Graves of lost World War One soldiers found
The graves of World War I marines have been identified in continental Europe, more than a century after their deaths.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) says the resting place of Kent-born Reginald Clarence Rogers has now been marked at Serre Road Cemetery No. 2 in France.
It added that Thomas William Brogan, from Surrey, was remembered at a special service at St George’s Memorial Church, Ypres, Belgium.
Rogers enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry in September 1906.
By the outbreak of war in 1914 he had been promoted to corporal and had already served in India, Gibraltar and Hong Kong.
Rogers served in the Royal Marines during the Ostend and Dunkirk conflicts and in the defense of Antwerp.
Promoted to acting sergeant major in May 1917, he received the military medal for “very good service,” according to the Ministry of Defense.
He was killed in action while crossing the Ancre River the following year.
Rogers’ brother, Archibald, was also killed in the fighting and is buried less than 5 miles from where Rogers fell, the Defense Department said.
Polly Brewster, head of commemorations at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, said it had been a “real privilege” to bring the two men together again.
Brogan died leading a platoon of men, the Defense Ministry said [MOD]
Brogan served three years in the Royal Marines, first as a private at Gallipoli in 1915.
He was then assigned to the Chatham Division, where he served in Greece.
In March 1917 he received his commission as an officer and embarked for France as a second lieutenant later that year.
Just before 6 a.m. on October 26 – the first day of the Second Battle of Passchendaele – Brogan’s 2nd Battalion attacked an enemy position opposite its own front lines.
He was one of seven battalion officers killed that day, alongside 301 men of other ranks.
According to the Ministry of Defense, contemporary reports indicate that Brogan died leading a platoon of men in the attack.
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