In a bombed-out trench crisscrossed with barbed wire, an 18-year-old Esquimalt man laid down his life in 1917.
Since then, some 101 years after a horrendous First World War battle, he has lived on in name only.
But that ended Monday.
The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces have identified a once unknown warrior’s remains as Pte. George Alfred Newburn of Esquimalt.
"Private George Alfred Newburn is part of a proud legacy of Canadians who fought valiantly as members of our expeditionary force, demonstrating great courage and character in the face of tremendous adversity,” said Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay.
Born in England, Newburn moved to the Victoria suburb of Esquimalt where he signed up to fight in 1915. Newburn was only 16 years old when he enlisted as a member of the 88th Overseas Battalion (Victoria Fusiliers).
Two years later, while stationed near the French village of Vendin-le-Vieil, Newburn would be called into action. His unit would be part of the historic taking of Hill 70.
The 10-day conflict was the first major battle fought by Canadian troops under the command of a Canadian in the First World War.
On August 15, 1917, in the second wave of the Canadian attack on the German-held hill, the Vancouver Island soldier was killed.
In a Victoria-based newspaper clipping found by the Canadian Armed Forces, it is written that Newburn had already spent a year fighting in the trenches, despite his age.
While his family was told their son was killed in action, Newburn's remains were never recovered. Approximately 2,100 Canadians died taking Hill 70. More than half do not have a grave site.
Notice of Private George Newburn’s death in the Victoria Times Colonist. (The British Columbia Regiment)
In the summer of 2017, a discovery in France was felt a world away in the Great White North.
The skeletal remains of five soldiers were discovered near the town of Vendin-le-Vieil.
Canada’s Commonwealth War Graves Commission took immediate action.
In partnership with French authorities, the Casualty Identification Program, using DNA analysis, was able to confirm that the Esquimalt man was amongst the dead discovered so many years after the war.
Veterans Affairs Canada has reached out to the family of the fallen private to inform them of his final resting place. George Newburn will be buried alongside his regiment in a British cemetery near the French town of Loos-en-Gohelle on June 12.
The costly battle of Hill 70 was seen as massive achievement for the Canadian Armed Forces. After 10 bloody days to capture the high point of the hill, it was never relinquished again by the Allied Forces.
Approximately 66,000 Canadians died in the First World War.
