106yrs on, WW1 hero laid to rest
Funeral for Brit soldier after DNA test
A BRITISH soldier who died in the First World War has finally been laid to rest after more than 100 years.
Lance Corporal Robert Cook received full military honours after his identity was confirmed using a relative’s DNA.
His body had been missing for a century but was found with the remains of 23 others during construction work.
Robert’s great-nephew Arthur Cook, 73, said he was surprised when contacted by the Ministry of Defence’s War Detectives for a DNA sample.
Asked about the service, he added: “It’s amazing. I never anticipated anything of this nature.”
Draped in a Union flag, Robert’s coffin was carried to its final resting place in Belgium by soldiers in full military dress.
He was among tens of thousands who lost their lives around the Belgian town of Ypres, dying on May 2, 1915.
Robert, who was 38, and his comrades had been hit with gas, shelled and then attacked. Conducting yesterday’s ceremony, Reverend Paul Whitehead said: “I was struck that Lance Corporal Cook died only two days after arriving on the front line.”
Born in 1876 in Bishop Wilton, East Yorks, Robert was one of seven children and had fought for the 2nd Battalion The Essex Regiment.
He had also served during the Boer War in South Africa. Robert’s name was among 54,000 on the Menin Gate memorial to the missing. His body was found near what is believed to have been a Regimental Aid Post. It was discovered with a medal ribbon bar, shoulder ties and his regiment’s cap badge. Following a painstaking investigation, the War Detectives were able to contact Arthur in Orkney, Northern Scotland. Robert received a gun salute after he was buried at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s New Irish Farm Cemetery near Ypres.