Whitaker, he was identified and his relatives were notified following DNA testing. The postcard came from Bradford, where several relatives still live, and family members attended the funeral at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium.

The search for more missing persons continues, and around half a million British soldiers are still waiting to be discovered somewhere on the old battlefields.

Image from Gallipoli.

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