A badge, a DNA sample and 108 years: how two soldiers got their names back
What happened
On 2 October 2026, six British soldiers of the First World War were buried in France, 108 years after they died. Two of them had names. Private George Fleming Brock was 19. He came from Dunipace in west Falkirk, and served with the 11th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He died on 28 March 1918 near Tilloy-les-Mofflaines, during the German Spring Offensive. Private Percy Todd served with the same battalion. He came from Radford in Nottinghamshire. He died on 5 April 1918, in the same offensive. The other four remain unidentified. The evidence suggests they came from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Gordon Highlanders. All six were found during an archaeological survey at Tilloy-les-Mofflaines in 2023. Objects were recovered with the remains, including regimental insignia. Those badges narrowed the search to particular units. Historical research and DNA testing then did the rest, producing two names out of six. The burial was attended by relatives of both named soldiers, by serving soldiers from the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, and by local standard bearers. Nicola Nash of the Ministry of Defence's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre - the team known informally as the MOD War Detectives - said: 'Every identity we make is a huge achievement,' and spoke of laying 'these heroes to rest with honour'. David Royle of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission said: 'We will care for their graves... ensuring future generations honour their sacrifice.' The same day, the Ministry of Defence announced that the graves of five soldiers killed in Normandy had been identified. Two separate cases, one unit, one working week.
Why this matters
This is a history story, but it is also one of the clearest demonstrations you will find of how scientific evidence actually works - and that is why it belongs in a section about learning. Six sets of remains were recovered. Two were named. Four were not. Nobody pretended otherwise, and nobody guessed. That ratio is the lesson. The evidence took the investigators exactly as far as it went and no further. A regimental badge tells you a unit. A unit plus a date plus a location gives you a list of candidates. DNA from a living relative can confirm one of them. If no relative can be traced, or if no sample matches, the soldier is buried as unknown - with full honours, in a named cemetery, cared for in perpetuity, but without a name. For anyone teaching how we know things, that is a better worked example than most textbooks manage. Multiple independent lines of evidence. Each one narrowing the field. An honest stop where the evidence stops. The second reason it matters is simpler. There are still more than a hundred thousand British and Commonwealth servicemen from the First World War whose graves are unknown. Remains are found every year, usually during building or farming work or, as here, during archaeological survey. This work has no end date, and the MOD team doing it is small. And the third reason: Private Brock was 19. He is being buried with his name restored by techniques that did not exist for 80 years after he died. That is worth a moment.
What the evidence actually says
The identification process here is worth setting out properly, because it is often described vaguely. **Step one: recovery and context.** The remains were found in 2023 during an archaeological survey. Where remains are found matters enormously - it indicates which units fought there and when. **Step two: artefacts.** Regimental insignia were recovered with the remains. Cap badges, shoulder titles and buttons are often the single most useful find, because they tie a casualty to a regiment. In this case they pointed to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Gordon Highlanders. **Step three: historical research.** Unit war diaries, casualty records and burial returns are used to build a list of men who died in that place in that period and who have no known grave. **Step four: DNA.** Where a candidate list is short enough, the MOD traces living relatives and compares DNA. Mitochondrial DNA, passed down the maternal line, is often used for very old remains. A match confirms an identity; the absence of a match does not disprove one, it simply fails to confirm it. **What this means for the four unknowns.** They have not been given up on. Cases can be reopened if new evidence or new relatives emerge. They are buried as unknown soldiers now, which is the honest and correct outcome today, not a permanent verdict. **One caution for family historians.** Stories about ancestors in the First World War are often passed down with details that turn out to be wrong - the wrong regiment, the wrong battle, the wrong year. That is not dishonesty; it is a century of retelling. If you are researching, go to the records rather than to the family account, and expect the two to differ.
Practical advice
If this has made you curious about your own family's history, here is where to actually start. Almost all of it is free. **Start with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.** Its database at cwgc.org is free and searchable by name, regiment and cemetery. It covers both world wars and includes burial locations and, often, next-of-kin details recorded at the time. **Then try the National Archives.** Its guides at nationalarchives.gov.uk explain which service records survive and which were destroyed in the 1940 Blitz. Roughly two-thirds of First World War British Army service records were lost, which is why so many searches hit a wall. **Medal index cards survive even where service records do not.** These are a common workaround when a soldier's main file was destroyed. **Unit war diaries are the hidden treasure.** They record what a battalion did, day by day. If you know the unit and the date, you can often find out what was happening around the time an ancestor died. Many are digitised at the National Archives. **If you believe you may be related to a soldier recently found:** the MOD's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre handles these cases, and the CWGC can point you to them. Do not expect speed - these cases take years. **For teachers:** this case works well as a lesson on evidence and inference. Six found, two named, four not. Ask pupils what evidence would be needed to name the other four, and what it would take to be sure. **Visit, if you ever get the chance.** CWGC cemeteries are open, free and maintained to a remarkable standard. Tilloy British Cemetery is near Arras.
What to know
Six First World War soldiers found during an archaeological survey at Tilloy-les-Mofflaines in 2023 were buried in France on 2 October 2026. Two were identified: Private George Fleming Brock, 19, of Dunipace, and Private Percy Todd of Radford, both of the 11th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Both died during the German Spring Offensive in 1918. Four remain unknown, probably from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Gordon Highlanders. Identification came from regimental insignia found with the remains, historical research and DNA testing. Relatives of both named men attended, along with soldiers of the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland. On the same day, the MOD announced that the graves of five soldiers killed in Normandy had been identified. The part worth carrying away is the honesty of the result. Six found, two named, four not. The evidence went as far as it went. Nobody filled the gap with a guess, and the four unknown graves can be revisited if new evidence appears. If you want to look into your own family's war history, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database is free, and unit war diaries at the National Archives will tell you more than any family story. Sources: Ministry of Defence, 'Six Scottish soldiers buried in France 108 years after their deaths', 2 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/six-scottish-soldiers-buried-in-france-108-years-after-their-deaths ; Ministry of Defence, 'Graves of five soldiers killed in Normandy identified', 2 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/graves-of-five-soldiers-killed-in-normandy-identified ; Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed 4 October 2026, https://www.cwgc.org/ This article is for general information and historical interest. It is not genealogical, legal or medical advice. For help with a specific casualty case, contact the Commonwealth War Graves Commission or the MOD's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre. Nothing in this article is medical advice, and it does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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