Private Herbert Peterson, and the man who died trying to save him

The remains of a Canadian soldier who died almost ninety years ago fighting near Vimy Ridge in WWI have been identified as Private Herbert Peterson. He was found with another soldier whose identity remains unknown, but whose deeds shouldn't.

This information was brought to my attention by Dr. Ken Reynolds, an historian with the Directorate of History and Heritage at DND, a reader of this blog, and a member of the team that worked so diligently to identify this fallen Canadian.

I'll let Dr. Reynolds tell you about the painstaking process of identification in his own words:

One of the responsibilities of various members of the Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH), Department of National Defence (DND), is to assist with the identification of remains recovered in former battlefields. Over the past few years a handful of remains of Canadian military personnel have been discovered, mostly in Europe, but also in other locations. Depending on the location, a team from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission will do an initial investigation, reporting on what was found and their recommendations as to an appropriate (re)burial location.

In some previous cases, the identity of the individual was either already known due to circumstances (aircraft crew, for example) or relatively easy to determine because of the location, items discovered with the remains, historical record, etc. In other cases, it's much more difficult, often because of the larger number of Canadian missing who the individual discovered could be.

Private Herbert Peterson was one of the latter cases. In brief, the method used involves - as the DND press release notes - historical, documentary, forensic and genealogical efforts to make the identification. In the work already completed or currently underway, this means that DHH receives the report from CWGC and see where that takes the team. Is there anything in the report which provides a general historical context - location, unit material, equipment - that helps initially lower the number of possible Canadians from several thousand to dozens (hopefully much less)? Were there only so many Canadians who fought in the specific area? Does the material found with the remains identify the unit?

Then, the hope is to further lower the number of possible identities. Forensic work might reveal the approximate height and age of the individual. Cross-referencing this with historical documentation might eliminate even more names and reduce the number of possibilities. Hopefully, the number is low enough to make it possible for genealogical experts to use historical documentary evidence to help track families. This is needed in case there is the possibility of using DNA evidence from the remains to compare with possible living relatives.

All of these activities were involved in identifying Private Herbert Peterson, 49th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Given the location of the two remains and the insignia found with the bodies, the number of possibilities was quickly reduced to sixteen members of the 49th Battalion killed on 8/9 June 1917 for whom there is no known grave. Comparison of likely height and age helped reduce the possibilities even further and comparison of DNA (as reported in the press today) made a match to Herbert Peterson's relatives in Canada.

The people involved in this process work inside and outside of DND. Major Jim McKillip is the team leader at DHH, coordinating the overall process of remains identification - Ms. Laurel Clegg is a forensic scientist working with DHH on liaising between the various players in the process and making sure that the process in unfolding most effectively (particularly ensuring that the information from the historians, scientists and people in the field are consolidated, shared and explained) - I am an historian at DHH who conducts the historical investigations in individual and unit documentation in order to help narrow the field of possible matches, help confirm promising leads and answer any other historical type of questions - Dr. Carney Matheson (Lakehead University) is the forensic scientist conducting the DNA testing - Ms. Janet Roy is a genealogist (Thunder Bay) who tracks down the families of potential matches using historical documentation - staff at CWGC and Veterans Affairs Canada are also involved at various steps.

This work is challenging, sometimes frustrating (like when one set of remains included a dental plate with a serial number but the personnel records for that unit very untypically did not include dental records), but always extremely rewarding.

Bruce Campion-Smith of the Toronto Star picked up on the story this past weekend as well. I found the description of the events leading up to the two soldiers' deaths particularly compelling:

Here's what McKillip and his team of investigators figure happened. Peterson, of Berry Creek, Alta., was at the leading edge of the raid – "in the thick" – near German trenches when he was grievously wounded.

"We're talking nasty shrapnel wounds to both his legs and his abdomen," McKillip said, citing "obvious" signs of trauma to the remains. A fellow soldier came to Peterson's rescue to evacuate him away from the front lines.

"He was then picked up by the second soldier in sort of a fireman's carry and was being carried back toward the Canadian line when an overhead shell burst over them, killing the both of them and driving them into the ground," McKillip said. "Which is why they weren't found," he said.

...

"The natural inclination of any human being under these circumstances would be to lie down, crawl, keep below ground," he said.

"This soldier chose to pick up Pte. Peterson ... He stood up in the middle of this maelstrom of fire to carry this wounded comrade," he said. "Arguably, that cost him his life."

I hope they can identify the man who tried to save Private Peterson. I hope they can give us a name to attach to our awe and admiration of his heroism. And I hope both brave men can finally rest in peace.