The resting places of Captain Cecil Thomas Tuff, The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), and Captain Eric Wilson Edwards, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), have been identified more than a hundred years after they lost their lives during World War I…
To mark their sacrifice two rededication services were held on the Western Front at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Oosttaverne Wood Cemetery, Belgium (for Capt Tuff) and at Gouzeaucourt New British Cemetery, France (for Capt Edwards).
Both services, which were organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), part of Defence Business Services, were conducted by the Reverend Ian Kemp CF, Chaplain to 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.
Members of The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, the antecedent regiment to both The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) and The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) were present at both services.
The final resting places of these two Captains came to light after researchers submitted evidence that suggested that they had been found. Further research by the MOD’s JCCCand the National Army Museum was undertaken to corroborate the evidence and the identification of the ‘Unknown Soldier’ graves were both confirmed by the JCCC.
Rosie Barron, JCCC said: “Both of these men gave their lives in the service of their country and left behind families who mourned their loss. It has been a privilege to organise these two rededication services, to complete their stories and to share these experiences with the families of Capt Tuff and Capt Edwards.”