From the News

Dated: May 12, 2000

Tourists find remains of young Albertan listed missing in action during First World War

by Sean Ohler

Edmonton

To an Edmonton family’s joy and relief, a tilled, barren field in northern France has yielded the remains of a teenaged Alberta soldier killed during the First World War’s bloody Battle of the Somme.

For more than eight decades, Private David John Carlson was presumed missing in action after he disappeared in the Canadian Army’s attack September 8, 1916, on Courcelette. But the recent discovery of his skeleton and identifying dogtags by a group of British tourists means Private Carlson will finally be given a proper military funeral mMay 24 in France.

“It means so much to us that he'll have a military burial,” said Joan Hughes, who is married to Private Carlson's great-nephew, Greg.

“After all these years, who would have expected it?”

Private Carlson, who was from Mannville, 140 km east of Edmonton, voluntarily enrolled in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on July 12, 1915, two days after his 18th birthday. He trained in Canada as an infantryman for 10 months and sailed to England in May 1916. In June of that year, he crossed the English Channel to France and join the Force’s 8th Battalion, also known as the Manitoba Regiment.

In September, just after he entered the battle that would claim 25,000 young Canadian men, he was killed. Private Carlson's twin brother, Frank, also fought in the war and returned home safely.

“When I thought of (Private Carlson's) age, I said, ‘Can you imagine losing your son at that age? Can you imagine how those parents felt?’ “ said Ms. Hughes, who has three children.

“And there were so many. They all went over as boys and died far from home.”

Private Carlson's body was discovered in January, when British tourists spotted his bones and dog tags while walking through Somme battlefields between the villages of Pozieres and Thiepval.

“I would imagine that the frost heaved up his remains, like it does rocks,” said Bill Aikman, a Veteran Affairs spokesperson. “These things still happen in those fields.”

When the federal department learned of the discovery, they arranged for Private Carlson to be buried in the military Cemetery at Pozieres. A Canadian Forces chaplain will conduct the service and a guard of honour will fire three volleys to commemorate his sacrifice.

“The First World War overwhelmed David Carlson's generation,” Mr. Aikman said.

“Canada lost 66,000 people. None had any idea when the war started that it was going to be that way. They all joined up for God and the Empire. They thought they were doing the right thing, and they were consumed.”

Private Carlson also has a niece, 72 year-old Gladys Peterson, in Edmonton. Both Ms. Peterson and Ms. Hughes said Wednesday that distance and finances will prevent them from attending the funeral.

Mr. Aikman, who didn't know Private Carlson has surviving relatives until Wednesday, said Veterans Affairs will consider helping them travel to France for the funeral.

“We'll have to look at that issue. I can't exclude it,” he said