FAQ: What we know about the Unknown Soldier, and other Memorial Day questions answered
Newfoundland's Unknown Soldier will be entombed on Monday. Here are some things to know
Newfoundland's Unknown Soldier will be entombed in St. John's on Monday, in a history-making ceremony that will also mark the centennial of the National War Memorial.
Here are some facts to know about this significant event.
Do we know who the Unknown Soldier actually is?
No. The remains were exhumed this spring in France, as one of many unknown bodies that were buried in the aftermath of the First World War. Officials have been clear that his anonymity is important: the Unknown Soldier represents all those lost in battle.
We know he is definitely from Newfoundland, and that he fought and died in northern France while enlisted with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.
The remains of fallen soldiers still sometimes become uncovered throughout parts of Europe to this day. Many of those men were presumed missing or had no known grave.
Was he buried?
The Unknown Soldier did have a grave in France but was never identified. His name likely exists on the wall beneath the Caribou Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel, along with names of the hundreds of others who died while fighting for the regiment on the Western Front.
About 820 men from Newfoundland — serving in all branches of the military during the First World War — have no known grave.
How were the remains brought back to Newfoundland?
He was repatriated during a ceremony at Beaumont-Hamel on May 25, and was flown that day to St. John's. A solemn procession was held in St. John's that night, and his remains were kept in a secure location in St. John's until Friday, when he was moved to Confederation Building to lie in state so the public could pay their respects before Memorial Day.
Why is the Unknown Soldier's casket draped in the Canadian flag?
Newfoundland did not join Canada until 1949, and as such a soldier of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the First World War did not fight under a Canadian flag.
In a statement to CBC News, the Canadian Armed Forces said its "members are only authorized to carry a casket with the Canadian Flag on it. They are not authorized to carry another country's flag or that of a specific province."
The Forces said that in 1949, Canada assumed responsibility for all missing Newfoundland soldiers as if they were Canadian service members, who are still considered to be serving until their specific resting place has been identified.
Keen-eyed observers may have seen a framed Dominion of Newfoundland red ensign flag resting atop the casket during its period of lying in state.
Why did this happen?
The push to repatriate an Unknown Soldier began not long after the war ended. Thomas Nangle, the regiment's padre during the First World War, began the push in 1920. Nangle wanted to choose the gravesite himself — a secret known to him alone. Nangle did not succeed in his mission.
A century later, Navy veteran Frank Sullivan got the plan over the finish line by suggesting the idea to Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, during a meeting in which the Royal Canadian Legion was hoping to get funding to revitalize the National War Memorial to mark its centennial year.
Both ideas were given the green light.
Ottawa has a Tomb of the Unknown Solider. Is this one different?
There is only one other Unknown Soldier in Canada. The other lies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, just a short distance from Parliament Hill. But that Unknown Soldier was repatriated from Vimy Ridge — a Canadian soldier — and doesn't represent Newfoundland, which was its own Dominion at the time of the war and flew its own flag.
His final resting place, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the National War Memorial, overlooks King's Beach on St. John's harbour, the site where he, and so many others, last set foot on Newfoundland soil.
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