The remains of a First World War B.C. infantry battalion soldier will be buried in France in September, the Department of National Defence said Aug. 29.
Sgt. Richard Musgrave's remains were recovered during a munitions clearing process north of Lens, France July 11, 2017. Among items recovered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) were a Military Medal ribbon and a whistle.
Musgrave was 32 when he died.
The identity of Musgrave's remains was confirmed through historical, genealogical, anthropological, archaeological and DNA analysis in October 2021. The identification was announced by the Department of National Defence in March 2022.
Musgrave's remains will be interred at the CWGC Loos British Cemetery outside Loos-en-Gohelle, France.
Musgrave was born in Blackrigg, Scotland in 1884. He had worked as a teamster in Calgary before enlisting at the age of 30 with the 56th Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in April 1915.
After sailing from Montreal aboard S.S. Elele and training in England, then-private Musgrave travelled to France in February 1916, as a member of the 7th Infantry Battalion (British Columbia).
He was promoted to sergeant in March 1917, was wounded in April but remained on duty, and was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in July of that year.
It was in August 1917 that Musgrave fought with the 7th Battalion during the first day of the Battle of Hill 70 near Lens.
He was reported missing that day and was presumed to have died as part of the battle.
That battle saw a heavy toll of more than 10,000 Canadians killed, wounded, or missing. More than 140 men of the 7th Battalion were killed, 118 of them missing and never found.
Following the war, Musgrave’s name was engraved on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France commemorating Canadian soldiers who died during the First World War and have no known grave.
The Canadian Armed Forces will conduct the burial with Musgrave's family in attendance, with the support of Veterans Affairs Canada. Representatives of the Government of Canada and the Government of France will also be in attendance.
Soldiers from the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), which perpetuates the 7th Battalion, will inter Musgrave's remains.
The Canadian Armed Forces Casualty Identification Program works to identify missing war dead from the First World War, the Second World War and the Korean Conflict.
