Barnsley soldier finally identified - over 100 years after his tragic death at The Somme in World War One

A South Yorkshire war hero has finally got his own marked grave - over 100 years after his death in a notorious battle.

Private George Galloway was serving with 14th Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment, when he was sent to the Somme, during World War One.

George, a soldier in the Barnsley Pals, went missing on the night of June 3, 1916, after going on a raid nearly a month before the famous battle.

At midnight an intense bombardment came down on the enemy line near Serre on the Somme, and the raid began. It failed and saw the deaths of three men. Efforts were made to recover the wounded,

But Pte Galloway, who was aged 30, remained missing. Following the raid his body was recovered by the Germans who buried him as an unknown soldier of The York and Lancaster Regiment in Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension.

Because he was missing, Pte Galloway was commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, the memorial at the Somme for soldiers with no known grave.

But new evidence has led to experts being able to identify his body.

And now, along with four other York and Lancaster Regiment World War One soldiers, his grave has now been marked with his name.

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The other four were all killed in the last few weeks of the war in 1918.

Rededication services for Pte Galloway, Second Lieutenant Albert Hutchinson, Pte Charles Ernest Lane, Lance Corporal Thomas Gustafson and Corporal William Swan, were organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, also known as the ‘MOD War Detectives’ and were attended by serving soldiers of The Royal Yorkshire Regiment.

The services were held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension (16 April), Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension (16 April), Auberchicourt British Cemetery (17 April) and York Cemetery, Haspres (17 April), all in France.

Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre caseworker, Rosie Barron, said: “All five of these men enlisted early in the war and it is hard to imagine how their families would have felt on hearing the news of their deaths, especially those killed so close to the end of the fighting when the news may have come through after the Armistice. It has been a privilege to have played a part in their stories and to know that their families finally have answers as to what happened to them.”

The graves of the men came to light after researchers submitted evidence to CWGC hoping to have identified them. After further research carried out by CWGC, the National Army Museum and JCCC, these findings were confirmed.

The Reverend Robert Desics CF said: "It was a wonderfully moving honour to rededicate the graves of these five fallen comrades, and to restore their names to them after more than a century. Names mean so much because names carry our identity and our history, and so in knowing the names of these brave soldiers we now know their histories and are able to share in the telling of their stories.

“But we must never forget that even though these men who made the ultimate sacrifice were unknown to us for so long they have always been fully known to God in whom they rest awaiting their eternal reward."

The headstones over the graves were replaced by CWGC. Xavier Puppinck, CWGC Area Director for France, said: "Their stories, unearthed through meticulous research and shared through these rededication services, serve as poignant reminders of their courage and dedication.

“CWGC stand committed to ensuring that their memory lives on in perpetuity, providing a place of reverence and respect for generations to come.”